Re: [xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
I want to echo Ken's thoughts, and provide another data point to represent the beginners out there who may be turned off by the learning curve. This is something of a long post but I hope my concerns will be helpful to others. XWiki is a great product with a lot of potential for our organization (internal information exchange). I like it a lot, and I'm convinced that in the long run it's better for us than any of the other options. I'm primarily a .NET developer familiar with Java, Python, SQL, etc. I've set up the the whole shebang from scratch using SQL Server, Tomcat, and all the rest. I've created a new space, added some lengthy content with images, and restricted views of unregistered guests. Yet I'm still dismayed at how hard it is to get the most basic information on editing the very first page we all see. The page itself says it's easy! Just try editing in WYSIWYG - it quits. Try editing in Wiki mode - unintelligible. The documentation simply says just edit it (I'm paraphrasing), but that doesn't work, the macro doesn't make sense yet. I've spent many hours trying to understand what's going on with the dashboard tool (e.g., $msg.get), spent hours rummaging in the database schema looking for Welcome to your wiki so I can change it to Welcome to MY Freaking Wiki! (just kidding on that last part). I understand (now) that I can set up a new page and maybe in an hour or so figure out how to get the home page redirected there, but that is a lot of work for simply wanting to change the introductory text in the main page to say something meaningful to my co-workers to get them interested. Then I can go on the learn the programming part later. The point is that for folks like me there is a critical gap between getting things running and taking the first meaningful step towards controlling the application. If I am also not a programmer, then that gap is even larger. Questions: - I'd like to see a tutorial-style breakdown of how the dashboard app/tool thingy works. Having such a tutorial linked on the documentation page would be ideal, it would be a great learning tool and introduction to the more interesting features of XWiki. - In that tutorial, I'd like to know how to find out where to find $msg.get keys so I can change reuse them, find out how they are intended to be used, maybe even change them. Lots of parameters used in that tool are very difficult to find. How to know where to find even more? The API docs don't seem to cover this. Again, XWiki is a great product and I'm looking forward to using it even if I don't figure out the dashboard :). If some kind soul wanted to detail some explanations of the dashboard, and maybe create a HOWTO list of beginner tips that would be greatly appreciated by many I'm sure. Maybe such a thing exists and I just haven't found it yet? Many thanks, -Chris. -- View this message in context: http://xwiki.475771.n2.nabble.com/Need-some-Help-Explanations-tp7358161p7375688.html Sent from the XWiki- Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ___ users mailing list users@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
Re: [xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
Hi all, Thanks for your feedback. In the 4.0 timeframe we are planning to make some proposal that will improve the content of the homepage. This include http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-7568 (problem mentioned by Ken) http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XE-1117 (somehow related to what Chris mentioned) and I plan to propose some improvements on how the dashboard is displayed in inline mode. There is also a proposal for the first minute wizard http://incubator.myxwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Improvements/XWiki5MinutesProposal1 that can show users what they can do on the homepage. But from this list some may make it or not in 4.0. Also improving the Homepage and improving the Dashboard are kind of different things. Regarding the Dashboard documentation there is http://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Dashboard+Macro Regarding the $msg.get you can replace it by a custom string or read http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/DevGuide/InternationalizingApplications I know there are lots of areas that could be covered in documentation and everyone is invited in making the doc more complete. Also the suggestion to have a documentation link about the Dashboard on the homepage is tricky because other users would want maybe Activity Stream doc, etc. Finding a content that would please the majority of the users is the tricky part. Your feedback on this thread [investigation] XWiki 5 minutes Experience - Need users' help: http://xwiki.markmail.org/thread/vcx45otjgjpaca6a would be very welcomed. Thanks, Caty On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 15:57, Chris Bennett cbenn...