I've been using this wiki-to-print extension today, and it's wonderful! However, I have come up with a few details that I would like to mention and hopefully have addressed in the future. Is this list a good place for these points, or should I open bugzilla tickets, or what?
1) The connection to PediaPress seems unreliable. Clicking "Order Book from PediaPress" returns an error about as often as it succeeds. I will try to record more data about this failure mode next time I see it 2) The books generated by PediaPress look amazing (I've just ordered my first one, so I will tell you how it looks when it gets here). However, I would like to be able to adjust the cover image, and possibly list multiple editors on the cover 3) In the generated PDF files, at the top of the GFDL license, there is a shortcut link to "WP:GFDL". This shortcut won't work on en.wikibooks. We either need to localize this to say "WB:GFDL", or we need to provide a fully-qualified URL to a place where a person can actually find the GFDL. 4) In addition to the GFDL, I would like to be able to specify additional boiler-plate preface and appendix text, such as an "About Wikibooks" page that will be automatically included in all books (perhaps as checkbox option, if some people don't want it). This way when/if we start to distribute/sell these books, recipients will know what the book is, where to find the electronic copy of it, how to edit and improve it, etc. I'm working on a page now (at [[Wikibooks:Collections Preface]]) that people can include manually for now, but having to manually include this page in every collection we make will be annoying. 5) PDF rendering times, especially for some of the larger books I've tried (>200 pages) are very slow. Is this an acceptable server load? 6) I've noticed problems with rendering nested list structures, like:
*First *:Note about the first (this renders wrong) *Second *:Note about the second (this also renders wrong).
These are some of the biggest issues I've seen so far, and they're very small! I look forward to seeing how things progress on the development of this extension.
--Andrew Whitworth
Their tech team seems very responsive to issues. You might open reports in their bug tracker on http://code.pediapress.com/wiki/wiki so they will be sure to get noticed.
-Mike
On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 12:48:57 -0500, "Andrew Whitworth" wknight8111@gmail.com said:
I've been using this wiki-to-print extension today, and it's wonderful! However, I have come up with a few details that I would like to mention and hopefully have addressed in the future. Is this list a good place for these points, or should I open bugzilla tickets, or what?
- The connection to PediaPress seems unreliable. Clicking "Order Book
from PediaPress" returns an error about as often as it succeeds. I will try to record more data about this failure mode next time I see it 2) The books generated by PediaPress look amazing (I've just ordered my first one, so I will tell you how it looks when it gets here). However, I would like to be able to adjust the cover image, and possibly list multiple editors on the cover 3) In the generated PDF files, at the top of the GFDL license, there is a shortcut link to "WP:GFDL". This shortcut won't work on en.wikibooks. We either need to localize this to say "WB:GFDL", or we need to provide a fully-qualified URL to a place where a person can actually find the GFDL. 4) In addition to the GFDL, I would like to be able to specify additional boiler-plate preface and appendix text, such as an "About Wikibooks" page that will be automatically included in all books (perhaps as checkbox option, if some people don't want it). This way when/if we start to distribute/sell these books, recipients will know what the book is, where to find the electronic copy of it, how to edit and improve it, etc. I'm working on a page now (at [[Wikibooks:Collections Preface]]) that people can include manually for now, but having to manually include this page in every collection we make will be annoying. 5) PDF rendering times, especially for some of the larger books I've tried (>200 pages) are very slow. Is this an acceptable server load? 6) I've noticed problems with rendering nested list structures, like:
*First *:Note about the first (this renders wrong) *Second *:Note about the second (this also renders wrong).
These are some of the biggest issues I've seen so far, and they're very small! I look forward to seeing how things progress on the development of this extension.
--Andrew Whitworth
Textbook-l mailing list Textbook-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/textbook-l
---- Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm
2008/11/5 Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm:
Their tech team seems very responsive to issues. You might open reports in their bug tracker on http://code.pediapress.com/wiki/wiki so they will be sure to get noticed.
Yep - most of these are best tracked in the PP bug tracker. The issue with FDL is one related to our configuration; we're currently pointing it to the FDL copy on en.wp which has the shortcut to it. We'll try to fix that soon - if someone could create a bugzilla entry to track it, that would be appreciated.
