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Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:29:10 +1200
From: Murray Altheim <murray07@altheim.com>
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To: jspwiki-user@incubator.apache.org
Subject: Re: creating new pages
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Bob Paige wrote:
[...]
> Since my user-base is not especially inclined to writing documentation, I
> want to make this all as automatic as possible. Thus, I feel that things
> like tags and namespaces can go a long way to automating the linking
> process. JSPWiki provides good search capability, so I am not as concerned
> about 'lost islands of pages'.
> 
> I imagine the usage would work something like this:
[...]
> 
> I see the implementation something like this:
> 1. the ProjectList page uses the WikiTags plugin to display all pages tagged
> as a project

If you're talking about the tag plugin I've written, the HasTagPlugin is
the one. Alternately, the QueryPlugin might also work. But this only
*displays* a list of page. It may be that you'd be better off using the
TagManager (which supports the TagPlugin and HasTagPlugin), or feeding
the output of the QueryPlugin into Yet Another Plugin.

> 2. each project page uses the Namespaces plugin to list pages related
> to it

Unclear how this might be used.

> 2a. similar-feature pages can have similar names in the namespace, i.e.
> Project1.login, Project2.login, etc..

I'm wary of using wiki page names or trickery within page names as a
means of categorization. Artificial, fragile, and likely frustrating
to users. Better some means of providing either a set or a list of
page names.

> 3. key details of each page could be tagged, i.e. DatabaseAccess,
> Encryption, etc. for cross references

"tagged"? Sounds like you are really looking for a fielded database.

I've got a BibRefPlugin that extends the FormPlugin (i.e., the single
plugin version I wrote) to act as a template such that clicking on a
link pops up a customized dialog box containing Swing fields that can
be edited, then the result is pasted back onto the page. I've had
limited success with that, and getting the field order, field length,
etc. correct has proven time-consuming and tricky. In short, that last
10% of work hasn't been finished (too many other things in the queue).

> Once the ProjectList page is created, new projects are added by creating new
> pages (see #1), rather than everyone editing and re-editing the ProjectList
> page. Same for pages related to the project; you name it appropriately (for
> the Namespaces plugin) and it "magically appears" in the right places.
> 
> Do you see where I am coming from?
>
> The next step would be to provide templates for certain types of pages so
> they have similar structure.

Yes, I think so. It really sounds like it needs some kind of templating
mechanism, otherwise things are going to get either very complicated for
users or very tricky for developers, or both. How that might be
approached is a conundrum. If a wiki page acts as a template, what happens
if that page changes? etc. There's a lot of questions on how to approach
this. I'm almost tempted to make the templates XML attachments rather than
wiki text, since it might be more important that they're stable than being
editable.

Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim <murray07 at altheim.com>                           ===  = =
http://www.altheim.com/murray/                                     = =  ===
SGML Grease Monkey, Banjo Player, Wantanabe Zen Monk               = =  = =

       Boundless wind and moon - the eye within eyes,
       Inexhaustible heaven and earth - the light beyond light,
       The willow dark, the flower bright - ten thousand houses,
       Knock at any door - there's one who will respond.
                                       -- The Blue Cliff Record