On Aug 9, 2006, at 10:53 AM, Christiaan Briggs wrote:
On 9 Aug 2006, at 4:39 PM, Christopher L. Jorgensen
wrote:
Personally, to me, it sounds like you want a
Dreamweaver site with
Contribute. Or a CMS.
No, just a simple GUI for inputting text and images instead of having
to resort to markup language. I'm puzzled after all the discussion
that you think it sounds like I want "a Dreamweaver site with
Contribute."
Probably didn't mean it the way you took it. But you can set up a
solution like this where you can control who gets to modify pages and
how in Contribute. I think you could make a "wiki-like" site with DW.
And people would have a WSYIWYG editor.
I've only been on this list a month or so, and I keep reading people
post with problems I don't think are the wiki's. Like "How do I keep
some people out of some areas?" or "How can I make it so only some
people can post?" The easy answer is find the tool that does what you
want.
I do think some people are taking things to extremes here. You're
probably right in that spending time to figure out how to make a
header is silly, but so is letting this lack of knowledge keeping you
from posting.
I've never suggested people learn how to jump the "hurdles," but
rather, "just run, knock down the hurdles until you learn to jump."
Someone else will set them back up until then.
I'd suggest your attitude is more of a hinderance than the software.
And again, not meaning that how it came out. WYSIWYG won't solve the
problem if people feel they "have to get it right." Learning an
editor, then posting still will mean people will change things, and
clean up errors. Why not just let them have at it?
Hitting "edit" and typing is way easier than learning a new software
package.
The greatest advantage, to me, in what you're asking for is that the
user could write offline for days before hitting "send." I sometimes
see errors in wiki that I leave up because I know rewriting them will
take more time than I have.
There's
nothing wrong with the idea of a front end to a wiki, any
more than there's something wrong with people creating webpages and
not knowing html. But with a wiki, it's not really required.
I never suggested anything was required. What I'm suggesting is that
the hurdles that stop many people from participating on our office
intranet apply equally to Wikimedia projects. i.e. wiki markup is a
barrier to participation in Wikimedia projects.
Oh, and if I was too negative, forgive me, since I don't see any harm
in asking for what you want, just as I am free to not see the value
in it.
I finally looked over Apple's wiki, and it makes me wish someone had
trademarked the term, since I think their missing the point as well.
Theirs is a nice collaborative environment, but not really a wiki.
IMHO! And before people send me email, Apple is to thank for the food
on my table, my mortgage, and the gas in my car.
christopher....
p.s. never seen "Christiaan" spelled with a second "a." Is it
pronounced the same as without?