In the spirit of trying to actually get us to the point where we have new content rather than the ever recurring discussions about the fact no one updates the website, I have created:
It's a MoinMoin Wiki, because I'm more at home with them and they work with flat files (I'm not entirely sure MediaWiki will do this?). I haven't moved over content from the existing "wiki" (feel free to do this) nor linked it in from the main page yet (if it takes off this is obviously simple).
So, get started. Should be perfectly possible for us to have various pages for the Norwich social meets, the Ipswich social meets and whatever else out there. Anyone can create themselves an account and I know there are anti spam measures out there for Moin so they can be looked at eventually if we see issues.
J.
Great, Jonathan.
That's great ... I think you've pipped David to the post, as he was planning something similar.
The only feature I couldn't find for MoinMoin was the ability to run polls (there seems to be an extension to MediaWiki for this), which is a shame - it would be nice to be able to setup ad-hoc polls to get member's opinions on stuff.
But I'm sure we can live without that.
Thanks muchly ...
Peter.
samwise samwise@bagshot-row.org wrote:
The only feature I couldn't find for MoinMoin was the ability to run polls [...]
If anyone wants fame, it looks like it's a requested feature. See http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/IdeaForSurveyPolls
Regards,
On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 06:54:16PM +0000, samwise wrote:
Great, Jonathan.
That's great ... I think you've pipped David to the post, as he was planning something similar.
Yay, one less thing for me to do, thanks Noodles.
The only feature I couldn't find for MoinMoin was the ability to run polls (there seems to be an extension to MediaWiki for this), which is a shame - it would be nice to be able to setup ad-hoc polls to get member's opinions on stuff.
I was going to say to you earlier Peter, that perhaps polls could be carried out on the mailing list? Or on the wiki in the normal "apache style" type of voting.
Just a thought.
Cheers,
Dave
-- David Reynolds david@reynoldsfamily.org.uk
I was going to say to you earlier Peter, that perhaps polls could be carried out on the mailing list? Or on the wiki in the normal "apache style" type of voting.
Yeah, it's a nice-to-have rather than an essential - but I think polls tend to work better on the web. If you mean by "apache-style", not integrated into the wiki, that's fine - but generally means a webmaster has to set it up ... unless you have plans to put in a forum or something?
On another note, I've been trying to get myself up to speed with the moinmoin wiki syntax ...
I've been working on trying to make the front page look a little more inviting - good first impression and all that.
Anyway, I'm finding myself struggling a bit with the limitations of markup inside tables. It appears there's a macro to address this sort of thing. Is there any chance someone could install this:
http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/MacroMarket/MiniPage
Much obliged,
Peter.
On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 10:37:19PM +0000, samwise wrote:
Anyway, I'm finding myself struggling a bit with the limitations of markup inside tables. It appears there's a macro to address this sort of thing. Is there any chance someone could install this:
Markup in tables?! Hnnng?! You're not planning on using tables for layout purposes are you? (as apposed to tabular data...)
Markup in tables?! Hnnng?! You're not planning on using tables for layout purposes are you? (as apposed to tabular data...)
*sigh*
Yes. It's a wiki. I'm only suggesting it for the front page, to break up what will otherwise be a huge list of links.
If anyone wants to recommend a better way of laying stuff out in the confines of this wiki environment, I'm eager to learn.
If everyone hates it, it can always be reverted back to text.
Peter.
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On Wed, 21 Feb 2007, samwise wrote:
Markup in tables?! Hnnng?! You're not planning on using tables for layout purposes are you? (as apposed to tabular data...)
*sigh*
Yes. It's a wiki. I'm only suggesting it for the front page, to break up what will otherwise be a huge list of links.
If anyone wants to recommend a better way of laying stuff out in the confines of this wiki environment, I'm eager to learn.
If everyone hates it, it can always be reverted back to text.
All this discussion on how to display information, do we actually have any *worthy* content to give?
- -Mark
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On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 11:55:07PM +0000, Mark Ridley wrote:
On Wed, 21 Feb 2007, samwise wrote:
Markup in tables?! Hnnng?! You're not planning on using tables for layout purposes are you? (as apposed to tabular data...)
*sigh*
Yes. It's a wiki. I'm only suggesting it for the front page, to break up what will otherwise be a huge list of links.
