Subject: Re: [vserver] Request For Comments - VServer web presence http://test.songshu.org
From: "Michael S. Zick" <mszick@morethan.org>
Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2009 08:12:52 -0600

On Sun March 1 2009, Michael S. Zick wrote:
> On Sat February 28 2009, Herbert Poetzl wrote:
> > On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 01:43:42PM +0100, randall wrote:
> > > noticed a huge amount of mails on this subject this morning and
> > > its good to see many idea's, please allow to me to be the first to
> > > introduce a mockup, i did this in the last hour so its far from
> > > finished but at least its an idea.
> > 
> > > Lets see what we have already and try to keep it simple and make use
> > > of the right tools for each specific task, at the moment there is a
> > > great wiki with good content. Have used it myself once and its easy 
> > > to contribute new content.
> > 
> > > wiki.linux-vserver.org
> > 
> > > maybe someone might be willing to give some thought on the layout of the 
> > > data structure as it is displayed on the wiki frontpage only with up to 
> > > date finished content to make sure a first arriver can more easily find 
> > > what he (or she) is looking for.
> > 
> > > ====maybe also ====
> > > a simpler page
> > > <code>
> > > explaining the wiki syntax
> > > </code>
> > 
> > > forum.linux-vserver.org
> > 
> > > are we willing to support this??
> > 
> > I don't have a problem with a forum ...
> > 
> > combining the forum with the mailinglist would make it 
> > a lot easier to follow and reply though ... i.e. the
> > best solution would be if the mailing list (including
> > archives) would exist as forum content and posting
> > something on the forum would show up on the mailing
> > list (maybe with special tags or on a special list)
> > too ... no idea if that is easy to do though :)
> >
> 
> I am pretty sure that is a standard feature with what I am
> working on - from the documentation - - I haven't personally
> integrated a mailing list as a forum.  You know about O.S. docs...
> 
> But yes, if it does the basic integration, the FreeTags and
> categories will then work cross-section.
> 
> On my list to test.
>  
> > > the mailing list is great but many new users prefer a forum to ask for
> > > support and can browse the subjects without having to sign up first
> > > when investigating various visualization techniques, the benefit of an
> > > active forum is that it clearly indicates an active community and that
> > > would be a good sign. Also the most frequently asked questions would
> > > give us some clear idea on how to improve the documentation.
> > 
> > > a simple phpbb installation would be sufficient for this, i could set 
> > > this up later.
> > > 
> > > www.linux-vserver.org
> > > 
> > > the front page of the project, i have setup a simple wordpress example 
> > > on http://test.songshu.org (just set up the dns so be patient if it does 
> > > not resolve at once) not finished and needs some more work to make it 
> > > slick (have to go now for social obligations so will work on that tomorrow)
> > 
> > looks good to me, even with lynx, maybe some minor tweaks
> > like making the menu bar a little less high, and of course
> > really nice would be to add some aqua like effect to logo
> > as well as menu bar, I think :)
> > 
> 
> Set your total browser size not larger than 1024x600 - -
> The most common size of the light-weight Netbooks for road warriors.
> 
> Then do a visual appraisal of the balance between logo/banner and
> usable text - -
> Nobody in today's world presses "page down" short of death. ;)
> 
> > > maybe we can set up a colour scheme idea for all Vserver sites?
> > > maybe get some nice artwork to go where the flower images are 
> > > right now or loose the headed images all together.
> > > (anybody creative for designing the image(s)?)
> > 

Sorry for the multiple replies to a single post - I think slow these days. ;)

We want to project a solid, dependable, software project -
My first attempt will be to stay with muted, soft colors and blends -
Using the linked to sample of the fluidindex (a Wordpress theme) CSS -
Only the colors will be based on the two prodominate colors in the 
Linux-VServer logo (so the entire style just appears as a variation of
the logo).

You have probably noticed that style uses a handfull of blends (as gif images)
rather than hard lines.  Something which slows the browser rendering down a bit.
Personally, I avoid those styles, but I think this case is a justified exception.

My tentative plan is to do a 3D mockup of a page and render it with Povray -
just to get the highlights and colored shadows correct.  
What is art without a computer?


> > > Home
> > > the frontpage right know is reserved for "big" announcements, maybe a
> > > nice job for Bertl to do a bi-weekly or so update when import things
> > > happen
> > 
> > yep, can do that, at least it could be something like a
> > Linux-VServer Blog ...
> > 

Most source control software has a feature to "send mail" on commits - -
Intended (back in the day) to feed an announcement mailing list.
This CMS package (and maybe WikiMedia - you might check it) supports
"mail-in" page updates.
Why not just let the SCM do this?  Feed its "commit mails" to a "mail-in"
page? or pages?

Will add that to my test list to see if it is working.

> >  "nothing happened this week, so I ported 2.3.x to
> >   the lates release candidate ... what a mess, but
> >   see for yourself here ... "
> > 
> > > About
> > > some content from wikipedia right now but it should have some more 
> > > simpler explanation, think of appealing to a CEO with nice pictures.
> > 

We do have an image gallery -
Will make sure the "Article" section is working.
A good place for those original papers on the concept and a place for
new ones.

The question of having a certain type of section (articles, blogs, wiki
forums, etc, etc) is a checkbox on the admin's "site features" page.
We don't have to try to cross breed a Wiki product with a Forum product, etc.
The admin can just turn them on/off - -
The user can either mentally ignore them or drop them from his/her menu.

The one restriction is, the package must have either a wiki or a forum enabled.
Everything else is an admin on/off feature.

Hmmm...
Maybe I should post a screen-shot of that admin page - to save people time
on the "can we do this?" types of questions.
See a post on a nearby mailing list, RSN.

Mike
> > > Distro Support
> > > a list of all distro's that lead to a small page of that distro in
> > > wordpress explaining that "it is supported" or "don't worry its simple
> > > to patch" with a link to a distro specific landing page on the wiki
> > > giving some practical installation instructions for each of that
> > > distro's release.
> > 
> 
> Use the "Categories" feature - - it will let you tie pages from any
> of the various sections (wiki, blog, article, forum, etc, etc) into
> into a "Table of Contents" sort of page(s).
> 
> Similar to FreeTags in that Categories are not bound to a section.
> 
> > basically we support _all_ distros, but yeah, pages
> > like those on the wiki (installing Linux-VServer on
> > debian/ubuntu/wossname are definitely useful, as long
> > as then end with the installation procedure)
> > 
> > > (maybe we can find some people making/updating these distro wiki 
> > > pages)
> > 
> > IMHO a good idea would be to provide 'icons' on the
> > main (or at least on the installation page) for the
> > major or specifically nice/problematic distros, so
> > that e.g. the alpine fan recognizes her/his distro ...
> >
> 
> Just put the icons in the images gallery, link to them from
> wherever you are working.
>  
> > hint: that could be work done by the distro maintainer(s)
> > 
> 
> Yeah, like you expect a code maintainer to do documentation?
> Code cutters generally don't do those sort of things. ;)
> 
> Mike
> > > Vserver Hosting
> > > a page like this http://linux-vserver.org/VServer_Hosting , maybe
> > > linking to a page in wordpress for that specific hoster, for example,
> > > dreamhost might even be willing to pay for an "advertisement" page
> > > like that instead of donations as they mentioned earlier.
> > 
> > > as said before this was just an hour work so far from complete but its 
> > > an idea.
> > 
> > nice job (looking at the current version)!
> > well done!
> > 
> > best,
> > Herbert
> > 
> > > -- 
> > > 
> > > www.songshu.org
> > > Just another collection of nuts
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
>