[if time]read[else]postpone[if] On Mar 11, 2010, at 8:43 PM, The Editor wrote:
> Hey I really like your mind map. We should have something similar on > the BoltWire site somewhere. Though perhaps not java... :) And with > links to the various tutorials. But sounds like a big project. Thanks for the feedback. It's made with Freemind which also exports Flash maps though the Java version has better font rendering. I already integrated some links. Just click the nodes with red arrows. > As for nomenclature, I agree with Markus that analogies can both help > and hurt. If I were doing it over I might use "sites" instead of > "field" but there's a reason behind the farm metaphor. Back when I > first began using wiki's (a different engine) they had a big > discussion on nomenclature and changed the term fields to wikis. They > also used the term "farm" for multiple sites on one installation. I > argued fields fit better semantically with the farm idea but got voted > down. The other side argued the term farms had to do with server farms > not agriculture (as if that wasn't a metaphor itself), and they even > poked a bit of fun at me by suggesting we should have a "barn" in > there somewhere too. And why not a "tractor"... :-D Funny. > Well when I launch my own project I decided to have my way after all! > :) So thats why we have farm, field and barn. In fact I came close to > calling engine.php tractor.php. After all, in my mind at least, the > other scripts are simply tractor implements (conditions, commands, > functions, etc). If I could have come up with something better for the > "system" folder I would have probably used it (garden or something) > but nothing clicked. Never too late to come up with something though! > > The other wiki also had a cookbook/recipe metaphor for plugins which I > really liked, but I never could quite bring myself to borrow for > BoltWire. And I couldn't think of a decent alternative. (Still open to > suggestions!). As BoltWire progressed, I suppose we become more > standardized with pix and skins and plugins etc. And in the > documentation. But I suspect we have lost a little color in the > process... tractor.php... first thought this to be a joke. :) If I had to decide between cookbook/recipe and plugins, I would choose plugins. Might be rooted in studying nutrition... To plug something in is straightforward. Recipe is okay because it's quite generic. Cookbook is just alien in the context of a CMS. One thought concerning color. I think this should be the last benchmark to use. Colorful or colorless: what counts are users that understand what the farmers talk about and that quickly. The thing with analogies in the nomenclature is that you are never able to be consistent. Why are 'pages' in a field? Shouldn't they be called crops then? But then you would have to refer to them as crops on-site. Uh, now things get ugly. There are terms that I like. 'Field' is good because you never forget that one can have multiple fields. 'Stamps' are good because it's nail on the head. Much better for example than copies or backups. 'Barn' as it contains the tools and 'farm' as it contains additions are both okay. But plugins could belong to both: a tools addition. The stamps folder could be the granary because it saves your life from time to time and crops (pages) go in there. But stamps might be easier to grasp. Terribly difficult to decide for each and every term. > I just remember as a new programmer--I found it really helpful to have > analogies like this, and I've always wanted to keep BoltWire as > accessible to folks with limited programming experience as possible, > while extending it's capabilities the other direction as hard as > possible. If we get to a BoltWire lite/pro duality, I would really > like to rethink the BoltWire Lite as carefully as possible to make it > super easy to learn and conceptualize. It should be almost fun. You automatically get a lite version if you succeed to allow the lite users learn and use BoltWire while not scaring them with the pro stuff. I think of the above mind map as a BoltWire lite guide that hides many pro things and therefore being less scary. Look at Macs. Are they lite? They are. Probably the litest computers out there. Are they pro? Definitely. Are they scary? No, because the geek stuff is hidden from grandma. I think that is one of the key elements of design. Be powerful but don't show it off until you are asked to. > Speaking of which, I'm glad you got a chuckle Markus! I miss the > early days when BoltWire was still just a dream in progress and we > could tinker more freely. It's gotten bigger now, with more users, and > I don't feel that same liberty to change things around and just have > fun. But there are times I do feel a bit mischievous and if I had my > preference it would be to add more metaphor, rather than less. > Probably just my personality, but fortunately there are others here to > help keep me on track. You said the magic word: personality. Some analogies work for some people and others for others. Maybe that is why heavily usability tested software is rarely put into strong metaphoric chains. Just imagine Apple had used the "Safari" theme all over the place. Would you prefer "Guide" to "Finder"? "Binoculars" to "Preview"? "Radio" to "Mail"? If you start using chains you are trapped and for every good metaphor you have a bad one. I think the best way to go is to use easy, describing words without overarching chains: How do millions of people all over the web refer to the thing you put in your field folder? Site. Then use site. How do ... to the thing you put in your pages folder? Page. Then use page. Do people understand stamps because of print history? Think so. Is it better than backup/copy? Yes? Then stay with it. Skins? Mediocre. What about 'looks'? Actually it is the look of the website that you define. Absolutely no need for a metaphor. Look is dead simple. Plugins? Plugins, extensions, add-ons... 