Subject:
Re: Online editing (was: One-page replacement for LDP-Author-Guide)
From:
Tabatha Persad ####@####.####
Date:
2 May 2003 20:34:57 -0000
Message-Id: <1051907184.20320.74.camel@mysticchild>
Hi Howard,
I've tried nedit before, and it's not bad. XEmacs will always be my
hero (much to most people's surprise, since it's not the prettiest thing
in the world). Lots of people like Lyx and I know there are many
proprietary or Windows-compatible XML editors out there that probably
work okay too.
I may not be using the right terminology here, but I'm imagining a
Documentation Content Management system of sorts... one that helps the
authors write and commit their text online (automatically recording the
rev history)... one that perhaps integrates "bug reporting" so readers
can submit feedback directly on the doc (a lot of thought would have to
go into this I bet)... one that has tools for LDP staff for review work
and notes, collecting statistics, managing lists of volunteers...
The "form" idea, where a user could enter the relevant document
information, and then proceed to fill in the blanks until the document
is complete, is to me the secret of success. It could be built into the
LDP, and why not bring in some new online tools? Someone mentioned the
missing validator - I miss it too! This could all be built-in - shoot,
I have aliases to commands and options that do all that for me locally,
so it can't be impossible to do it online.
My significant other works extensively with PHP, and worked with me (due
to my DocBook experience) to do this very thing. He has created forms
online that wrap DocBook tags around user data to generate reports, ALL
done online. So we're close already (with some revision to that code I
imagine); it would just need to be tweaked to the LDP's needs rather
than the way it is currently customized for these reports.
I'm not trying to say that this is the best way, simply an alternative.
There is too much back-and-forth about the latest greatest offline
tools, but since our organization is online, wouldn't it be cool if we
offered this kind of thing? (Corporate Tab says, "Value-added services
rock!")
:D
Happy Friday!
Tabatha
On Fri, 2003-05-02 at 12:38, Howard Shane wrote:
> You might take a look nedit. It has SGML and XML syntax highlighting
> modes (alas, no Linuxdoc), has a motif-based GUI that is quite intuitive
> and a client-server mode (though I'm not sure it has the ability to edit
> online documents).
>
> Best of all it's GPL software.
>
> http://www.nedit.org/about/features.shtml
>
> hs
>
> Tabatha Persad wrote:
> > Hi Saqib,
> >
> > I took a look, seems interesting...but not quite what I envision (though
> > close). I'd like to see an emphasis on the free-ness of the tool - this
> > Ektron one comes across as proprietary to me.
> >
> > Also, for integration to the LDP site, it would need more to it than it
> > currently has. I couldn't get their demo to work right either, just got
> > a lot of blank boxes and instructions to click things that weren't
> > there!
> >
> > Tab
> >
> > On Fri, 2003-05-02 at 11:46, ####@####.#### wrote:
> >
> >>Since you mentioned online editor, take a look at this
> >>
> >>http://www.ektron.com/ewebeditproxml.cfm?doc_id=2380
> >>
> >>
> >>In Peace,
> >>Saqib Ali
> >>http://www.seagate.com/cheetah/
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Tabatha Persad
> >> <tabatha@merlinmo To: ####@####.####
> >> nroe.com> cc:
> >> No Phone Info Subject: Re: One-page replacement for LDP-Author-Guide (not exactly, but ...)
> >> Available
> >>
> >> 05/02/2003 11:17
> >> AM
> >> Please respond to
> >> tabatha
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>On Fri, 2003-05-02 at 07:55, jdd wrote:
> >>
> >>>I think that at a moment or an other (but surely not soon) anyboby will
> >>>be able to write his HOWTOs inline on the ldp site and with full xml
> >>>capabilities (not text wiki). may be when the lampada successor will be
> >>>out there.
> >>
> >>Someone I know is writing something like this using PHP and integrating
> >>DocBook for creation of documents via a web page. Since he's got to
> >>develop this for his work anyway, he's taking my suggestions so that he
> >>can make it something the LDP would be interested in having.
> >>
> >>My ideal would be to have an online editor that would allow the user to
> >>choose from Linuxdoc or DocBook (I know there are issues with this but I
> >>think that since they are both officially supported they should both be
> >>made available). It ought to be smart enough to prompt for the type of
> >>document and then insert the appropriate taggage on the user's behalf.
> >>Then, working in an outline method, an author could first create the
> >>chapter/section names, and then start inserting content, with
> >>lists/menus of tags nearby for formatting the text. On the back end the
> >>appropriate scripts would be in place to parse the document, confirm
> >>it's validity, and process it into other formats. Version control could
> >>be built-in, as could a management database to keep stats and info
> >>regarding reviews.
> >>
> >>Just a little dream I have! I imagine it will be built anyway, whether
> >>the LDP uses it or not, but I sure hope it could be a tool that would
> >>help authors who are not comfortable with any type of markup, or who
> >>lack the tools (for whatever reason) to work in this manner.
> >>
> >>Though I can't say when something like this would happen, maybe it's
> >>incentive enough for other PHPers out there who are fluent in
> >>DocBook/Linuxdoc to band together and see what can be created based on
> >>this idea. I believe it would be an excellent resource for the LDP.
> >>
> >>--
> >>Tabatha Persad
> >>Web: www.merlinmonroe.com
> >>Linux Documentation Project Review Coordinator (http://www.tldp.org)
> >>Linux Counter Area Manager US:wa (http://counter.li.org)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>______________________
> >>http://lists.tldp.org/
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>______________________
> >>http://lists.tldp.org/
> >
>
>
>
> ______________________
> http://lists.tldp.org/
--
Tabatha Persad
Web: www.merlinmonroe.com
Linux Documentation Project Review Coordinator (http://www.tldp.org)
Linux Counter Area Manager US:wa (http://counter.li.org)
