[ZDP] Summary of the month of May
Maik Roeder
roeder@berg.net
Wed, 31 May 2000 04:49:19 +0200
Hi !
This month has been really busy, and I have taken some hours to
sum it up, so you can how much sweat has gone into this project
in the last few weeks.
We are right now at a crossroad concerning the future of the
ZDP site, and Zope documentation in general. It seems to
become a strong consensus that we only have one chance:
Move everything to Zope.org, because we need to have a single
place for Zope documentation anyway, and in addition, we need
the Zope.org community to make it happen too.
I hope you find the following summary useful,
Greetings,
Maik Röder
-----------------------------------------------
01 May 2000
Posted a Draft describing how the Portal
is supposed to work.
03. May 2000
New Site Design and call for graphic artists
04. May 2000
Feature Request: Login
Feature Request: Join
Feature Request: Review
Feature Request: Versioning
Feature Request: Make Interface more friendly
Feature Request: Notification
Feature Request: Associate documents with Zope versions
Tom Scheidt (tom@falsemirror.com) has some ideas
on how the new ZDP look could be:
http://www.falsemirror.com/zope/zdp.html
05. May 2000
Predefined searches added to Subjects and Topics
Task: Get the Community, Subject, Topic properties
set automatically
Now Anonymous can add Subjects and Topics
07. May 2000
Feature Request: List Tips with full description
Feature Request: List Tips flat
Feature Request: Group Tips by category
Feature Request: Narrow down a search
Feature Request: organize and structure Zope products list
08. May 2000
Christian Scholz (cs@comlounge.net) has done some
graphics for the ZDP:
http://comlounge.net/projekte/zdp/
Itamar Shtull-Trauring itamars@ibm.net contributes a
short document on "Zope - starting, stopping, what to backup"
Feature Request: Unclutter the ZDP-Tools interface
Feature Request: Document ZDP-Tools
Feature Request: Make ZDP-Tools simple
Feature Request: Make ZDP-Tools self documenting
Feature Request: Contributors need guidelines on where to put documents
Feature Request: Contributors need to be able to edit documents after adding them
Feature Request: CSS
09. May 2000
Feature Request: Login Button/Link
Feature Request: Description of what has changed with the Portal on Member page
10. May 2000
Now Anonymous can add Comments, Links and Drafts to Topics
Feature Request: Explain what a Comment, Link and Draft is
Feature Request: Describe how to make contributions to ZDP
Feature Request: Howto ZClass
Tom Deprez mentions www.experts-exchange.com as an example of
how questions can be handled on ZDP.
CSS knowledge collected:
http://zdp.zope.org/portals/webdesigners/style/css
We need the following tutorials:
ZDP-Members:
How to add a Chapter to ZBook, and what Style you must conform to
How to announce News on ZDP, the mailing lists and Zope.org
How to host Discussions in DiscussionFolders as a Moderator
How to add new Users to ZDP and give Roles to them
How to add PortalFolders for multiple Communities
How to add Portals for a certain Community
How to add Subjects to an existing Portal
How to add Topics to a Subject
How to add a LinkFolder to your member folder for a Subject
How to add Links to your LinkFolder for a Topic
How to add a SnippetFolder to your Member Folder for a Subject
How to add Snippets your SnippetFolder for a Topic
How to add a FAQ to your member folder for a Subject
How to add Questions to your FAQ for a Topic
How to add Answers to your Questions
How to add CommentFolders to your member folder for a Subject
How to add Comments to your member Folder for a Topic
How to add a HowtoFolder to your member folder for a Subject
How to add a Howto to your Howto Folder for a Topic
Visitors:
How to add Links to a Topic (and implicitely to a Subject)
How to add Snippets to a Topic (and implicitely to a Subject)
How to add Questions to a Topic (and implicitely to a Subject)
How to add Answers to a Topic (and implicitely to a Subject)
How to add Discussions to a Topic (and implicitely to a Subject)
How to add Comments to a Topic (and implicitely to a Subject)
Topic Moderators:
How to moderate a Topic
Product Developers:
How to add ProductDocumentationFolders
(How to add a Product Fact Sheet - To be done)
How to add ZClassDocumentationClasses
Project Managers
How to add Projects to your Member Folder
How to add Processes to your Projects
How to add Phases to your Processes
How to add TaskFolders to your Phases
How to add Tasks to your TaskFolders
Feature Request: Link back to Portals/Subject/Topic from documents
Feature Request: Overview listing like http://www1.experts-exchange.com/grouping_computers.html
11. May 2000
Christian Scholz cs@comlounge.net proposes a ZDP meeting in Aachen
Chris Withers proposes a new Portal "New Zope Users"
Chris Whithers proposes Beginners Guides for the "New Zope Users" Portal
Feature Request: Small descriptions under ZQR, ZBook, etc. on front page
Crystal clear positioning statement on what we are trying to achieve:
"We provide entry points for every Zope user who wants to find Zope
Documentation. You can join your community Portal and share information
with people who are interested in the same thing as you are"
Martijn Faassen (faassen@vet.uu.nl) suggests to limit documents
contributed by anonymous to text because of security issues.
