Editorial Board Meeting 2009 06

Last meeting: Editorial Board Meeting 2009 05 | Next meeting: Editorial Board Meeting 2009 07

Motions Passed Last Month

1.1. Use proposal plugin for future EBM

Motions Defeated Last Month

none

1. Motions Carried Over

1.1. Change doc.tw.o menus

Discussion: see that doctwo revamp page.

marc: I hope top menu will one day be used for global *.tiki.org navigation

Undecided: lindon (I like having the All the Documentation site map link somewhere, also like the current choices under Author Resources. Depending on how reduced TOC in side menu looks, some keywords might still be helpful since lots of things are covered in keywords that wouldn't show in a reduced TOC or freetags. Otherwise menu proposals seem okay.)

lindon again: would also like a link to my user page for registered users

Things like Author resources would appear only for authors. Not sure I agree about having User Pages on doc.tw.o. IMHO, User Pages should be limited to the community site. (ricks99)

I'd also like to see the registration process change for tw.o changed so that new registrants can choose:

• Community Member (write access to tw.o)
• Developer (write access to dev.tw.o)
• Doc Contributor (write access to doc.tw.o)
  -ricks99

1.2. Change doc.tw.o modules

Discussion: see that doctwo revamp page.

• lindon (I don't mean that i completely oppose but i do like the registered users online, and search by page name modules for registered users. Also assume the developer menu would remain for those users.)
  xavi: so do I. I'm ok with the general proposition with your additional comments, lindon
  • For an end-user, what value does the "Registered Users Online" module give? (ricks99)
    • If I register for a site like this, where just about the only reason to do so is to collaborate and "volunteer" in some way, then I enjoy seeing who else is online. It's motivating to me. If I just want info then I don't login here. But that's just me ;-) Certainly not a deal-breaker one way or the other, but I would miss it if it went away. (lindon)
      • I guess to have it for Registered only would be OK. But for Anonymous visitors, I see little value.
        • Agree - my original suggestion above was for registered users only. (lindon)

lindon again: would like a bookmark module for adding own bookmarks

• Hmm... To be honest, I've never used Tiki's bookmarks. I've always simply used bookmarks directly within my browser.
  • But nice to give the option for those that like such modules? Or do you think it clutters things too much? (lindon)
    • For me, it is just visual clutter. But if we enable Registered users to configure their own modules, then people like me could remove it, and folks like you could keep it. (ricks99)
      • Great idea. (lindon)

What about using polls, surveys, etc. to ask users for opinions on what modules they would like or not like (like "Would you like to see a bookmark module on the side menu?", "Do you find the keyword list useful?" etc.). We could expand it to cover other things periodically like "What area of documentation needs the most work?", "What pages do you think work best?". Just a thought. Not sure what the experience has been with this sort of thing. (lindon)

• IMHO this should be posted in the Documentation forum on tw.o. I really think we should strive to keep doc.tw.o neat and clean — KISS.

1.3. categories for status

Motion: keep Categories to indicate also the status of wiki pages, besides the wiki tags and freetags

Discussion: are there but not being used. Do we use? or do we nuke?
ricks99:

• I (ricks99) would like to continue to use them (to alert readers as to the "correctness" of a particular page). However I see a potential issue: How can we "split" the category of a page when using the VERSIONS plugin? For example, the 2.x information may be "LIVE", but the 3.x information may be "TO DO." Currently (I think), Tiki allows only 1:1 — category:page.
• I (ricks99) would also like to see the categories be simplified. Maybe something like:
  1. Stub — Newly generated page; no real content.
  2. In Progress — Being worked on, not up-to-date or complete.
  3. In Review — Content complete. Needs to be reviewed/verified.
  4. Complete — Page is done & published.

Maybe also use Staging feature?

xavi: I propose to remove all categories for status, since they are applicable to the whole wiki page, and I find the status tags and backlinks (implemented by mlpvolt and dthacker, afaik) much more versatile in a per version, section or paragraph basis.

+ I suggest to keep categories only for monitoring specific groups of pages like in EBM pages. CLick once to monitor somewhere for EMB pages, and you receive emails about changes on all pages, even if you forget the monitor the page for the new month (in case it has been properly categorized, of course ;-) ).

marclaporte: if we keep, who will clean up the 1000 pages? We need a reset/clean-up. Perhaps erase all and build organically from now on.

1.4. Remove en-uk as a possible language

just causes confusion. When we filter by language, there are uk english pages which are not really different to English pages
There is no en-uk version for Wikipedia, with over 250 languages

Discussion:

-1 — color is different than colour (ricks99)

+1 No disrespect meant to UK people, but many languages have regional variations but are still essentially understandable and considered a single language. Tiki's en-uk is probably meant for UK-focus sites. (chibaguy)

1.5. Remove my footnotes

to simplify interface
need to check in db if any data

Discussion:

+1, i never used it myself — luci

-1, I like having it. It allows contributors to work on pages without actually editing the "real" content. If we implement the Staging system to doc.tw.o, then +1 from me (ricks99)

-1, I haven't used it but think it could be useful. Not sure if staging would replace it for me. (lindon)

2. New Motions

2.1. New Motion 1

Discussion: I find it dangerous and cumbersome to not be informed of new and potentially security related versions, upgrades and bugfixes of TikiWiki. While there is no solution to that problem, I find it important to provide the information how to overcome it, by checking before installing, or using the release check.

• Does this really need to be an EBM Motion? Why not simply submit this as a new Suggested FAQ? Isn't that the purpose of enabling the SUGGEST AN FAQ option? (ricks99)
  • It was entered here since I was recommended to do so on IRC. (tobi_h)
    • Again, ignore this entry - I am checking on the status of this bug: http://dev.tiki.org/tiki-view_tracker_item.php?itemId=2591 (tobi_h)

2.2. New Motion 2

Discussion: I find it dangerous and cumbersome to not be informed of new and potentially security related versions, upgrades and bugfixes of TikiWiki. While there is no solution to that problem, I find it important to provide the information how to overcome it, by using the RSS feed. I'd appreciate if there were a commitment by the developers WRT the location of such announcements. ;)

2.3. New Motion 3

Discussion: Concerning the RSS feed of comments: I am bitten daily by this, and have several users of my site on my back with this. I guess I am not the only one looking for that information.

2.4. New Motion 4

Discussion: xavi mentioned this to be a good idea. I agree.

Is a doc contributor the same as a doc editor? If yes, then I agree. If not, then the doc contributor should be using the "Suggest an FAQ" feature, and the doc editor should approve/reject the suggestion.

---

2.5. New Motion 5

Discussion:
I am ok to keep a link from doc to any relevant thread or info. So there could be relevant links section on all pages.

Maybe we can have a custom module or plugin on each doc page:

-ricks99

And, ideally, all doc pages that have corresponding sister wiki page on dev.tw.o should have a prominent link.

{PROPOSAL(caption="Motion #")}

---

Next meeting: July 2009