Confused

[RussMartin]

I like the concept, but I don't have a clear understanding of the actual implementation.

[lester]

OK, keep an eye on this section of the forum. If the subject is of any interest I'm sure that it will all become clear.

If not, it probably will not happen,so theres nothing to worry about.

You might also keep an eye on the activity on the sister thread (http://www.picbasic.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=95) on picbasic.org ..... there are two sides to this coin.

[kwelna]

I am basically a hack\hobbyist that enjoys buildign and designing reactive target systems. My usual programs run less than 300 lines of code. Very basic stuff. So i spend the bulk of my time lurking around and reading threads when I run into a problem hoping and usually finding my answers. Posting a question when I do not. Granted it has been a few months since my last visit (Life and work are geting in the way of my leisure time!) I do appreciate the value this site brings to me and others. I beleive that these are unpaid positions that you hold so again I thank you for your donated time. Now with all these caveats in place, I have to ask; What exatly is the motivation behind this? I have never been "spammed" on this site, although again I am not here all that often of late. Is there a way to prevent posting based on registered ownership of the software? I too would be willing to pay a nominal fee to prevent spaming of this site say $1 - $10.

[lester]

Hi, the motivation behind the original post was to enable me to 'get a feel' for the demand for a more comprehensive resource.

I proposed a portal that would house not just house this existing forum, but also a project section, where users could upload complete projects with supporting web page, a wiki where users could build a knowledge base to further support and enhance the information in the user manual and a number of other facilities such as links to popular sites, gneral electronics news etc

We provide and support this forum and other forums and resources. We'd really like to pull users of PIC Basic together and house all these resources under one single portal, whilst giving the users of the individiual resources better facilities on a per product basis we'd liek to encourage some cross fertilisation to the benifit of all and to the detriment of none.

At no point have we suggested that we would charge for the facility that currently exists or the proposed portal.

Imagine a portal with sections like:



* Data Sheets
* Getting Started
* Samples
* IDE editors
* Development Tools
*
o Compilers
o Emulators
o Programmers

* Analog Design & Sim. Tool
* App Notes & Source Code
* Software Libraries
* Code Examples

Imagine a site like the microchip portal but specifically aimed at PIC basic users. Provided by us (Crownhill) but managed by volunteers from the existing user group.

[Acetronics]

Hi,

I do not understand why Lester didn't give us that link ...

http://wiki.picbasic.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=29

could show what's on the way ...

Alain

[Joe S.]

Hi,

I do not understand why Lester didn't give us that link ...

http://wiki.picbasic.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=29

could show what's on the way ...

Alain
Good point, . . . LOOKS GREAT LESTER !

[lester]

That link is the wiki for proton basic, NOT MEL PicBasic.

But yes thats just a small part of the resource that i'm proposing for users of this forum.

If there are a couple of users that want to dedicate time to set up moderate and manage a PBP wiki, i'll make the resource available here to

YES you can have wiki.picbasic.co.uk if you want, BUT you need to agree to manage it and users will need to contribute to it.

What say you???

[mackrackit]

I have never set a wiki up.

But I will volunteer to help.

[T.Jackson]

Considerably speechless.

[Joe S.]

I do not think I am qualified to edit a Wiki, I could kill spam though.

[T.Jackson]

I do not think I am qualified to edit a Wiki, I could kill spam though.

You're right, I'm not qualified enough to be able to help. "Analytical thinking" is probably a University degree of its own, not just one unit.

[Joe S.]

You're right, I'm not qualified enough to be able to help. "Analytical thinking" is probably a University degree of its own, not just one unit.
Yeah Trent, You're not qualified, and the moon is made of green cheese.

[mackrackit]

That link is the wiki for proton basic, NOT MEL PicBasic.

But yes thats just a small part of the resource that i'm proposing for users of this forum.

If there are a couple of users that want to dedicate time to set up moderate and manage a PBP wiki, i'll make the resource available here to

YES you can have wiki.picbasic.co.uk if you want, BUT you need to agree to manage it and users will need to contribute to it.

What say you???

How many users do you need to agree to help before it is setup?

[lester]

For the wiki to work, we need to have at least three VERY dedicated users and several users prepared to make many small contributions over a long period.

I deally i'd like to have a few dedicated users who take on the task of the inital p0pulation of the wiki with content that others can build upon.

One route would be to transcribe the user manaul to the wiki and then let forum users expand upon each command to turn the vanilla user guide into a kowledge base.

Much like this resource, i see our role as facilitators, we can provide the resource and manage it, but its upto the users to make it happen, by adding content and keeping it clean. ( remember the wiki is a publicly editable web site.)

I will need 2 or 3 super users to help configure the resource, and then manage it. They'll probably have to add the initial content and post on the forum to drive existing users to add and update content.

The benifit is not towards Crownhill, the benifit is for the users of this forum and users of the PBP compiler.

