[Zope3-dev] Re: Siesia: A new UI for Zope 3

[Max M]

Michael Zeltner wrote:

> Netalley Networks has recently been working on concepts and examples of 
> Siesia, which is our codename for a new Zope 3 UI system and 
> skin(-concept).

That's great! A plugable skinning system is very important.


> We wanted to make a full blown presentation, but because of time we 
> couldn't finish everything - but we've finally (with a heavy delay, 
> sorry) decided to bring some parts of what we've been working to daylight:

The parts I understand the best are the skin documentation section. 
Which remainds a lot of Plone 2.0

The problem is that you are comming from another world. Your concepts 
are alien, and not clearly explained. There is too much implied 
knowledge in there.

Comments:


Skin Tool
---------

"Files like templates, images or stylesheets should exist once in a skin."

Ok. I can see that it is easier to follow, if you don't have to know a 
skin order, and if all skins are not global. But you are talking about 
A Filesystem Directory View with an invisible layer. This implies that 
major skin development is done through the browser. Personally I never 
develop through the browser. The first thing I do when starting a Plone 
site, is to create a filesystem based skin. So this approach is 
important. It seems like that would be hard with your 2 layer approach.

Perhaps the subskin you are talking about does that, but it's hard to 
say from the docs.


Pagelets system
---------------

Ok. This could be a good idea. As I understand it, you want to take the 
main_template from Plone, and turn it into a tool, where the elements 
from the main_template are made programmatically.

As it is right now, the main_template is just one big placeholder for 
slots. So it seems like a good fit. You are in a world of hurt, whenever 
the main template changes. A pagelet system could help there.


Metal & Tales additions
-----------------------

I don't understand the issues here.


Skin documentation
------------------

That all seem very plone like, which isn't too bad. It's a sane way to 
do it.


miscs
-----

I miss a discussion/section on how to make the skin cacheable. But off 
course that is hard to do without an example.

It seems to me that the design of Plone makes it difficult to cache 
efficiently. I believe that easy cachability would be a major plus.


regards Max M


-- 

hilsen/regards Max M, Denmark

http://www.mxm.dk/
IT's Mad Science