Re: Replacing Squishdot

[Christian Schaller <Uraeus linuxrising org>]

On 25 Aug 2001 12:50:46 -0700, Michael R. Bernstein wrote:
> On Sat, 2001-08-25 at 11:56, Christian Schaller wrote:
> > 
> > Hi Michael,
> > 
> > I am aware of the next generation Squishdot (Swishdot), but the problem
> > on gnome.org website is not the lack of great visions it is the lack of
> > implementation of those visions. And while I must confess not being
> > aware of the timetable for Swishdot, my general feeling is that we
> > shouldn't postpone doing anything with Gnotices today because something
> > may become available in 6 months (random time period).
> 
> Have you tested the Swishdot currently in CVS?
No, I haven't, how far away from being production ready is it? (days,
weeks or months?)


 
> > That said I have nothing against keeping Squishdot, but we have needs
> > that needs getting addressed in a short term timeframe.
> 
> Ok.
> 
> > As for details, well for moderation the need is simple. If the current
> > system in Squishdot actually worked and not posted any comments on the
> > page before they where approved by a moderator that would be fine.
> 
> Hmm. I've encountered this myself (randomly). I'm uncertain if it's been
> fixed in the current squishdot codebase (1.3). If so, you'll need to
> upgrade again. Perhaps someone on the squishdot list knows?
According to a mail from Chris Withers this was a bug he was not planing to fix 
in Squishdot. 

Exact quote from Chris was: 'This, sadly, is posting_html bogosity that
I'm nto gonna fix for Squishdot. Wait
for Swishdot, when I get a chance ;-)'


> > As for sidebars, well this a bit more complex, but our needs are as
> > follows:
> >
> > a) A sidebar with an event calendar. Currently this is done by parsing a
> > static webpage (an of-gnome.org website to make it worse). This should
> > be replaced by an system where people submit events much the same as
> > they currently submit newitems.
> 
> I believe that several people have implemented event calendars for CMF.
> I'll post a question there and get back to you.
> 
> > b) A sidebar for birthdays. People are not happy about having birthdays
> > displayed in the main news area, so moving birthday posts into a sidebar
> > might be nice.
> 
> You mean a separate subsection for birthdays (like slashdot's
> 'Interviews' section)?
I mean like a separate sidebar which we currently have for software, older 
stories and GNOME events. Would be nice if this could be handled by just selecting
the birthday subject in Squishdot, but moving it into a separate system
is also an option. Look at the example sidebars at news.gnome.org to see
what I mean.

> > c) The current software sidebar should be kept, but it needs to be
> > integrated with the new TROVE based software map.
> 
> How does TROVE expose this? Via RSS?
See Steve's reply.

> > We also need time controlled posting. We need to be able to approve a
> > story and set it to be published at a later time. (Important in order to
> > time press releases etc.)
> 
> An interesting requirement. The CMF supports this, but I'm not aware if
> the current swishdot does.
This is actually quite important, cause with the current setup we need someone to be
available at the right time with the right access to do this. And it
also is more error prone since that person needs to remember posting
this stuff.
 
> > As for flames I don't belive I have flamed either you or anyone about
> > the technical infrastructure choices of gnome.org. 
> 
> No, not you. In fact, all those people who posted 'I don't know Zope, so
> let's just use PHP because it's better and more people know it' (and
> probably whoever sent me anonymous flames in private), don't seem to be
> on the list anymore.
> 
> > To be honest I couldn't care less if we use Squishdot or some PHP based
> > system. What I care about is as a functional user of the website is that
> > the website provides me with the functionality to do my job and that
> > there are people around to solve technical problems as they arise.
> >
> > So if I seemed very php focused on my original mail is because I got the
> > distinct feeling that there really wasn't anyone on the gnome-web-devel
> > list interested in Zope development, but a lot of people interested in
> > PHP development.
> > 
> > So if you think you can help us the needed functionality on Gnotices
> > using the current Squishdot setup Michael that is great, since it
> > solves the archiving problem also. 
> 
> What is your time-frame? I am currently under the gun to complete a
> first draft of a book on Zope(scheduled for february publication), so I
> can't commit myself full-time, though I can probably help out quite a
> bit.

Well the timeframe isn't set in stone here, I guess what I need to see
is actuall progress being made, so if you could start fixing one problem
at a time as your time permits that would be enough for me, even if it
would be some months before the last of the requested features is
implemented. If you don't have the time to start looking into this at
all until february, we either need to have someone else volunteer to
work on Squishdot now, or accept the offer to have a PHP4 based setup.

Christian