Some time ago there was some discussion about
setting up something to make it easier to dig
up content from the Midgard mailing list archive
that should be included in the documentation.
Scripts were written for this so-called 'archive
mine', but were never activated for various reasons.
Nevertheless, the application has been slowly
grinding away in utter darkness, and now there's
an experimental site dedicated to the idea of
closer links between dialog and documentation...
see
http://www.commentext.org.
There's a demo forum and an associated document,
and some linking utilities to promote interchange
between the two. The forum provides a familiar
vehicle for dialog, and the linked document is
intended to make it easier to retain and focus the
information that comes up in the dialog in a
structured format. The document is set up so
that anyone can create new versions; however,
existing versions are not affected and there are
editorial hooks available to allow versions to
be stamped as 'approved' by editors/administrators.
Such approval would usefully be employed to
steer the content of the document and would help
to channel the dialog in the forum.
Lots of challenging issues to resolve, particularly in
the area of linking between the forum and document
verisons, and how these links should be propagated
into new versions; there are also quite a few usability
issues to address. Any comments or suggestions from
anyone who tries the demo would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul N.