@geofields.com wrote: I want to echo Ken's thoughts, and provide another data point to represent the beginners out there who may be turned off by the learning curve. This is something of a long post but I hope my concerns will be helpful to others. XWiki is a great product with a lot of potential for our organization (internal information exchange). I like it a lot, and I'm convinced that in the long run it's better for us than any of the other options. I'm primarily a .NET developer familiar with Java, Python, SQL, etc. I've set up the the whole shebang from scratch using SQL Server, Tomcat, and all the rest. I've created a new space, added some lengthy content with images, and restricted views of unregistered guests. Yet I'm still dismayed at how hard it is to get the most basic information on editing the very first page we all see. The page itself says it's easy! Just try editing in WYSIWYG - it quits. Try editing in Wiki mode - unintelligible. The documentation simply says just edit it (I'm paraphrasing), but that doesn't work, the macro doesn't make sense yet. I've spent many hours trying to understand what's going on with the dashboard tool (e.g., $msg.get), spent hours rummaging in the database schema looking for Welcome to your wiki so I can change it to Welcome to MY Freaking Wiki! (just kidding on that last part). I understand (now) that I can set up a new page and maybe in an hour or so figure out how to get the home page redirected there, but that is a lot of work for simply wanting to change the introductory text in the main page to say something meaningful to my co-workers to get them interested. Then I can go on the learn the programming part later. The point is that for folks like me there is a critical gap between getting things running and taking the first meaningful step towards controlling the application. If I am also not a programmer, then that gap is even larger. Questions: - I'd like to see a tutorial-style breakdown of how the dashboard app/tool thingy works. Having such a tutorial linked on the documentation page would be ideal, it would be a great learning tool and introduction to the more interesting features of XWiki. - In that tutorial, I'd like to know how to find out where to find $msg.get keys so I can change reuse them, find out how they are intended to be used, maybe even change them. Lots of parameters used in that tool are very difficult to find. How to know where to find even more? The API docs don't seem to cover this. Again, XWiki is a great product and I'm looking forward to using it even if I don't figure out the dashboard :). If some kind soul wanted to detail some explanations of the dashboard, and maybe create a HOWTO list of beginner tips that would be greatly appreciated by many I'm sure. Maybe such a thing exists and I just haven't found it yet? Many thanks, -Chris. -- View this message in context: http://xwiki.475771.n2.nabble.com/Need-some-Help-Explanations-tp7358161p7375688.html Sent from the XWiki- Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ___ users mailing list users@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users ___ users mailing list users@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
Re: [xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
A path that you can take to edit the home page is:
* Go to the home page
* Click Edit
* Notice the One included document in the information panel (I know..)
* Click on the Dashboard.WebHome link
* Click Edit
* You're taken to the dashboard editor where you can add/remove/edit gadgets
* Hover over one of the gadgets and a wheel icon will appear that will
give you more options when clicked
* Edit the first gadget, Welcome to your wiki
* Notice that this gadget is actually an include macro and the
included document is Main.Welcome
* Go to Main.Welcome and change the content
As for $msg.get('something') see
http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/DevGuide/InternationalizingApplications
Hope this helps,
Marius
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Chris Bennett cbenn...@geofields.com wrote:
I want to echo Ken's thoughts, and provide another data point to represent
the beginners out there who may be turned off by the learning curve. This
is something of a long post but I hope my concerns will be helpful to
others.
XWiki is a great product with a lot of potential for our organization
(internal information exchange). I like it a lot, and I'm convinced that in
the long run it's better for us than any of the other options. I'm primarily
a .NET developer familiar with Java, Python, SQL, etc. I've set up the the
whole shebang from scratch using SQL Server, Tomcat, and all the rest. I've
created a new space, added some lengthy content with images, and restricted
views of unregistered guests.
Yet I'm still dismayed at how hard it is to get the most basic information
on editing the very first page we all see. The page itself says it's easy!
Just try editing in WYSIWYG - it quits. Try editing in Wiki mode -
unintelligible. The documentation simply says just edit it (I'm
paraphrasing), but that doesn't work, the macro doesn't make sense yet.
I've spent many hours trying to understand what's going on with the
dashboard tool (e.g., $msg.get), spent hours rummaging in the database
schema looking for Welcome to your wiki so I can change it to Welcome to
MY Freaking Wiki! (just kidding on that last part).
