I understood the question to be, not "What is a good saving mechanism for TW?" but "What's the best solution for the non-technical person?". TiddlyServer might be the best over-all solution (hypothetically), but it's not simple. You have to install and configure node. You have to download a version of TS. You have to unzip, You have to copy a configuration file and then edit it with an editor. You have to make sense of weird-sounding parameters. Then you have to remember to launch it and you have to know howto navigate on the url bar. I've typed 127.0.0.1 thousands of times. It doesn't look strange to me. But it does to noobies. Configuration issues are also why Bob isn't in the running, IMO. But I would be curious to see how it works with the new single file saver.
The same logic applies to Polly, which requires configuration. These concerns would be relegated mostly to Mac and Windows. I figure anyone on Linux would not find these issues difficult. These days, I think we can assume that users know how to download and install regular, certified software like Firefox. There is hand-holding built into these activities already. You don't have to know much about file structure, for instance. Once firefox is up, then you can install extensions just by clicking on an icon and searching for a name. Not too technical. After that there's only one small configuration issue -- you have to specify the root drive for downloads. If this is your only FF instance, then all a person has to do to launch a TW file is to right-click and select "Open with Firefox". The problem I see with a Plugin that connects to a program on the drive is installation of the file and certification. It really needs to a certified app so that the user doesn't get these dire messages and so that the IT department doesn't throw a fit. Then someone will have to maintain an extension on Edge, FF, and Chrome -- a constantly changing target. Perhaps you should put together an estimate of how much work / money it would take to make an all-in-one single file solution. On Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 11:28:37 AM UTC-8, Arlen Beiler wrote: > > Tony, > > I've read most of this thread and find it quite interesting. Yes, we > really do lack a simple way to save TiddlyWiki5 years after the FireFox > Apocalypse. But there are many more options available that have not been > put to use yet, or fully fleshed out. Why? I think it is funding. I > personally could write all the solutions you could ever need but I do not > have the funding to support myself while I do it. I know there are a couple > of others here that might be similarly skilled but might not have the > funds. I don't know what other people's schedules are like, but mine is > fairly ad-hoc and I could probably make room for it in my work week. > > Now, what solutions are there? There are quite a few. > > TiddlyServer does support saving single-file wikis as well as data > folders. Not sure why that wasn't mentioned earlier. And you could easily > fit TiddlyServer into Electron if you really wanted to so it would be its > own app, but that's not necessary. > > A Chrome/Firefox/Edge plugin that connects to a program installed on the > user's computer and allows wikis to be saved. It would definitely have to > have some safety controls built-in, such as only allowing local files to > save and only allowing them to save back to their own file, but it is a > very viable option. It's probably the closest way to match the abilities of > mobile apps. > > Mobile works so well because apps can include a browser window directly in > the app and communicate with that window through various pathways. So > mobile is actually much easier to solve, and the technology is already in > common use. It's possible to run TiddlyServer on Android, but not iOS (that > I could find). > > Cloud connectors have been made by myself and others, but they have not > been maintained, mostly because of lack of funds or interest, I suppose. > They are, however, a very good option for single-file wikis and could be > set up for data folders as well, though this is much more complicated. But > for highly mobile users who store their stuff online (a lot of business > people do), this is a pretty good option. > > There are different ways we could use cloud connectors. We could store > them in the wiki, or host them on github.io and allow you to access your > Dropbox or other online storage accounts. We could also hook up a wiki to > GitHub to track revisions directly from GitHub. I don't know how this works > but I'm sure it would be easily possible. The options are almost as > limitless as the cloud storage platforms available to use. > > I recently came up with a system where the core and other large plugins > can be loaded from the web, which requires a dependable internet > connection, but in these scenarios works perfectly fine. And a bonus is > that the plugins are cached after the first use so a subsequent page load > can be a lot faster. > > I would say as a community we have barely implemented half of the > available options. We've probably implemented the easy half. The other half > is easy for people that are experienced with web frameworks and web > development but it just takes time to build solutions. > > I know there are a few people here that know as much and more about > software development than I do, and there are people here that have poured > even more their own free time into TiddlyWiki than I have and I am very > grateful to those people. So I hate even mentioning money. But that really > is what holds me back from implementing some of these more advanced > solutions. A year ago I didn't have much time, but I do have more time now, > as I'm no longer living in China. So I'm not begging for funds or asking > anyone to donate to my cause. Rather, I do believe that is the main reason > more advanced solutions have not been implemented. With TiddlyServer, I did > a lot of the R&D for a work project, and a lot of the grunt work I did > during a week of school because I needed a better way to organize my notes. > Recently I did a major rewrite in my spare time, but it's not easy for me > to do that. > > I know there are others here who are very qualified to get paid for their > work, and I'm not wanting to turn this community into a marketing campaign > at all. I value the free sharing of ideas and often contribute myself. I > also know that there are plenty of people here who use it for work and > sometimes I wonder (as a freelancer does) if some of them might be willing > (as many business people are) to pay for some more advanced solutions or at > least help support their development. > > Just my thoughts. I welcome other perspectives on these things. > Arlen > > On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 10:02 PM TonyM <[email protected] <javascript:>> > wrote: > >> All, >> >> This is proving to be a great repository of ideas, savings mechanisms and >> exploring the possibilities. >> >> One method I have being wondering about is how TiddlyServer handles >> single file wikis. Clearly it makes use of node for the folder based wikis >> and the wikis appear at http:/ipaddress/virtual/folder but this requires >> the somewhat cumbersome settings.json file. >> >> I wonder if an executable install of a subset of TiddlyServer/or Node, to >> save tiddlywikis at a standard location eg Documents/TiddlyWiki and a link >> to eg: http:/ipaddress:8081/ where Documents/TiddlyWiki is the root folder >> and supporting files like node installed elsewhere, such that it serves >> single File Wikis (at least). With a custom association perhaps we could >> Double click a tw file and it will open at http:/ipaddress:8081/twname.tw >> or http:/ipaddress:8081/foldername/twname.tw >> >> In this case it is one install script per Operating system and this is >> minimised using node and a fixed tiddlywiki folder. This would be mostly >> browser independent. >> >> The ability to be online in a wiki and and some how use the download or >> default save, to save a wiki to the above documents/tiddlywiki would make >> access to and saving future wikis and editions simple. >> >> Just further ideas >> Tony >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TiddlyWiki" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tiddlywiki/57d70753-639f-4c09-ada1-b128b3963513%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tiddlywiki/57d70753-639f-4c09-ada1-b128b3963513%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group. 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