[Wikitech-l] Google summer of code : RSS Category feeds

Hello! Here is my idea for the SoC. I'd to have devlopper point of view before applying. Else I'll apply for the Javascript RC Stuff :)

I propose to add two main things: * RSS feed for every category * An article-included category limited listing/feed

The RSS feeds as article-inclusion could be sorted by their timestamp (already in db), or another index like date. Another functionality is an article-included line, description on the article, that will be extrated in RSS feeds and could be used in articles.

Advantages: * RSS feeds by category -> closer to RSS feeds we can get elsewhere on the web * Automatic last articles on portals * Watch lists by categories (check new pages in categories) * Get partly-automatic pages with different categories (like Wikinews, last news are added together with the category inclusion)

Ideas: * Sub-Categories (define how deep we must go - idea to study in terms of database performance). * Article description joined with sub-categories * Add a second index to sort articles differently that alphabetic order (example dates)

Inclusion example:

{{Category:IT news|sorted=last|subcategories=0|description=true|modelbefore=star|modelafter=newline}}

could give

{{star}} [[Google Summer of Code]] Google is again hosting a "Summer of Code" program through which it will provide financial assistance to students to work on open-source software projects during their summer break. {{newline}} {{star}} [[Google Summer of Code]] Google is again hosting a "Summer of Code" program through which it will provide financial assistance to students to work on open-source software projects during their summer break. {{newline}}

with this line in the article [[Google Summer of Code]] :

[[Category:Google Summer of Code||05/01/2006|Google is again hosting a "Summer of Code" program through which it will provide financial assistance to students to work on open-source software projects during their summer break.]]

Update to do on mediawiki: * minor database changes (only to improve speed and server load) * php RSS generation (use of existing class or redevelop since it is really simple?) * minor parser evolution for [[Category:]] tags to allow second index and description * php feed generation for the new {{Category:}} tag.

Thanks for every idea/suggestion! Plyd