'extensions' is quite neutral. Img? Do we have to abbreviate it? You use a variable for it anyways. What about 'images' instead? Pub? See above. It's only six characters: 'public'. Files, config, indexes? Files is just what everybody calls them. Config could be settings but this might both should be easy enough (at least use the same term as for site.config). Indexes? 'Catalogues' might be a bit less abstract than index -- not sure about this one. System? No. There is so much system that is not in this system folder. What is in system? Pages! Why not call it pages? Isn't it extremely similar to the pages you put in your site's pages folder? But how would you differentiate it from site pages? See next. Barn? As it contains a folder with default pages and some source code it could be called the system. The barn is the system. Download a new version of the BoltWire system? What do you do? Replace barn. Replacing the system would be straightforward. (Engine might be as good as system.) Scripts? Well, these are PHP scripts. Scripts pretty much covers that, no? Farm? Tough one. What is it? A folder where you put files shared between your sites. Hm, what comes to my mind when thinking of shared files? Maybe "shared"? It almost instantly tells you that you can access them from all your sites. And 'shared' is used everywhere today to express this. To summarize my ideal that might totally scare Dan because of it's non-specialty: /boltwire /boltwire/system /boltwire/system/scripts /boltwire/system/pages /boltwire/shared /boltwire/shared/extensions /boltwire/shared/images /boltwire/shared/public /boltwire/shared/looks /site /site/config /site/files /site/catalogues or indexes /site/pages /site/stamps Print it out and give it to everybody you know. Do the same with the farm nomenclature. Then let them explain to you what they expect in each folder. My questions of today: - Which terms have more in common: "BoltWire" (read: "bolts and wires") and "farm" or "cow" and "meow"? - Is Dan a farmer or an exceptional engineer? "BoltWire" makes me think of engineering. Do you see the relation to construction "sites"? To "public" buildings? To "shared" buildings? To electricity, heating or water "systems" that give life to buildings? Who made "stamping" text possible? Farmers or engineers? This has MUCH MORE related metaphors than the current naming theme and MUCH MORE consistency! And it does not even demand users to think through the analogies and metaphors... Regards, "Butcher of the sacred cow" > Cheers, > Dan > > > On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 2:09 PM, Markus <[email protected]> wrote: >> Glad you like it. >> >> Although I don't have difficulties with the nomenclature, I am aware >> of the fact that analogies can make things either more difficult or >> easier. >> >> I cannot remember how many times I explained to people that their >> Desktop is just a folder that is displayed in a different way. If it >> wasn't the Desktop but just a folder that is displayed in a different >> way, everyone who understood what a folder is wouldn't be scared >> anymore about that magic thing behind their windows. On the other hand >> "folder" itself is an analogy but one which actually works. >> >> Back to BoltWire. Yes, a farm analogy is a bit far-streched for a web >> development engine. I know it is cool to talk about farms and fields >> though you might get hungry or sick of your city life. Having to >> mentally transform the beautiful landscape, cows and colorful crops to >> some file system folders while you must understand what the actual >> analogy is... might or might not make it easier. >> >> I probably couldn't even tell you _without_ thinking what the >> analogies are. I say "field" but in my head is just a folder. I say >> "farm" but in my head is just a folder. Do I think of stamps? >> Certainly not. Just past versions of my pages. And so on. >> >> I am not saying that the nomenclature makes it more difficult. Nobody >> knows that. As we don't, there is a high advantage to keeping >> everything as it is: we know the nomenclature, new users will learn it >> probably as fast as without it and we have a zillion documents where >> these terms are used. Also I had a good laugh when first reading that >> someone was really that funny to use a farm analogy for a CMS...! :) >> >> Last but not least, it makes BoltWire special and eco-friendly. >> >> Moo, >> Markus >> >> On Mar 10, 6:51 pm, riccardo <[email protected]> wrote: >>> On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 05:02:24AM -0800, Markus wrote: >>>> I agree that more FAQs would be great. What do you think about this >>>> quick, unfinished map: >>> >>>> http://www.markusweimar.de/test/BoltWire.html >>> >>> Oh, that is useful. I still find the the nomenclature non-obvious. As a >>> developer of buildings, I must simply remember that fields are just sites... >>> >>> But a helpful diagram. Thanks >>> >>> richard >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "BoltWire" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/boltwire?hl=en. >> >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "BoltWire" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/boltwire?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BoltWire" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/boltwire?hl=en.