If anyone wants to recommend a better way of laying stuff out in the confines of this wiki environment, I'm eager to learn.
If everyone hates it, it can always be reverted back to text.
All this discussion on how to display information, do we actually have any *worthy* content to give?
I was, among other things, hoping for a tricks and tips area and/or a help! area. These need links from the front/top page.
I wonder also whether it might not be a good idea to have an area where people could sort of volunteer skills/knowledge. I'm sure lots of people have encountered and overcome problems in particular areas of Linux which are difficult to write up in a useful way but it would be fairly easy to say "I know a bit about xxxx".
E.g. I have done things like:- Got accented characters working in tin, mutt and elsewhere.
Installed VMware on Slackware (not specifically supported)
bla, bla, bla.
Just having somewhere to put this sort of thing so it can be found easily would be useful. It doesn't really fit in one's profile.
Chris,
On 22 Feb 2007, at 8:44 am, Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
I was, among other things, hoping for a tricks and tips area and/or a help! area. These need links from the front/top page.
I wonder also whether it might not be a good idea to have an area where people could sort of volunteer skills/knowledge. I'm sure lots of people have encountered and overcome problems in particular areas of Linux which are difficult to write up in a useful way but it would be fairly easy to say "I know a bit about xxxx".
E.g. I have done things like:- Got accented characters working in tin, mutt and elsewhere.
Installed VMware on Slackware (not specifically supported) bla, bla, bla.Just having somewhere to put this sort of thing so it can be found easily would be useful. It doesn't really fit in one's profile.
If you wnat to have the section, then why not start it yourself - this is the joy of a wiki!
Thanks,
Dave
On Thu, Feb 22, 2007 at 09:08:24AM +0000, David Reynolds wrote:
Chris,
On 22 Feb 2007, at 8:44 am, Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
I was, among other things, hoping for a tricks and tips area and/or a help! area. These need links from the front/top page.
I wonder also whether it might not be a good idea to have an area where people could sort of volunteer skills/knowledge. I'm sure lots of people have encountered and overcome problems in particular areas of Linux which are difficult to write up in a useful way but it would be fairly easy to say "I know a bit about xxxx".
E.g. I have done things like:- Got accented characters working in tin, mutt and elsewhere.
Installed VMware on Slackware (not specifically supported)
bla, bla, bla.
Just having somewhere to put this sort of thing so it can be found easily would be useful. It doesn't really fit in one's profile.
If you wnat to have the section, then why not start it yourself - this is the joy of a wiki!
Yes, yes, I know - however a *little* structure 'up front' on the opening page does encourage one somewhat! :-)
OK,
I've played on the front page (yes, using a table), adding some colour and a hopefully prominent description of the next, upcoming meets.
If the consensus is that the original text-only front page was better, then we can revert - tonight's exercise has been mainly for me to familiarise myself with the syntax.
Peter.
P.S. I don't know whether it would have looked any good, but I might have experimented embedding some of the rest of the content from the front page as well but it's not possible to put constructs like unordered lists within a table, without the macro mentioned earlier.
Hi Sam,
Yes, I think the table on the front page does look a bit better for the colour, (although it pains me to say it ;) ). I'm going to have a look and see if I can sort out some nicer/different CSS, and maybe play about with the HTML template, which hopefully shouldn't be too obfuscated.
I probably won't get a chance till the weekend though
Cheers, Rob.
On 22/02/07, samwise samwise@bagshot-row.org wrote:
OK,
I've played on the front page (yes, using a table), adding some colour and a hopefully prominent description of the next, upcoming meets.
If the consensus is that the original text-only front page was better, then we can revert - tonight's exercise has been mainly for me to familiarise myself with the syntax.
Peter.
P.S. I don't know whether it would have looked any good, but I might have experimented embedding some of the rest of the content from the front page as well but it's not possible to put constructs like unordered lists within a table, without the macro mentioned earlier.
main@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
Yes, I think the table on the front page does look a bit better for the colour, (although it pains me to say it ;) ). I'm going to have a look and see if I can sort out some nicer/different CSS, and maybe play about with the HTML template, which hopefully shouldn't be too obfuscated.
I probably won't get a chance till the weekend though
Hi, Rob.
