on 2/28/01 1:50 PM, Emiliano at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> If what your saying is that the manual needs to be clearer and needs
> more
> examples, no contest from me. None.
This is where the steep learning curve begins. I've been thinking about
where or how to add examples to make things easier for web developers to use
midgard. I can think of two ways to approach a more user friendly approach
to building a web site.
The first is to simply add better examples to some of the functions. For
instance the function mgd_list_topics at:
http://www.midgard-project.org/req/midgard-1.4/mgd-list-topics.htm
shows an example:
<?php
$lst = mgd_list_topics(17);
if(!$lst) {
echo "mgd_list_topics(17) failed.<br>";
echo "reason: " . mgd_errstr();
}else{
while($lst->fetch()){
echo $lst->name . "<br>\n";
}
}
?>
But if someone could add the code which would display a link instead of a
simple name, then the web developer could simply copy and paste it into an
element to their page. (hint, hint, please...)
BTW, mgd_list_topics really displays sub-topics and not topics. I could not
find a function which would display all topics. Is there such a thing?
The second way to show how to build a web site with midgard would be to have
a step by step how-to building a dynamic web site. I understand Midhoo is
supposedly doing this, and I have gotten the first release from Phillipp,
but I have to be honest with you. What I have seen so far is nowhere near a
useful how-to for setting up a web site. Phillipp, I am not trying to put
your efforts down. Every little bit of information which can help us, is
GREATLY APPRECIATED!
Another note which I need to make is that neither Asgard nor NADMIN display
the ID of topics. So I have to use the old admin to get the topic id to
insert in the function mgd_list_topics. Wouldn't you agree that this is a
terrible way to build a dynamic web site?
Now, I understand that if I use the "master news Styles" in nadmin, that I
can select the topic of choice for the page. This may actually be the best
way to go because it does not require the use of ID references. But the
documentation and snippets/styles are not defined enough yet to really use
the functionality of midgard.
I guess what I am trying to say is that it is really frustrating trying to
build a dynamic web site with the current tools and documentation available.
So what can we do about it?
>> I would be happy to help work on the manual, and intend to do so as I work
>> through the steep learning curve. This is why my initial request from the
>> midgard community is to create a standard set of navigation tools. This
>> would not only help the web developer get started, but it would also help
>> them get an understanding of how midgard works.
>
> OK, in that case the first order of bussiness is to get a solid spec on
> the table
> for what these controls are supposed to do, and roughly how. Purely from
> your
> point of view. We'll work out the technicalities later.
As I said earlier, we can simply add better examples to the existing manual
via annotations, or we can start from ground zero and create a how-to manual
for building a dynamic web site. I set up an example sitegroup with web site
on my server to try to construct the basic pages/topics/articles/elements so
that I could see how to build a dynamic site, but I realize that due to my
inexperience with programming, I will not be able to do it alone.
Check out:
http://www.accollarts.net/example/
I guess what I am trying to say is that if I was to try to do a how-to by
myself, that it would not get done. So, the question is whether someone with
programming experience desires to get involved with me in creating a how-to
manual that details the necessary elements of building a dynamic web site.
The basics of building a dynamic web site should start with developing a
standard set of navigation tools. These tools or "elements" need to address
links between pages, topics, sub-topics, and articles. I don't believe we
need to go into style or page layout at this time. I think that most web
developers already know enough about html that they can wing it. The need is
to have a simple way to link pages, topics, and articles.
So where to from here?
enrique - trying to make sense out of dynamic web sites with midgard
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