Chris Withers (chrisw@nipltd.com) has put up a ZDP Wiki
http://www.zope.org/Members/chrisw/ZDP
Now txt is the only (hidden) choice for anonymous users.
Managers can still choose between html, txt and stx.
Feature Request: Highlight Subjects/Topics that already have some info
12. May 2000
Rik has set up a mail for Amos on the Quickstart Tutorial:
http://www.zope.org/Members/chrisw/ZDP/DCIntegration
13. May 2000
Feature Request: Don't list Sub-Chapters as Chapters
14. May 2000
Christian Scholz cs@comlounge.net has done some new layouts:
http://comlounge.net/projekte/zdp/d2.html
http://comlounge.net/projekte/zdp/z2.html
17. May 2000
Feature Request: Allow Comments to Zope Book Drafts
18. May 2000
Added a Zope attribution button to the ZDP site
19. May 2000
In Portals Topics are now listed below Subjects
Amos answers the open letter, and states:
"I'd love to integrate sources of Zope documentation as much as
possible. The ZDP portal seems like a great way to do this.
* If you can suggest links that tutorial lessons should have to ZDP
(or other) resources, I'd be glad to add them.
* If you'd like to include the Tutorial in some form on the ZDP portal
I'd love that.
If there is something I can do to help this sort of cross linking, let
me know."
Rik proposes to carry out all further discussions on this in the Wiki:
http://www.zope.org/Members/chrisw/ZDP
20. May 2000
Now anonymous can add comment to everything
22. May 2000
Added general information and pointers on Session Management to the Portal
http://zdp.zope.org/portals/developers/sessionmanagement/
I suggested the others to follow this example.
Rik notes that "I fear you think too highly of our understanding
of the ZDP Tools, especially with all the changes going on."
Place ZDP Wiki on WikiCentral:
http://www.zope.org/Members/WikiCentral
Rik Hoekstra sends a first shot at a Zope Quickstart to the
ZDP mailing list.
23. May 2000
mindlace works at DC, and joins the ZDP mailing list
mindlace has some ideas on integrating mailing lists, Zope, and
Wiki/structured text. They're completely blue-sky right now but
they're availiable at http://www.zope.org/Members/mindlace/MailZopeMan
24. May 2000
Feature Request: All documentation downloadable as flat files.
Feature Request: All documentation in one place
FAQ can be seen on one page
http://zdp.zope.org/projects/zfaq/faq/List_Flat
I have made the tips available in one file on zope.org:
http://www.zope.org/Members/roeder/tips_in_html
http://www.zope.org/Members/roeder/tips_in_xml
Feature Request: Search results should be displayed with an abstract
Robert Stevenson (robertstevenson@yahoo.com) joins the ZDP
mailing list and wants to help with the documentation
Chris Withers proposes to create a new Text Index, textToSearch
This should be stocked by a textToSearch *method* that returns the
concatenation of ALL the other searchable fields.
Feature Request: Search for "dtml-in" should display some results !
Feature Request: Anonymous should be able to edit a page. The
Maintainer can then approve or refuse the changes.
Feature Request: Manage Zope Objects using CVS.
http://lists.zope.org/pipermail/zope-dev/2000-May/005021.html
Quoting ethan mindlace fremen:
"I think that the ZD portal and Zope.org should be seamlessly
integrated. More to the point, I have the authority to make
it happen on DC's end. I am *very* interested in integrating the
community's effort more completely into Zope.org.
Furthermore, this *is* a major part of what I need to do with Zope.org.