Done: https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16250
-Mike
On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:16:26 -0800, "Erik Moeller" erik@wikimedia.org said:
2008/11/5 Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm:
Their tech team seems very responsive to issues. You might open reports in their bug tracker on http://code.pediapress.com/wiki/wiki so they will be sure to get noticed.
Yep - most of these are best tracked in the PP bug tracker. The issue with FDL is one related to our configuration; we're currently pointing it to the FDL copy on en.wp which has the shortcut to it. We'll try to fix that soon - if someone could create a bugzilla entry to track it, that would be appreciated.
-- Erik Möller Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
Textbook-l mailing list Textbook-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/textbook-l
---- Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm
Thanks Mike! I was going to do it when I got home, but you beat me to it!.
--Andrew Whitworth
On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 4:12 PM, Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm wrote:
Done: https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16250
-Mike
On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:16:26 -0800, "Erik Moeller" erik@wikimedia.org said:
2008/11/5 Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm:
Their tech team seems very responsive to issues. You might open reports in their bug tracker on http://code.pediapress.com/wiki/wiki so they will be sure to get noticed.
Yep - most of these are best tracked in the PP bug tracker. The issue with FDL is one related to our configuration; we're currently pointing it to the FDL copy on en.wp which has the shortcut to it. We'll try to fix that soon - if someone could create a bugzilla entry to track it, that would be appreciated.
-- Erik Möller Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
Textbook-l mailing list Textbook-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/textbook-l
Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm
Textbook-l mailing list Textbook-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/textbook-l
Andrew,
- The connection to PediaPress seems unreliable. Clicking "Order Book
from PediaPress" returns an error about as often as it succeeds. I will try to record more data about this failure mode next time I see it
we are investigating but were unable to reproduce this. Do you remember whether the error message said something like "a timeout occurred" ?
- The books generated by PediaPress look amazing (I've just ordered
my first one, so I will tell you how it looks when it gets here). However, I would like to be able to adjust the cover image, and possibly list multiple editors on the cover
This is on our todo list.
- In addition to the GFDL, I would like to be able to specify
additional boiler-plate preface and appendix text, such as an "About Wikibooks" page that will be automatically included in all books (perhaps as checkbox option, if some people don't want it). This way when/if we start to distribute/sell these books, recipients will know what the book is, where to find the electronic copy of it, how to edit and improve it, etc. I'm working on a page now (at [[Wikibooks:Collections Preface]]) that people can include manually for now, but having to manually include this page in every collection we make will be annoying.
A possible solution would be to (automatically) start new collections based on a saved collections (as a template) which already includes this page. Users could remove or exchange the preface on the collection page if they have different preferences.
- PDF rendering times, especially for some of the larger books I've
tried (>200 pages) are very slow. Is this an acceptable server load?
The PDF generation runs on dedicated servers - so it will not slow down any Mediawiki. In order to make the waiting time more bearing we improved the progress messages. This should be available one Brion updates the software.
- I've noticed problems with rendering nested list structures, like:
*First *:Note about the first (this renders wrong) *Second *:Note about the second (this also renders wrong).
this bug is known: http://code.pediapress.com/wiki/ticket/81
Feel free to report other bugs using this tracker or on the technical mailinglist for this project: http://groups.google.com/group/mwlib
Heiko
On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 9:39 AM, Heiko Hees heiko@pediapress.com wrote:
Andrew,
- The connection to PediaPress seems unreliable. Clicking "Order Book
from PediaPress" returns an error about as often as it succeeds. I will try to record more data about this failure mode next time I see it
we are investigating but were unable to reproduce this. Do you remember whether the error message said something like "a timeout occurred" ?
I actually can't reproduce it anymore myself, so maybe it's fixed now. Could have been server load problems on the WMF end, I know we had a lot of that on tuesday. The error was a POST timeout error.
- In addition to the GFDL, I would like to be able to specify
additional boiler-plate preface and appendix text, such as an "About Wikibooks" page that will be automatically included in all books (perhaps as checkbox option, if some people don't want it). This way when/if we start to distribute/sell these books, recipients will know what the book is, where to find the electronic copy of it, how to edit and improve it, etc. I'm working on a page now (at [[Wikibooks:Collections Preface]]) that people can include manually for now, but having to manually include this page in every collection we make will be annoying.
