Subject: Re: FAQ [was: Re: VOLUNTEER REQUEST]
From: BWS - Offwhite (brennan@offwhite.net)
Date: Fri Aug 11 2000 - 00:44:52 EDT
We can have long term numbers assigned to each FAQ item, but I am not sure
how that would logically work as the FAQ will likely have to change over
time as things change. Perhaps there will be an FAQ for each major
version release of Netatalk.
There is talk of many changes with Netatalk and if we commit to leaving a
question at 7.2 where section 7 refers something like the afpd config
files. If question 2 refers to a specific config option which does not
exist in a later version the FAQ will need to change.
What I like about all the info being in the database is that you can
easily search for matching questions and answers with simple keywords.
If we keep it managed as a large static document it will likely limit the
questions to a smaller number. It would be nice if the FAQ could grow
organically as the questions have answers. We can even make this system
smarter as it goes and allow people to rank the quality of the
answer. Over time we can determine if certain questions need better
answers.
Of course this system does not have to be used only for the Netatalk
site. The software/data structure used for this site could be shared with
other sites, like the Samba site. That way we will have more people
working on the scripts to make this work better.
Brennan Stehling - web developer and sys admin
projects: www.greasydaemon.com | www.onmilwaukee.com | www.sncalumni.com
On Fri, 11 Aug 2000, Bob Rogers wrote:
> From: BWS - Offwhite <brennan@offwhite.net>
> Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 22:39:46 -0500 (CDT)
>
> [ this is simply an idea up for suggestion ]
>
> I agree that the data should be structured and even stored in a
> database. That way we can use templates to display the content. An FAQ
> may consist of the following structure . . .
>
> Then a nice FAQ could be built dynamically with a script which accesses
> the database. If there are only 20 questions in the system, they would
> appear on the same page. If it gets to be much longer, it could display
> 20 per page. And then we can organize questions by category: file server,
> print server, installing, and trouble shooting . . .
>
> There are just so many options with a database and a couple creative
> scripters . . .
>
> Brennan Stehling - web developer and sys admin
>
> I would like to make a point that is perhaps obvious, but seems to be at
> risk of getting lost in the shuffle:
>
> I consider it very helpful to have some kind of user-visible absolute
> identifier for FAQ items, so that you can respond to a user's query with
> "Please see FAQ item XYZ." These identifiers should never change, so
> that archived responses to queries aren't made meaningless by subsequent
> FAQ updates. Organizing by category, as in "Please see FAQ item 7.2",
> certainly helps the update problem, since it's easy to add a new
> question and answer to the end of the category.
>
> Given all that, I fail to see the advantage of a DBMS implementation
> vs. old-fashioned static HTML, except perhaps in the initial entry phase
> with multiple distributed authorship. Perhaps this creativity could be
> better applied elsewhere?
>
> Just a peep from the peanut gallery . . .
>
> -- Bob Rogers
>
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