[.com] Things that can be improved right now

uli · 2011-11-17 11:51:06

Edit: I’ve renamed this topic from “Outdated stuff on textpattern.com” to “Things that can be improved right now in textpattern.com” because I felt there should be a place to propose minor changes to textpattern.com and not only point to outdated stuff. Changes that can be made right now, without waiting for the structural changes taking place and without fine tuning of interdependencies upon the TXP family of sites.

——

Coming from this forum post I’ve just seen there are references to Textbook on .com, readable ones as well as those hidden in links. Klicking the first 2 links I encountered there took me to 2 non-existent pages in the docs.
I then did a search for “Textbook” (no specific URL to paste here, sorry) and found this page with tips I wouldn’t recommend any longer (hpw_admincss) or which seem even counterproductive (rss_admin_show_adv_opts).

I think I’ve seen Stef write somewhere that tips and docs on .com would be blown out or/and relocated, thus this post is probably redundant. See it as a “just in case”.

Last edited by uli (2011-12-14 12:45:05)

Destry · 2011-11-26 23:25:35

These are issues with content strategy; i.e., a lack of one. Complicated by nobody really being in charge (or taking initiative) with .com content.

But, these are not new issues, and steps have been taken to address content problems from the ground up; albeit waylaid by the acquisition of the magazine and efforts to get the first issue to market, as it were.

I’m optimistic .com will shape up, but the key is doing it in collaboration with the other websites in the family so links, cross-references, messages, etc work together. That needs a bit of strategy, collaboration, and (most of all) a change in the way people think about running the project’s websites. Isolated edits aren’t going to make the ROT (redundant, outdated, trivial) content go away.

I’ll be getting back to content auditing of the FAQs (poorly executed content, actually) as it concerns documentation, if nobody else does, but it’s on hold until the magazine is put back on track. I know Stef is making efforts to focus .org content.

This gets into related subjects, like Textpattern’s brand recognition, which has some holes in it, but that’s a topic for later. :)

Point is, it’s happening, slowly.

uli · 2011-12-01 23:53:53

Destry wrote:

Isolated edits aren’t going to make the ROT (redundant, outdated, trivial) content go away.

Nevertheless I hope nobody minds my links to outdated information.

In the FAQs the point “How do I tell if I’ve upgraded correctly?” contains checksums for v4.2.0.

uli · 2011-12-12 22:44:06

Two more points:

Long overdue: Japanese should be added to the translations page, adding nn— as a translator.
The Recent Articles block on Dev Blog can be removed from the left sidebar, it’s a mere duplicate of the content in the main page area, containing just one link more. Even the “More Articles” link below is a repetition of the “THE ARCHIVES” link above.

Last edited by uli (2011-12-14 12:45:18)

philwareham · 2011-12-13 00:10:32

uli wrote:

The Recent Articles block on Dev Blog can be removed from the left sidebar, it’s a mere duplicate of the content in the main page area, containing just one link more. Even the “More Articles” link below is a repetition of the “THE ARCHIVES” link above.

It’s gone. I think I need to look at this whole blog area and see if layout can be improved, it’s a bit confusing as is.

Last edited by philwareham (2011-12-13 00:11:52)

uli · 2011-12-14 12:26:45

The new forum div#forumTopicsBlock would go pretty well with the support page, where it would even begin above the fold.
The first slide on the home page says

Built in tags and reusable forms enable total control over the presentation of your content.

The term “form” in this context is TXP-speak and misleading to people who are not familiar with TXP’s concept. Here it’d be better named “tag container” or the like.

colak · 2011-12-14 12:55:32

uli wrote:

The term “form” in this context is TXP-speak and misleading to people who are not familiar with TXP’s concept. Here it’d be better named “tag container” or the like.

Hi Uli
You are right but what about backward compatibility? It would eventually be more confusing if the tag remains as is and the forms change their name. I would go for “snippets” by the way:)

philwareham · 2011-12-14 12:56:43

@uli

Agreed and both suggestions done.

I’ve called the ‘reusable forms’ now ‘reusable code partials’ as I think that would be the most meaningful description of what TXP forms are to newcomers (in fact I’d push for forms to officially be relabelled as partials in TXP5 but that might not be feasible considering the legacy the term ‘forms’ already has with users).

uli · 2011-12-14 13:03:04

Thanks, Phil :)

Yiannis, it was just about the start slide text on the textpattern.com home page.

uli · 2011-12-14 13:46:17

A little OT but I don’t want to kick off a whole new discussion by starting a new thread: I also leaned towards the term “snippet”. And was not averse to “partial” as well as it is a step away from the severalfold occupied term “form”. But now I think they both are terms for dissection, whereas I think what’s happening in a form is the opposite, the bundling of tags, thus I tend to “bundle” right now. Just to bring this term to life. [OT end]

philwareham · 2011-12-14 14:08:02

There were some discussions on this subject a while back on the forum, I initially was leaning towards snippets myself but partials is becoming quite a common term now amongst web designers, and used to reference code clips in popular coding techniques like Less and Sass.

[Axel] · 2012-03-12 17:08:25

I think the term snippet or snippets is perfectly description of what the forms are doing. You could call them modules too, but that’s maybe a bit to much.

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#1 2011-11-17 11:51:06

[.com] Things that can be improved right now

#2 2011-11-26 23:25:35

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#3 2011-12-01 23:53:53

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#4 2011-12-12 22:44:06

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#5 2011-12-13 00:10:32

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#6 2011-12-14 12:26:45

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#7 2011-12-14 12:55:32

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#8 2011-12-14 12:56:43

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#9 2011-12-14 13:03:04

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#10 2011-12-14 13:46:17

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#11 2011-12-14 14:08:02

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

#12 2012-03-12 17:08:25

Re: [.com] Things that can be improved right now

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