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  • From: webmaster@pfaf.org
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] database, wiki, blogs, forums, etc
  • Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 14:14:00 +0000

...if one chooses to see more detailed technical information on a project, the project table will point to a set of "specialty tables" like the ones I first posted.
processes (element does some function/work/process)
outputs (element produces output)
contraints (element doesn't function in presence of condition)


If I were to implement this, I'd just use an off the shelf wiki, and write a documentation convention for how to format a page. Say

==processes ==
List processes here.
==Output==
List output here.
==contraints==
List constraints here.

In these sections you can add links to the appropriate process/output/constraint.

This would need very little setting up, it could be done in a day.
It would meet the need of most users, who basically just want to read things.

The next problem is searching, say finding things with a given output.
If bi-directional linking is used (say the category feature in wikipedia) this becomes quite simple, as a category page contains a list of all things which link there. There are extensions which allow complex boolean logic to be applied to categories.

Why would I choose a wiki.
1) Revison control - absolutely vital for any community driven project,
you need to know who did what when. Be able to revert changes back.
2) Simple format - html is too complex for most people, filling in lots of fields is a pain.
3) All the basic plumbing is there: user logins, image uploads, administrative control, configurable display styles, spam detection.
4) Programming hooks in MediaWiki its relatively easy to write custom extensions for any features.
5) Maintainability, complicated code bases cause problems if the main developer goes away. Using a well know code base lessens this problem.

Its these things which take the time, and are hard to do right. CMS solutions may do some of this stuff for you.

Rich

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