[Zope-CMF] Newbie observation: CMF-site default skins
Jeffrey_Franks@i-o.com
Jeffrey_Franks@i-o.com
Mon, 15 Jul 2002 14:47:34 -0500
1) My expection for 'BASIC' skin was that it would be "basic", and more related
to, well, "simple". This got turned upside-down when I figured out that
this skin is based
on ZPT technology, and beginners were encouraged to use DTML first before
going to something that is more non-intuitive (and certainly not basic).
This was
mis-leading. I understand, now, that 'BASIC' is with the viewpoint of
Zope-CMF promoted
usage expections, and not related to level of intuitiveness. That ought to
be expressed
and communicated somewhere in newbie getting-started docs.
2) Newbies expect default skins to render pages without errors for default
material
that comes with setting up a web-site. This did not happen for CMF-1.3beta1
because
of http://collector.zope.org/CMF/2 which I was not smart enough to find
until going thru a lot of trouble. I peaked into beta2 and found the
trouble spot fixed
with replacing the offending "Id" with "getId". I used customization for
the
generic/index_html, and that fixed the serious problems I was having with
skins.
I wonder how many other newbies just gave up because they could not get
default
stuff to work. Please give us a break. Newbies are life-blood for growing a
high usage
framework. Reading a traceback, and getting the sense of it is just not
going to happen
when things break out-of-the-box for newbies. Newbies need more up-front
docs regarding these types of "potholes".
3) The Zope-CMF author's expectations for out-of-the-box skins are not clear to
newbies. One
example is the content for CMF-site description field. HTML markup for
un-numbered
lists gets rendered as text for 'BASIC' skin, but renders as anticipated for
'No CSS'
and 'Nouvelle' skins. This is confusing. Did the author of these skins
expect that users
could switch the skins in the preferences and allow them to be
inter-changeable?
That would require a more restricted use of content in the site description
field. Did I
miss that requirement somewhere? If these skins were mere unrelated examples
of
what the capability of Zope-CMF skins can do, please give a clueless newbie
a clue and just
tell them that and tell them what not to expect.
Recommenation: Please give newbies a "Start here" roadmap with "Beware of these
potholes" in
get you water-wings Zope CMF documenation. This would reduce the friction of
getting up the
Zope-CMF learning curve and produce new adherants with positive quicker
startup experiences.
The above is expressed from the lips of a newbie not wishing to be severely
flammed. These
practicle suggestions are given in good spirit and could help in making a neat
framework
much easier to use for newbies.
-- jlf