If you want a resource like that on wiki.picbasic.org, then the users of this forum need to participate.

I'm ready to go with an installation of phpwiki, or pmwiki.

It will take a couple of days for the dns to update to make it public. but first i need volunteers to get this off the ground.


I need an admin to take charge of the day to day policing of the wiki and to ensure that no malicious or spam posts are made.

I need an admin to pretty up the basic install, you'll be able to create graphics and html skins and handle the upload to the server. You'll have some basic php mysql knowledge and understand how to make a backup of the site.

I need an admin that is pretty decent with PBP to over see whats posted and correct minor PBP codeing mistakes made by users when the upload code and comments.


Ideally i'd like to see users commit to use the resource and build the knowledge base......but i know that they very rarely speak up, so i'm assuming that the resource is wanted based on the fact that a few of you have said YES.

Ultimately this wiki resource will fit into the overall PORTAl that i have proposed to build. The major additional section will be code examples and projects.

Super users DO NOT need to be PBP experts - ok it would help - but on the whole they'll need to be net savvy and trustworthy and traceable.

Why traceable? - because administrators have to be responsible for their actions, if you screw up the server in a malicious act, our lawerys will be on your tail.

[lester]

Oh, i forget to mention.

The one thing that i have to stipulate is that the wiki colour scheme (skin) must be blue.

I need to insist on this to keep the wiki theme in line with that of the web site , forum and ultimately the portal.

Crownhill differentiate between products and web site based on colour.

PBP was set to be blue to match the original paper PBP manual.

skins that i think might look nice are:


Blueberry (http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/BlueBerrySkin)
FixFlow (http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/FixFlowSkin)
Glossy Hue (http://www.pmwiki.org/pmwiki/uploads/Cookbook/glossyhue_screenshot.jpg), I like this one, though i'd have to chnage the pale green to pale blue.
Sinorca (http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/SinorcaSkin)SomethingCorporate (http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/SomethingCorporate)


But of course there are many more and we can create our won look and feel.

AND

its not important from day one, the content is the most important aspect, once there si content the look and feel of the wiki can be built upon to reflect the users wants and needs - subject to participation of suitable administrators.

[rxforspeed]

Sadly, I have neither the experience with HTML, PBP, or anything else along the lines of being able to really help out and contribute with the start-up of this, but I LOVE the idea! This would have the possibility to explain in more depth to "noobs" (like me) how to use specific commands and functions of PBP that haven't really been covered in detail in both the manual, datasheets, and all the books I've found on the subject...

This could also greatly reduce the number of repeated questions asked by us noobs that have been covered in detail in numerous previous topics and posts. For example, my current project involves a great deal of A/D conversion and reading-what I haven't found in the books I've read and the info posted I've searched through could be possibly be found on that section in the "wiki" area. The same goes for newer features in newer versions of PBP, like PBPL and the DIV32 operations that basically have me (and others, I'm sure) stumped...

I wish I could help out in the development/management department, but I just lack the knowledge and resources to be able to do that. I would VERY much like to see this become a reality, though...

I could possibly assist in editing the content if you'd need somebody in that area. Although I have no degree in English or Journalism, I've always been keen about grammical errors and punctuation...

I could provide a few ideas if need be, also. I've always had at least a couple of decent ideas that could help or improve certain aspects of web pages and businesses...

If it sounds like I could be of ANY help, please let me know; I currently have quite a bit of free time on my hands and have been reading and searching this forum almost non-stop since you've approved my account...

Hope I can help...
Sincerely,
-Adam Collins

[mister_e]

I don't have a clue on HTML either (if even there's some need for it on the portal), but maybe the following would help
http://www.thefreecountry.com/webmaster/htmleditors.shtml

There seems to have plenty of free WYSIWYG editor there too. Something like Amaya Web Browsing or maybe Kompozer seems to be those easy one.

A Test section would be great :D

[lester]

The planned portal will cater for both HTML entry and plain text.

The editor built into the portal is pretty similar to the editor on the forum, or any word processor, so you can compose your articles or web pages with a plain text editor or you can do it in HTML, the end result is very similar.

Dont worrry, wait and see, but for sure if you can sue the forum you'll have no problems with the proposed portal.

[Ioannis]

I don't see why someone might refuse contribution to this project. I can understand that many have no knowledge of PHP, administration or other needed qualifications, but I want to believe all will contribute one way or another (including me for sure).

Ioannis

[Bronurstomp]

This sounds like a very useful thing to me. I will contrubute as much as I can, however like many have said before me, I am no expert in any of the aformentioned realms. I'm a hardware technician delving into the firmware side of microcontrollers. I'll be happy to answer technical type questions, and would be happy to provide schematics and such.
If what I'm seeing in my head is what your saying: A PBP manual with more nuanced and complete examples, I would love to see that come into being!
I have to bite my tongue sometimes when I see someone get the dreaded "The manual covers it" answer.