I understand (now) that I can set up a new page and maybe in an hour or so
figure out how to get the home page redirected there, but that is a lot of
work for simply wanting to change the introductory text in the main page to
say something meaningful to my co-workers to get them interested. Then I
can go on the learn the programming part later.
The point is that for folks like me there is a critical gap between getting
things running and taking the first meaningful step towards controlling the
application. If I am also not a programmer, then that gap is even larger.
Questions:
- I'd like to see a tutorial-style breakdown of how the dashboard app/tool
thingy works. Having such a tutorial linked on the documentation page would
be ideal, it would be a great learning tool and introduction to the more
interesting features of XWiki.
- In that tutorial, I'd like to know how to find out where to find $msg.get
keys so I can change reuse them, find out how they are intended to be used,
maybe even change them. Lots of parameters used in that tool are very
difficult to find. How to know where to find even more? The API docs don't
seem to cover this.
Again, XWiki is a great product and I'm looking forward to using it even if
I don't figure out the dashboard :). If some kind soul wanted to detail
some explanations of the dashboard, and maybe create a HOWTO list of
beginner tips that would be greatly appreciated by many I'm sure. Maybe
such a thing exists and I just haven't found it yet?
Many thanks,
-Chris.
--
View this message in context:
http://xwiki.475771.n2.nabble.com/Need-some-Help-Explanations-tp7358161p7375688.html
Sent from the XWiki- Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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Re: [xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
Hi Chris,
or, more straightforward:
- Edit the page
- Click on the Source tab
- Remove everything and put some nice text instead
- Also remove the title and replace it with content of your choice
- You're done!
Guillaume
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 16:17, Marius Dumitru Florea
mariusdumitru.flo...@xwiki.com wrote:
A path that you can take to edit the home page is:
* Go to the home page
* Click Edit
* Notice the One included document in the information panel (I know..)
* Click on the Dashboard.WebHome link
* Click Edit
* You're taken to the dashboard editor where you can add/remove/edit
gadgets
* Hover over one of the gadgets and a wheel icon will appear that will
give you more options when clicked
* Edit the first gadget, Welcome to your wiki
* Notice that this gadget is actually an include macro and the
included document is Main.Welcome
* Go to Main.Welcome and change the content
As for $msg.get('something') see
http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/DevGuide/InternationalizingApplications
Hope this helps,
Marius
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Chris Bennett cbenn...@geofields.com
wrote:
I want to echo Ken's thoughts, and provide another data point to
represent
the beginners out there who may be turned off by the learning curve.
This
is something of a long post but I hope my concerns will be helpful to
others.
XWiki is a great product with a lot of potential for our organization
(internal information exchange). I like it a lot, and I'm convinced that
in
the long run it's better for us than any of the other options. I'm
primarily
a .NET developer familiar with Java, Python, SQL, etc. I've set up the
the
whole shebang from scratch using SQL Server, Tomcat, and all the rest.
I've
created a new space, added some lengthy content with images, and
restricted
views of unregistered guests.
Yet I'm still dismayed at how hard it is to get the most basic
information
on editing the very first page we all see. The page itself says it's
easy!
Just try editing in WYSIWYG - it quits. Try editing in Wiki mode -
unintelligible. The documentation simply says just edit it (I'm
paraphrasing), but that doesn't work, the macro doesn't make sense yet.
I've spent many hours trying to understand what's going on with the
dashboard tool (e.g., $msg.get), spent hours rummaging in the database
schema looking for Welcome to your wiki so I can change it to Welcome
to
MY Freaking Wiki! (just kidding on that last part).
I understand (now) that I can set up a new page and maybe in an hour or
so
figure out how to get the home page redirected there, but that is a lot
of
work for simply wanting to change the introductory text in the main page
to
say something meaningful to my co-workers to get them interested. Then I
can go on the learn the programming part later.
The point is that for folks like me there is a critical gap between
getting
things running and taking the first meaningful step towards controlling
the
application. If I am also not a programmer, then that gap is even
larger.