Yep, I am perhaps over-compensating for the fact that the default out-of-the-box theme for MoinMoin is quite techy and has many links which will confuse visitors who aren't familiar with wikis. When someone with admin access has a chance to play with the theme, i.e. trim the number of wiki-related links and perhaps put in a permanent menu bar with links to the main pages, it will really ease navigation. There are plenty of other moinmoin-based sites which look a lot less complex - the ubuntu ones are quite nice ...
That said, I think the prominent (but small) notice about the upcoming meets is really important - if first-time visitors can see that the community is active (a recent meet date does that), it makes a world of difference as to whether they may want to participate. At least, that was my impression the first time I visited the ALUG site. So, if we want to keep that note up to date, it's best left embedded in the wiki page.
Peter.
Hi Peter, (apologies for the name mixup on my last post)
Thanks for the heads up on the ubuntu site, i'll have a look at what they're doing. I'll keep those ideas in mind, I think it'd be useful to have atleast a few common links available from everywhere on the wiki.
Also, had a look at the page today, i hadn't seen the updated front page with the next meet dates. I think I agree they're a good thing to have up there, and it is looking a lot 'friendlier' than it was.
Rob
On 22/02/07, samwise samwise@bagshot-row.org wrote:
Yes, I think the table on the front page does look a bit better for the colour, (although it pains me to say it ;) ). I'm going to have a look and see if I can sort out some nicer/different CSS, and maybe play about with the HTML template, which hopefully shouldn't be too obfuscated.
I probably won't get a chance till the weekend though
Hi, Rob.
Yep, I am perhaps over-compensating for the fact that the default out-of-the-box theme for MoinMoin is quite techy and has many links which will confuse visitors who aren't familiar with wikis. When someone with admin access has a chance to play with the theme, i.e. trim the number of wiki-related links and perhaps put in a permanent menu bar with links to the main pages, it will really ease navigation. There are plenty of other moinmoin-based sites which look a lot less complex - the ubuntu ones are quite nice ...
That said, I think the prominent (but small) notice about the upcoming meets is really important - if first-time visitors can see that the community is active (a recent meet date does that), it makes a world of difference as to whether they may want to participate. At least, that was my impression the first time I visited the ALUG site. So, if we want to keep that note up to date, it's best left embedded in the wiki page.
Peter.
main@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
On 22/02/07, Rob Page page.rob@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Peter, (apologies for the name mixup on my last post)
Hi, Rob.
None needed - I've used Sam as a pseudonym on the net for longer than I remember, and often post with the other name, if I'm not sure where my post will end up ... I've long since answered to both ... :)
Thanks for the heads up on the ubuntu site, i'll have a look at what they're doing. I'll keep those ideas in mind, I think it'd be useful to have atleast a few common links available from everywhere on the wiki.
Definitely. The content will settle down after a few weeks, and it will become clearer what the pages are that need to be statically linked, but I suspect it include the mailing lists, IRC and the support section, at least. I intend to start putting together the latter soon ... starting with a "Where do I get help" to "How to get started with linux" and an "Ask ALUG" section etc.
Also, had a look at the page today, i hadn't seen the updated front page with the next meet dates. I think I agree they're a good thing to have up there, and it is looking a lot 'friendlier' than it was.
Rob
Glad it's not universally hated. I'm just trying to make it as appealing, yet simple, as I can with a strong indication that the site is actually in use. Now that the new macro's installed, I've been thinking about playing with the content at the bottom, and possibly adding a news panel.
What do people think about that idea? It will confirm up front that our community is using the site (assuming we keep it up to date!) but, as we don't have a lot of very important "news" it might get filled with entries like "Syleham Kit Meet Proposed - Date TBA" .... hardly earth-shattering.
What's the general feeling about that?
Sam.
On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 10:37:19PM +0000, samwise wrote:
On another note, I've been trying to get myself up to speed with the moinmoin wiki syntax ...
I've been working on trying to make the front page look a little more inviting - good first impression and all that.
Anyway, I'm finding myself struggling a bit with the limitations of markup inside tables. It appears there's a macro to address this sort of thing. Is there any chance someone could install this:
I'm not entirely sure I want to get into installing lots of macros/plugins to Moin before we actually have people generating a reasonable amount of content (we /always/ seem to get caught up on style over content), but I've installed MiniPage now.
