[haiku-web] Re: Community Documentation Collaboration (Was: Add Comunity Project)
- From: "Jorge G. Mare" <koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku-web@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:42:01 -0700
Hi Urias,
Urias McCullough wrote:
> Ok, since we're delving deeper into the "what if" realm now, I think
> it's going to be less about vision of what could be done, and more
> about proving there's a need currently... I sorta feel like I'm gonna
> get stomped on at this point, and thus any further opinions from me
> are likely going to fall upon deaf ears :(
>
Not really, at least not with me. :)
> I suspect my following email isn't well written - several emails on
> this topic that I've written in the last couple days haven't even made
> it past draft - and I nearly deleted this one as well... but I guess I
> just really wanted my opinions to be considered, even if it doesn't
> change anything, at least so that people involved are continually
> thinking about how they can draw in more assistance, rather than place
> the website and resources on a pedestal and require people prove that
> they deserve access to contribute content or help out. It's a turn-off
> when people have to ask for permission, they like being given
> permission. Empowering people generally inspires them.
>
Nobody is putting the website on a pedestal. There is just a process,
like with everything else. Come to think of it, the whole idea of having
permissions (even the way you suggest them) also supports this notion,
so I am not sure what the problem is. The opposite of that would be to
have unfettered access, which I thought we had agreed it was not a good
idea. :)
> On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 7:44 PM, Jorge G. Mare <koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Right now, if people don't do more in adding or maintaining website
>> content, for the most part it is because they don't have the time or
>> motivation (or both). I would love to be proven wrong, though. :)
>>
>
> That's probably true among those who actually have the access now -
> I've noticed that :)
>
> For example, I've seen several people come into #haiku, claim that
> they've written a step-by-step guide on how to do something that
> wasn't already documented, and then tend to disappear before it gets
> published anywhere. Sometimes they ask where to post it, sometimes
> they say they're posting it on their blog (or provide links to it)
>
If somebody tells you they want to submit a document to the website, you
should simple tell them to create and account and go to...
http://www.haiku-os.org/node/add
...where they will see what content they can submit. The rest is not
that difficult, but perhaps we can document this more in detail (with
screenshots?) and post it somewhere more visible.
> It would of course be extremely difficult to prove anything without
> trying something different, however...so if the decision is that
> nothing should change because there's no perceived benefit, then I'm
> afraid I'll just have to be content with that.
>
> As for the point about content types - I have to ask: Why are there so
> many content types, why would each of them need separate security
> rights? Can't we categorize them by purpose and assign roles to those
> purposes?
>
Having different content types allows theming customization (something
that we have not exploited yet) and fine grained permissions on a
content type basis. You don't have to give each content type separate
security rights, but isn't that what you are asking for? /me is
confused... :)
> I could see for example, we separate areas of the site into the areas
> people look for: Blogs, Events/Calendar, FAQ/About, Forums/Support,
> Security/Administration, Screenshots/Image Galleries, Development
> Resources, Community Links (for stuff like the movies page, links to
> other sites, etc). and assign content types and related security roles
> to these areas. Perhaps that's overkill, but I don't think it's
> unmanageable.
>
But that's the way it was setup! Here is a copy and paste from the
content types admin section in the Drupal 4.7 installation:
- About pages: Use to create pages that go under the About section of
the website.
- Team Pages: Use this to add information about teams and/or areas of
development.
- Document for developers: Use this to create documentation for developers.
- Document for users: Use this to create documentation for end users.
- Community pages: Use to create pages under the Community section.
- Conference: Use to enter conferences and Haiku related events
- News post: Use this form to submit news to the Haiku website.
- RFC: Use for Request for Comment documents in Glass Elevator
It is not an identical breakdown to the one that you describe, but it is
essentially the same in that you have distinct areas of the website and
you can specify which roles have what permissions to each of them. In
summary, you can do what you are asking for by simply defining roles and
adjusting the permissions.
I do notice now that in the upgraded D5 installation the content types
have changed. For example, the "About pages" content type seems to be
gone. I don't know if this was accidental or by design; perhaps Nielx
can tell us. :)
> Obviously, we could keep the site-wide roles like Admin, Editor, etc.
> if we want, but having the finer grained administrative roles
> available and assigned to a larger range of people could offload some
> of the website maintenance, and allow various areas of the website
> content to grow and be maintained.
>
> As you suggest, if the end result is that maybe 3-5 people are even
> interested, perhaps it's pointless... but without advertising such a
> possible system to the general community, how will we know how many
> are interested? If we believe that everyone who is interested in
> working on the website and its content is currently subscribed to this
> list, I think we're lying to ourselves ;)
>
I was not trying to be overly pessimistic, but I tend to agree with Remi
that you do need to be realistic. IOW, progressive improvements to the
current website are a good thing, but let's keep the expectations to a
reasonable level and invest time/effort accordingly. :)
Cheers,
Jorge
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