Questions:
- I'd like to see a tutorial-style breakdown of how the dashboard
app/tool
thingy works. Having such a tutorial linked on the documentation page
would
be ideal, it would be a great learning tool and introduction to the more
interesting features of XWiki.
- In that tutorial, I'd like to know how to find out where to find
$msg.get
keys so I can change reuse them, find out how they are intended to be
used,
maybe even change them. Lots of parameters used in that tool are very
difficult to find. How to know where to find even more? The API docs
don't
seem to cover this.
Again, XWiki is a great product and I'm looking forward to using it even
if
I don't figure out the dashboard :). If some kind soul wanted to detail
some explanations of the dashboard, and maybe create a HOWTO list of
beginner tips that would be greatly appreciated by many I'm sure. Maybe
such a thing exists and I just haven't found it yet?
Many thanks,
-Chris.
--
View this message in context:
http://xwiki.475771.n2.nabble.com/Need-some-Help-Explanations-tp7358161p7375688.html
Sent from the XWiki- Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
___
users mailing list
users@xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
___
users mailing list
users@xwiki.org
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Re: [xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 17:17, Marius Dumitru Florea
mariusdumitru.flo...@xwiki.com wrote:
A path that you can take to edit the home page is:
* Go to the home page
* Click Edit
* Notice the One included document in the information panel (I know..)
* Click on the Dashboard.WebHome link
* Click Edit
or with an Advanced User click directly on Edit: Inline Form
* You're taken to the dashboard editor where you can add/remove/edit
gadgets
* Hover over one of the gadgets and a wheel icon will appear that will
give you more options when clicked
* Edit the first gadget, Welcome to your wiki
* Notice that this gadget is actually an include macro and the
included document is Main.Welcome
* Go to Main.Welcome and change the content
As for $msg.get('something') see
http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/DevGuide/InternationalizingApplications
Hope this helps,
Marius
On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Chris Bennett cbenn...@geofields.com
wrote:
I want to echo Ken's thoughts, and provide another data point to
represent
the beginners out there who may be turned off by the learning curve.
This
is something of a long post but I hope my concerns will be helpful to
others.
XWiki is a great product with a lot of potential for our organization
(internal information exchange). I like it a lot, and I'm convinced that
in
the long run it's better for us than any of the other options. I'm
primarily
a .NET developer familiar with Java, Python, SQL, etc. I've set up the
the
whole shebang from scratch using SQL Server, Tomcat, and all the rest.
I've
created a new space, added some lengthy content with images, and
restricted
views of unregistered guests.
Yet I'm still dismayed at how hard it is to get the most basic
information
on editing the very first page we all see. The page itself says it's
easy!
Just try editing in WYSIWYG - it quits. Try editing in Wiki mode -
unintelligible. The documentation simply says just edit it (I'm
paraphrasing), but that doesn't work, the macro doesn't make sense yet.
I've spent many hours trying to understand what's going on with the
dashboard tool (e.g., $msg.get), spent hours rummaging in the database
schema looking for Welcome to your wiki so I can change it to Welcome
to
MY Freaking Wiki! (just kidding on that last part).
I understand (now) that I can set up a new page and maybe in an hour or
so
figure out how to get the home page redirected there, but that is a lot
of
work for simply wanting to change the introductory text in the main page
to
say something meaningful to my co-workers to get them interested. Then I
can go on the learn the programming part later.
The point is that for folks like me there is a critical gap between
getting
things running and taking the first meaningful step towards controlling
the
application. If I am also not a programmer, then that gap is even
larger.
Questions:
- I'd like to see a tutorial-style breakdown of how the dashboard
app/tool
thingy works. Having such a tutorial linked on the documentation page
would
be ideal, it would be a great learning tool and introduction to the more
interesting features of XWiki.
- In that tutorial, I'd like to know how to find out where to find
$msg.get
keys so I can change reuse them, find out how they are intended to be
used,
maybe even change them. Lots of parameters used in that tool are very
difficult to find. How to know where to find even more? The API docs
don't
seem to cover this.
