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[wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Related to a more general topic about Txp tutorials, I think the TextBook tutorials category page would benefit from some reorganization. Visually, the page layout in three columns is a mess: even at a small-ish font size, one sees this:
B
* Backing Up the
Textpattern
Database
* Bilingual
Publishing
Without a PluginListing articles alphabetically is not helpful for this category. You’re unlikely to know in advance the title of the article you want. Much more helpful to organize the titles by subject or sub-category. (Although I could see some benefit to having an alphabetical list below a list by subject, similar to the tag reference.) The current layout is tolerable because of the small number of articles, but it will quickly become worse as this number increases.
As to scope, I agree with Jonathan’s idea in the thread linked above that the TextBook tutorials should emphasize basic functionality. Possibly this should parallel TextBook’s “Main Topics” layout: Orientation, Installation, Administration, Tags & Designing, Extending.
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#2 2009-09-24 15:08:16
- els
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
I like your idea. We need Destry or Patrick for the layout changes though…
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
+1
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#4 2009-09-26 20:53:09
- els
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
jsoo wrote:
Much more helpful to organize the titles by subject or sub-category. (Although I could see some benefit to having an alphabetical list below a list by subject, similar to the tag reference.)
Like on the Tag Reference page, we could have a list of sub-categories first, and then the alphabetical list. If you have a proposal how to categorize, I’ll be happy to add it.
About the three column layout: it seems to be a general layout, applied to all category pages. Don’t know if it’s possible to change it only for the tutorials page. Anyway, Destry doesn’t seem to be around much at the moment, so I think we need to use the current layout for now. Though maybe Nora could help us out. If not, would it be an idea to try and trim the article’s titles?
We are also planning to re-open the How-tos and examples forum because it’s less of a threshold for people to post their ideas here than in Textbook or offering it to Jonathan for TXP Tips. Topics in that forum that are suited for Textbook will be moved there eventually, and the same could apply to TXP Tips, if Jonathan agrees.
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Els wrote:
Like on the Tag Reference page, we could have a list of sub-categories first, and then the alphabetical list.
Exactly what I had in mind.
If you have a proposal how to categorize, I’ll be happy to add it.
Thinking to parallel TextBook’s “Main Topics” layout (Orientation, Installation, Administration, Tags & Designing, Extending), here is a possible scheme using current tutorials:
- Orientation
- Txp 101
- Txp First Steps
- Installation
- Making Txp more secure
- Merging the contents…
- Multiple sites
- Administration
- Backing up
- User accounts
- Resetting admin pw
- clean URLs
- more secure
- Combat spam
- Maintaining a development installation
- MAMP (currently 2 articles)
- XAMP
- Mac roll your own
- Unicode
- Site design/architecture
- Bilingual
- Photoblog
- Archive by month
- XHTML validation
- .htaccess protection
- Podcasting
- Portfolio
- Author profiles
- FAQ
- Geoblogging
- Extending (currently empty)
About the three column layout: it seems to be a general layout, applied to all category pages. Don’t know if it’s possible to change it only for the tutorials page. Anyway, Destry doesn’t seem to be around much at the moment, so I think we need to use the current layout for now. Though maybe Nora could help us out. If not, would it be an idea to try and trim the article’s titles?
Trimming titles would help a bit, but would be a cosmetic solution to a semantically structural problem. I think it would be better to create a new page with a hand-maintained list; tutorials aren’t flooding in at such a rate that this would be unreasonable.
We are also planning to re-open the How-tos and examples forum
Sounds good.
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#6 2009-09-27 00:14:01
- els
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
jsoo wrote:
here is a possible scheme using current tutorials:
Sub-categories 1-4 created. Now the existing pages can be added to those.
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Els wrote:
Sub-categories 1-4 created. Now the existing pages can be added to those.
Done. A step in the right direction.
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#8 2009-09-27 12:12:12
- els
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Thanks Jeff!
I’m not so happy about the sub-category names I created (01 Installation etc.), but since the categories are being ordered alphabetically it would otherwise have resulted in a not so logical presentation… If anyone has a better idea I’d love to hear it.
Now we just have to wait for one of the Textbook admins to have their say about the layout.
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#9 2009-09-28 01:49:49
- uli
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Els wrote:
I’m not so happy about the sub-category names I created (01 Installation etc.), but since the categories are being ordered alphabetically it would otherwise have resulted in a not so logical presentation… If anyone has a better idea I’d love to hear it.
Not an idea, rather a find. From an entry on Adding a new English FAQ page:
5. Add the following to the bottom of page
<!-- Keep at bottom --> [[category:FAQs|z]](add line break after comment) where “z” is the letter (a through z) of how you want the FAQ to be alphabetized in the category listing (note this is one reason by which to base your retitling, as well as to prevent all FAQs filing under “f” for “faq:”). If you happen to need “z,” leave it as “z”.
Perhaps applicable. Magnana.
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Good find, Uli! Still slightly odd in that the sorting letters still show up on the Tutorials page, but much better than before. I’ve made the changes.
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#11 2009-09-28 15:36:15
- els
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Much better indeed, thanks for finding this Uli!
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Re: [wiki] Tutorials page: layout & scope
Visually, the page layout in three columns is a mess: even at a small-ish font size, one sees this:
Agreed. Looking at the source, it seems the three columns arise from a three-cell table row, so I don’t know what can be done about this unless the underlying markup is changed. Hmm, yeah there’s not much that can be done just with CSS if the content is output into a table, right?
I think it would be better to create a new page with a hand-maintained list
So is this the only way around the automatic generation of an alphabetically organized, three-column list?
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