A possible solution would be to (automatically) start new collections based on a saved collections (as a template) which already includes this page. Users could remove or exchange the preface on the collection page if they have different preferences.
Automatically starting from a saved template somewhere would definitely be awesome. That would allow us to specify all sorts of local things (including a local copy of the GFDL, to fix the issue of the bad shortcut) that authors could opt-out of on a per-case basis. This would be a very very nice feature.
free to report other bugs using this tracker or on the technical
mailinglist for this project: http://groups.google.com/group/mwlib
I may very well have to join that list, because I'm going to generate A LOT of feedback over time. Thanks!
--Andrew Whitworth
Andrew Whitworth wrote:
I actually can't reproduce it anymore myself, so maybe it's fixed now. Could have been server load problems on the WMF end, I know we had a lot of that on tuesday. The error was a POST timeout error.
I can reproduce it. I have yet to experience success when I click the "Order Book from PediaPress". I'm using a saved collection which produces a 622 page PDF (last I checked).
Wikibooks:Collections/Adventist_Youth_Honors_Answer_Book/Nature
On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 10:46 AM, j.w. thomas jthomas@bittware.com wrote:
Andrew Whitworth wrote:
I actually can't reproduce it anymore myself, so maybe it's fixed now. Could have been server load problems on the WMF end, I know we had a lot of that on tuesday. The error was a POST timeout error.
I can reproduce it. I have yet to experience success when I click the "Order Book from PediaPress". I'm using a saved collection which produces a 622 page PDF (last I checked).
Wikibooks:Collections/Adventist_Youth_Honors_Answer_Book/Nature
Okay, I'm glad somebody can reproduce this. Let me try out with your collection and see what happens.
--Andrew Whitworth
On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 10:56 AM, Andrew Whitworth wknight8111@gmail.com wrote:
Okay, I'm glad somebody can reproduce this. Let me try out with your collection and see what happens.
Actually, I just loaded up your collection and got into PediaPress just fine. Jim, try clearing your browser's cache to make sure it isn't saving a version from back when the servers genuinely weren't talking to each other.
The book looks fantastic, by the way.
--Andrew Whitworth
I got this error on pediapress.com after the progress stalled at 45%.
"An Error Occured on the MediaWiki Site
Something went wrong on one of our servers. We're sorry and apologize for the inconvenience! The problem has already been reported to PediaPress staff. Please try again at a later time. Something went wrong on the MediaWiki when your article collection was packaged. "
@Jim: where did you encounter the error, was it on wikibooks ("timeout") or the one above on the pediapress site?
On Nov 6, 2008, at 4:46 PM, j.w. thomas wrote:
I can reproduce it. I have yet to experience success when I click the "Order Book from PediaPress". I'm using a saved collection which produces a 622 page PDF (last I checked).
Wikibooks:Collections/Adventist_Youth_Honors_Answer_Book/Nature
Heiko Hees wrote:
@Jim: where did you encounter the error, was it on wikibooks ("timeout") or the one above on the pediapress site?
Wikibooks: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ POST request failed From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection Jump to: navigation, search
The POST request to http://bindery.wikimedia.org:8080/mw-serve/ failed (Operation timed out after 3000 milliseconds with 0 bytes received).
Return to Main Page. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do not dismiss the possibility that it could be me. I cleared my browser cache and got a little further, and then noticed that my "noscript" plugin for firefox was blocking scripts from pediapress. I'll flush again and retry...
OK - now I'm gettng an error from MediaWiki? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` An Error Occured on the MediaWiki Site
Something went wrong on one of our servers. We're sorry and apologize for the inconvenience! The problem has already been reported to PediaPress staff. Please try again at a later time. Something went wrong on the MediaWiki when your article collection was packaged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, I have already submitted a bug (http://code.pediapress.com/wiki/ticket/337) that we need graceful fallback for non-js clients. The bug is marked as fixed, but we may not be running code past r43221 (we have r42593 now).
