Subject:
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Re: Format of FAQ items
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.faq
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Date:
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Fri, 23 Apr 1999 21:37:51 GMT
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Reply-To:
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{jsproat@}antispam{geocities.com}
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Viewed:
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1471 times
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Todd Lehman wrote:
> In lugnet.faq, jsproat@geocities.com (Sproaticus) writes:
> > I think that whatever format is used, it should allow multiple Q+A's in a
> > single file, with the technical possibility of having it all in one file.
> How come? For specifying the ordering? For ease of editing?
> What about translations? Maintenance? Bookmarking? Grepping?
You've convinced me otherwise now. Mea culpa. :-,
> > Another possible feature would be to allow a master file to explicitly
> > include a subordinate file during parsing; this would greatly facilitate
> > separation of other FAQs, such as the LDraw FAQ.
> Something analogous to #include in C then? Would that slurp in an entire
> sub-FAQ? Or only relevant starter-questions?
I think it would take in the whole sub-FAQ. This is (currently) my strategy
for giving localized names to the different categories.
Someone looking for starter questions could probably use the search engine,
or look at the big huge one-file document (1) and do a text search. I would
recommend the search engine.
We could make finding starter questions easier by using an "expertise level"
tag, e.g.:
Subject: Why won't LDraw work?
Expertise-Level: Beginner
Subject: How do I generate my VEC using shading in LDLite?
Expertise-Level: Intermediate
Subject: (insert some really obscure parts-authoring question)
Expertise-Level: Advanced
> A logical alternative to numeric-based filenames would be name-based
> filenames with an index file giving a list of filenames in order. An index
> file for each category is probably useful anyway to specify blanket-defaults
> for individual questions (to avoid repetition within them) and an index file
> would make a great category intro-page (as a web page).
Yes! This, I like a lot. :-,
It has the added benefit of building targeted FAQs (such as a newbie FAQ)
consisting of items selected from different levels in the heirarchy. I give
it my blessing.
> Since there can be multiple authors (due to revisions or collaboration)
> there would need to be multiple dates -- one for each revision. This could
> get pretty unnecessarily complex in XML, but is easy in plaintext:
> Author: Todd Lehman, 3 Jan 1996
> Author: Todd Lehman, 17 Mar 1996
> Author: Jeremy Sproat, 23 Apr 1999
Good point. As long as the revision history doesn't get overly complex --
like detailing what the changes were -- I don't see any problems with this.
A minor quibble: We should probably use a more machine-friendly date string
and let it be translated per locale.
A note on tags: Obviously, some tags are necessary. Are *all* tags
necessary, or would there be places where it's appropriate to not include
certain tags? For example, if the Location tag can be inferred by the
item's location in the directory, should it be required?
Similarly, is order important in *all* repeating tags? I guess it is in the
case of e-mail headers.
Cheers,
- jsproat
1. I think there should be one, at least for kicks. I've been known to
print out entire 100+ page FAQs for reading material for trips. It's a sign
of sickness, I know. :-,
--
Jeremy H. Sproat <jsproat@geocities.com>
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Horizon/5249/
"I prefer the term para-mental. It keeps me out of the loony bin."
obconspiracy: The Boy Scouts of America, in order to become
genetically-enhanced, will stop at nothing to raise the Titanic.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Format of FAQ items
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| (...) What about an outline format? I made a cool little utility that displays, in outline format, any sub-tree of the global ng tree...so from any category sub-homepage you can see what's there beneath it -- especially handy for things like loc (...) (25 years ago, 24-Apr-99, to lugnet.faq)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Format of FAQ items
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| (...) How come? For specifying the ordering? For ease of editing? What about translations? Maintenance? Bookmarking? Grepping? (...) Something analogous to #include in C then? Would that slurp in an entire sub-FAQ? Or only relevant (...) (25 years ago, 23-Apr-99, to lugnet.faq)
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