[OWW-Discuss] "Contact Us" mods

Tue Apr 8 00:54:53 EDT 2008

Incidentally, iGEM is running a vanilla forum, which *is* open source.  See
it in action at: igem.org/forum.  I think it looks even simpler and nicer
than punbb.  There also may be a plugin to synchronize the forum with an
email listserv, as I think Julius was getting at.
Mac

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 2:43 PM, Bill F <bill.altmail at gmail.com> wrote:

> 1. The page is changed. Anyone with Sysop permission can change it. The
> link is
>
>       http://openwetware.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Contact
>
> 2. I've had experience with a number of discussion forum products. The
> simplest and most efficient is the lightweight "PunBB" forum. It's not as
> clumsy and garish as phpBB nor is it as well-supported with a large
> community as phpBB, simple machine forum, or Vanilla ( a product and not an
> OS project). But it's very solid and used by a lot of hosts.
>
> There's no MediaWiki integration with it at this point. The only mediawiki
> integration present with any forum is to allow MediaWiki's OpenID to become
> a client to it. Since OWW currently is an OpenID server, this isn't
> immediately an option.
>
> Keep in mind that there's no integration with WordPressMU either and we
> still use it.
>
> I downloaded and installed the software here:
>
> http://www.openwetware.org/forum
>
> Take a look at it.
>
> If we can get by without integration initially, it would be a lot better
> than what we're doing. Over time, we can add integration to the wiki. We can
> immediately add Google Analytics to it and make sure it gets spidered by
> Google for search. We can add more sophisticated integration later.
>
> This took 10-15 minutes to do: I'm not hijacking priorities to do this.
> I've spent at least that long reading and replying to this thread: it's no
> big deal. But if I need to spend more time on it, we'll have to schedule and
> prioritize the work.
>
> Remember. This is JUST a suggestion. If you kill the messenger, please
> tell my wife that I won't be home for dinner.
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 2:25 PM, Lorrie LeJeune <moltogatti at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I don't think it's too wild an idea. We use WordPress for blogging
> > rather than the wiki because it's better suited for the task. Why not use a
> > discussion list server for a discussion list? There must be some list server
> > software out there that would give us the features we want and still
> > integrate with OWW the way WordPress does.
> >
> > --L
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 2:02 PM, Ricardo Vidal <rvidal at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > If there is so much discussion really going on, I'd think it be best
> > > to have a discussion board and not a blackhole email discussion mailinglist.
> > > You know, so that previous questions/answers can be found.
> > >
> > > But obviously a discussion board is a whole new matter. So I apologize
> > > going a bit off topic.
> > >
> > > ~R
> > >
> > >
> > > On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 1:54 PM, julius.lucks <julius.lucks at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Then let's forward the feedback list to duscuss so more people see
> > > > these
> > > > messages and can respond.
> > > >
> > > > J
> > > >
> > > > Sent from my iPhone
> > > >
> > > > On Apr 7, 2008, at 10:46 AM, Austin Che <austin at csail.mit.edu>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >    Getting all contacts to be on the feedback list seems
> > > > >    impractical. For example, recently on the feedback list:
> > > > >    "Hi I was wondering were you purchased or harvested the algea
> > > > that
> > > > >    you used in the bio reator."
> > > > >    It's impossible to determine who should even be on the feedback
> > > > >    list to answer this question. And I really don't think someone
> > > > who
> > > > >    just wants to put up a protocol about algae wants to be on a
> > > > list
> > > > >    that receives questions about every topic under the sun.
> > > > However,
> > > > >    they probably are interested in questions related to algae
> > > > >    protocols so some way of directing those questions to them is
> > > > > useful.
> > > > >
> > > > >> Can we get lab contacts and protocol writers etc automatically
> > > > >> sitting
> > > > >> on the feedback list?
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Sent from my iPhone
> > > > >>
> > > > >> On Apr 7, 2008, at 9:37 AM, Austin Che <austin at csail.mit.edu>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>   The message on the page already says to leave a message on the
> > > > >>>   talk page. It is a much lower barrier to entry to type a
> > > > message
> > > > >>>   into a text box than getting an account and posting on a talk
> > > > >>>   page. The majority of messages that we have already received
> > > > have
> > > > >>>   been for specific people/protocols. My feeling is that
> > > > >>>   restricting the comments to only feedback about the site will
> > > > mean
> > > > >>>   we will get no feedback and those who really do have useful
> > > > >>>   feedback for labs won't give them at all.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>> We should also put something in the message that if they want
> > > > to
> > > > >>>> leave
> > > > >>>> a message for a particular person or lab, then they can join
> > > > OWW
> > > > >>>> and
> > > > >>>> leave a message on a talk page.
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> J
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> On Apr 7, 2008, at 8:47 AM, "Barry Canton" <bcanton at mit.edu>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>>>>  It'd be nice if the contact page could look at the referring
> > > > >>>>>> page
> > > > >>>>>>  and based on that, "do the right thing." For example, if I'm
> > > > >>>>>>  looking at the Endy lab page, the contact form should send
> > > > an
> > > > >>>>>>  email to the endy lab contact. The simplest implementation I
> > > > can
> > > > >>>>>>  think of is to have a special tag people could put on pages
> > > > for
> > > > >>>>>>  example, {{contact:myemail at blah}}. Labs would put it into
> > > > their
> > > > >>>>>>  lab template, protocol writers would put it into their
> > > > >>>>>> protocols,
> > > > >>>>>>  etc. The contact page extension would try to find such a tag
> > > > and
> > > > >>>>>>  if it exists, send the comment email there. Otherwise, it
> > > > sends
> > > > >>>>>> to
> > > > >>>>>>  the generic oww feedback address.
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> Personally, I think it makes more sense if the behavior of the
> > > > >>>>> "Contact OWW" button is consistent across the wiki.  I think
> > > > the
> > > > >>>>> proposal to make the text on the contact us page better
> > > > explain
> > > > >>>>> who
> > > > >>>>> the feedback is sent to will be sufficient.
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > Austin Che           <austin at csail.mit.edu>          (617)253-5899
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > OpenWetWare Discussion Mailing List
> > > > > discuss at openwetware.org
> > > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/oww-discuss
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > OpenWetWare Discussion Mailing List
> > > > discuss at openwetware.org
> > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/oww-discuss
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Ricardo Vidal
> > > rvidal at gmail.com | http://my.biotechlife.net
> > > http://www.openwetware.org - Share your Science
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > OpenWetWare Discussion Mailing List
> > > discuss at openwetware.org
> > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/oww-discuss
> > >
> > >
> >
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> >
> >
>
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