Again, XWiki is a great product and I'm looking forward to using it even
if
I don't figure out the dashboard :). If some kind soul wanted to detail
some explanations of the dashboard, and maybe create a HOWTO list of
beginner tips that would be greatly appreciated by many I'm sure. Maybe
such a thing exists and I just haven't found it yet?
Many thanks,
-Chris.
--
View this message in context:
http://xwiki.475771.n2.nabble.com/Need-some-Help-Explanations-tp7358161p7375688.html
Sent from the XWiki- Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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users mailing list
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http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
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Re: [xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
Caty, Thanks very much for your speedy and detailed answer. I'm glad to see that the first few minutes' experience has a high priority for documentation. I will be looking closely at the links you gave and will be happy to provide feedback where I can. Regarding the documentation link for the Dashboard vs Activity Stream, I would think either would work as long as the same ideas are covered. For example, there should be no need to detail the syntax of velocity or groovy, but maybe links to more information for each idea is sufficient. Like with the dashboard code, perhaps an image of the code and a graphic pointer from the $context.user token to a link that points to the context object (e.g., http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/DevGuide/Scripting, but that's not quite right actually). In other words, a visual map of the interesting parts of the script with links to *details on that specific usage*, not just to a generic API page. Maybe an intermediate page that details all the script's ideas, in order, with links to specific topics. Anyway, just some ideas that come to mind. I'm sure you've already thought of these. -Chris. -- View this message in context: http://xwiki.475771.n2.nabble.com/Need-some-Help-Explanations-tp7358161p7376163.html Sent from the XWiki- Users mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ___ users mailing list users@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
Re: [xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
Hi, you can easily dumb it down by replacing the content of the homepage by some static content with links. Here's an example: http://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/Documentation JV. On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 2:03 PM, Ken Jennings kennethwjenni...@gmail.com wrote: Hello I am a new user of X-Wiki Cloud. I am trying to use it to develop a Knowledge base for our Project. I chose to use X-Wiki Cloud because it appeared to be the WIKI tool that had the best set of Big Time Capabilities and because it was Extensible and would work with many different architectures. It seemed to offer the most flexibility for the long haul. To date I have opened a free account and started to post some content links. However; I am having a VERY difficult time understanding how I organize manage Spaces, Pages General Content. I am particularly frustrated in that, I cannot seem to find a way to manage the headings or titles (SPACES) that appear on our Dashboard. X-Wiki Cloud starts one out with things like Annotation Code, AppWithinMInutes, ApplicationSecurityBackgroundInformation, Blog, . I do not need to see those Tool Boxes, nor do I want my partner to see them as he learns how to use the X-Wiki Cloud tool. Right now I am struggling as I try to manage it and 'Dumb it Down' so I can start out learning it using it to build a relatively simple Knowledge Base. Can anyone help me with this? Ken Jennings Toronto Canada ___ users mailing list users@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users -- Jean-Vincent Drean, XWiki. ___ users mailing list users@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
[xwiki-users] Need some Help Explanations
Hello I am a new user of X-Wiki Cloud. I am trying to use it to develop a Knowledge base for our Project. I chose to use X-Wiki Cloud because it appeared to be the WIKI tool that had the best set of Big Time Capabilities and because it was Extensible and would work with many different architectures. It seemed to offer the most flexibility for the long haul. To date I have opened a free account and started to post some content links. However; I am having a VERY difficult time understanding how I organize manage Spaces, Pages General Content. I am particularly frustrated in that, I cannot seem to find a way to manage the headings or titles (SPACES) that appear on our Dashboard. X-Wiki Cloud starts one out with things like Annotation Code, AppWithinMInutes, ApplicationSecurityBackgroundInformation, Blog, . I do not need to see those Tool Boxes, nor do I want my partner to see them as he learns how to use the X-Wiki Cloud tool. Right now I am struggling as I try to manage it and 'Dumb it Down' so I can start out learning it using it to build a relatively simple Knowledge Base. Can anyone help me with this? Ken Jennings Toronto Canada ___ users mailing list users@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