J.
I'm not entirely sure I want to get into installing lots of macros/plugins to Moin before we actually have people generating a reasonable amount of content (we /always/ seem to get caught up on style over content), but I've installed MiniPage now.
J.
Hi, noodles.
Yes, I can understand you won't want to install macros all over the place, just for the sake of it. However, in this case, I think the extension is really overriding a bit of a flaw in the moinmoin wiki syntax and will help us format plain text in a more friendly way.
I promise if I ask for any more extensions, I'll try hard to justify why they're needed. :)
Thanks!
Peter.
Jonathan McDowell wrote:
It's a MoinMoin Wiki, because I'm more at home with them and they work with flat files (I'm not entirely sure MediaWiki will do this?). I haven't moved over content from the existing "wiki" (feel free to do this) nor linked it in from the main page yet (if it takes off this is obviously simple).
FWIW, we use Dokuwiki which is also flat files, and with the monobook theme installed looks just like MediaWiki. It does have a poll plug-in, if that helps.
Cheers, Laurie.
On 21-Feb-07 Jonathan McDowell wrote:
In the spirit of trying to actually get us to the point where we have new content rather than the ever recurring discussions about the fact no one updates the website, I have created:
It's a MoinMoin Wiki, because I'm more at home with them and they work with flat files (I'm not entirely sure MediaWiki will do this?). I haven't moved over content from the existing "wiki" (feel free to do this) nor linked it in from the main page yet (if it takes off this is obviously simple).
So, get started. Should be perfectly possible for us to have various pages for the Norwich social meets, the Ipswich social meets and whatever else out there. Anyone can create themselves an account and I know there are anti spam measures out there for Moin so they can be looked at eventually if we see issues.
This looks like a good step forward!
I would like to a) Add myself to it (like JMcD and Eli) b) Add a new page
However, I can't suus out how to start doing either! Help please!
Thank, Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@manchester.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 21-Feb-07 Time: 19:42:36 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 07:42:58PM -0000, Ted Harding wrote:
On 21-Feb-07 Jonathan McDowell wrote:
In the spirit of trying to actually get us to the point where we have new content rather than the ever recurring discussions about the fact no one updates the website, I have created:
...
This looks like a good step forward!
I would like to a) Add myself to it (like JMcD and Eli)
a) Create yourself a login:
http://www.alug.org.uk/wiki/moin.cgi/UserPreferences
should be what you want. Once you've done that, create a new page with the same name as your login, by going to the empty page. eg:
http://www.alug.org.uk/wiki/moin.cgi/TedHarding
and click on the "Create new empty page" link.
b) Add a new page
In general try and go to the page you want to create and it'll offer you the chance to create it if it doesn't already exist; like the TedHarding page above.
However, I can't suus out how to start doing either! Help please!
Is the above helpful? The "Preview" button while editing is useful too and don't worry about making mistakes with updates as you can roll them back.
J.
On 21-Feb-07 Jonathan McDowell wrote:
On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 07:42:58PM -0000, Ted Harding wrote:
On 21-Feb-07 Jonathan McDowell wrote:
In the spirit of trying to actually get us to the point where we have new content rather than the ever recurring discussions about the fact no one updates the website, I have created:
...
This looks like a good step forward!
I would like to a) Add myself to it (like JMcD and Eli)
a) Create yourself a login:
http://www.alug.org.uk/wiki/moin.cgi/UserPreferences
should be what you want. Once you've done that, create a new page with the same name as your login, by going to the empty page. eg:
http://www.alug.org.uk/wiki/moin.cgi/TedHarding
and click on the "Create new empty page" link.
b) Add a new page
In general try and go to the page you want to create and it'll offer you the chance to create it if it doesn't already exist; like the TedHarding page above.
However, I can't suus out how to start doing either! Help please!
Is the above helpful? The "Preview" button while editing is useful too and don't worry about making mistakes with updates as you can roll them back.
Thanks! Managed to add myself, and a new page. Made a bit of a meal with the page's Title, though, so will have to find a way to edit that.
Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@manchester.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 21-Feb-07 Time: 20:10:27 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
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