It is, indeed, part of my Job Description:
4. Use direct assistance, tight documentation integration, collaborative
tools and appropriate koans to provide a path to Zope Zen: a gentle
learning curve that takes participants from novice DTML work to hacking
zope internals
So I *do* have time to help with this, and I don't imagine my employer
will give me flack :)
I will admit that I am not exactly up to speed on who's doing what with
ZDP, nor am I trying to impose a vision."
Feature Request: Portals should contain the same information but
organized differently.
25. May 2000
Question: Integrate everything on Zope.org, or on zdp.zope.org ?
Feature Request: Commentable Paragraph object
Feature Request: Information on how to joing the ZDP
Feature Request: Support Copy-Editing of documents
Jiva (jiva@devware.com) starts work on enhancing the ZDP search
All pages now an HTML title like "ZDP: <dtml-var name>"
26. May 2000
Corrected some HTML bugs with http://validator.w3.org
Feature Request: Let Anonymous preview documents before adding them
Search results page now nicely displays abstract and parts of the content
Feature request: ZDP needs more coordination
Feature request: ZDP needs a vision
27. May 2000
Snippets are now available in flat list
28. May 2000
Tom expresses frustration because nobody gives feedback on documentation
Tom would like to know:
"1. Who's willing to help? And what can he/she offer?
2. What are the goals? Let us write them down and sort them out. Then we
make a schedule and this will help us much further in the ZDP project.
I'm willing to coördinate these 2 points, so just now let us talk and write
down a schedule for the future."
mindlace lets us know that his
"job is to make the availiable documentation accessable.
I don't know how much documentation I'll be able to write.
I am, most definitely, responsible for zope.org, so I can
help out on integration issues."
Feature Request: Use RSS to syndicate zdp.zope.org and zope.org content
Ethan proposes:
"I see Zope.org as being the "library" of Zope, where all documentation
and software packages reside.
I see Zope.net as being the "Discothèque" of Zope, where there are
articles about zope in the world, #zope irc chat-channel and chat
events, and other community-ish things.
Zope.com would be the "market square" of zope, kindof an expanded zope
solutions provider section, as well as possibly some sourceXchange ish
project, so people can find zope consultants when they need it."
29. May 2000
Feature Request: Integrate Wiki with mailing list
Feature Request: Heavily link content on the ZDP site
Rik proposes to use the Wiki more to get things organized.
Rik proposes to move all to the Zope.org site because there already is a community.
Feature Request: make it (look) simple to use the ZDP, both as a contributor and as a user.
Feature Request: List of Top 10 Contributors
Feature Request: Rate Resources
Feature Request: Explaination of where to add stuff in the ZDP site
Chris sums up mindlace's idea using C's:
o Code & Documentation - zope.org
o Community - zope.net
o Commercial - zope.com
Chris has some ideas on The Zope Documentation issue and how it relates to
the new Zope sites that are coming along at zope.org, zope.net and zope.com:
http://www.zope.org/Members/chrisw/ZopeSites/FrontPage
Chris has this to say on getting together to discuss the future of Zope documentation:
"I'm hoping this Wiki can be used to sort out how to structure the sites
and the documentation so that we can nail this ugly problem once and for
all. If it doesn't work, maybe we all need to get together on IRC and
hammer this out there?
This will only work if we ALL take part..."
Rik supports the view that all should be moved from zdp to zope.org:
"And what about complete and utter absorption of the ZDP site by zope.org.
At least this should be discussed, now that Ethan is starting to integrate
things. I'm getting convinced these separate paths lead nowhere than
into confusion..."
Craig Allen (cba@mediaone.net), has some advice:
"Now it looks like individuals get energized, produce a body of work
(e.g. ZBook, ZQR) and then get burned out. My suggestions are, in
decreasing preference:
- consult with experts in learning/documentation design to come up with
a framework for documentation; and/or,
- find a site, product, book, or documentation set for a comparable
product, and copy ideas from it; and/or,
- work with ZDP activists and the mailing lists to come up with a
framework, identify materials and formats to fit the framework, identify
gaps, and then start assembling the structure. This is my least
preferred path just because I'm skeptical that a group effort will move
fast enough. I recognize that this is counter to Open Source practice,
but I really believe inadequate documentation is the main barrier
between Zope and world domination!
-------------------------------------------------------------
--
Open Source is "about being able to work together with people you've
never met, on projects that are in a constant state of flux, on
a time schedule that would cause a hummingbird's head to spin."
Paul Ferris, http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/opinions/1593/1/