-Mike
On Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:01:09 -0500, "j.w. thomas" jthomas@bittware.com said:
Heiko Hees wrote:
@Jim: where did you encounter the error, was it on wikibooks ("timeout") or the one above on the pediapress site?
Wikibooks:
POST request failed From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection Jump to: navigation, search The POST request to http://bindery.wikimedia.org:8080/mw-serve/ failed (Operation timed out after 3000 milliseconds with 0 bytes received). Return to Main Page.I do not dismiss the possibility that it could be me. I cleared my browser cache and got a little further, and then noticed that my "noscript" plugin for firefox was blocking scripts from pediapress. I'll flush again and retry...
OK - now I'm gettng an error from MediaWiki? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` An Error Occured on the MediaWiki Site
Something went wrong on one of our servers. We're sorry and apologize for the inconvenience! The problem has already been reported to PediaPress staff. Please try again at a later time. Something went wrong on the MediaWiki when your article collection was packaged.
-- Jim Thomas Principal Applications Engineer Bittware, Inc jthomas@bittware.com http://www.bittware.com (603) 226-0404 x536 The sooner you get behind, the more time you'll have to catch up _______________________________________________ Textbook-l mailing list Textbook-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/textbook-l
---- Mike.lifeguard mikelifeguard@fastmail.fm
On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 1:01 PM, j.w. thomas jthomas@bittware.com wrote:
An Error Occured on the MediaWiki Site
Something went wrong on one of our servers. We're sorry and apologize for the inconvenience! The problem has already been reported to PediaPress staff. Please try again at a later time. Something went wrong on the MediaWiki when your article collection was packaged.
Yeah, I'm getting this error now too, for your book. Does your book convert to PDF successfully, or have you not tried that? I'm assuming it's the same conversion algorithm for both, so if PDF succeeds, we know it's a problem with PediaPress's server. If PDF does not generate, it's probably a bug in the parser or some kind of super-fancy formatting tricks that you're using somewhere.
--Andrew Whitworth
On Nov 6, 2008, at 7:19 PM, Andrew Whitworth wrote:
Yeah, I'm getting this error now too, for your book. Does your book convert to PDF successfully, or have you not tried that? I'm assuming it's the same conversion algorithm for both, so if PDF succeeds, we know it's a problem with PediaPress's server. If PDF does not
Thanks for your investigation! I can confirm that there is a problem with our server when the collection with all its required resources (91MB) is uploaded. We are working to resolve this issue which probably is related to the huge file size. So the same error will probably ocurre with "Muggles' Gude to Harry Potter" ;)
Let me explain what happens in behind the scenes.: If users render a PDF, ODF or send a collection to pediapress - a zip- file with all needed resources (wikitext, templates, images) is created at first. This is either used to generate the exports or sent to pediapress. The problem we encounter is with the upload of this zip-file - so this issue is unrelated to PDF generation.
BTW: pediapress uses a different PDF rendering technology which is more suitable for printed books - but slower.
Heiko
Andrew Whitworth wrote:
On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 1:01 PM, j.w. thomas jthomas@bittware.com wrote:
An Error Occured on the MediaWiki Site
Something went wrong on one of our servers. We're sorry and apologize for the inconvenience! The problem has already been reported to PediaPress staff. Please try again at a later time. Something went wrong on the MediaWiki when your article collection was packaged.
Yeah, I'm getting this error now too, for your book. Does your book convert to PDF successfully, or have you not tried that? I'm assuming it's the same conversion algorithm for both, so if PDF succeeds, we know it's a problem with PediaPress's server. If PDF does not generate, it's probably a bug in the parser or some kind of super-fancy formatting tricks that you're using somewhere.
The PDF is beautiful. It comes in at about 330megs.
On 06.11.2008, at 19:01, j.w. thomas wrote:
The POST request to http://bindery.wikimedia.org:8080/mw-serve/ failed (Operation timed out after 3000 milliseconds with 0 bytes received).
This kind of error indicates an overloaded server on the Wikibooks side.
But additionally, we really did have a problem regarding uploads (occuring only with very large collections) to PediaPress, which is fixed now.
-- Johannes Beigel
textbook-l@lists.wikimedia.org