[ecf-dev] Re: ecf-dev Digest, Vol 16, Issue 18

["Mustafa K. Isik" <codesurgeon@xxxxxxxxx>]

Got an error message from Postfix with a "failure to find group".
Excuse me if my message below reaches you twice.

On 11/18/06, Mustafa K. Isik <codesurgeon@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It looks like as if I mixed up MediaWiki's (distinct) concepts of
> "categories" and "namespaces".
>
> Categories are really just there to provide a TOC for a set of pages.
> Adding a page to such a TOC is as easy as including a special type of
> internal wiki link to the page's source. A page can be listed on any
> arbitrary number of such TOCs, i.e. Category pages. You can find more
> on the topic here:
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Category
>
> What "categories" don't solve is the namespace problem, where our
> usage of a page title such as "API Refactoring" keeps pretty much
> everybody else from being able to use a simple and concise title for
> the same effort in their respective projects [thank god we were so
> fast to grab this one :-P ].
>
> That is where namespaces come into play. I thought of MediaWiki to
> allow titling pages with a special syntax in order to manage them via
> a special namespace, something like
>
> "<namespace>:<page title>"
>
> , where MediaWiki just displays <page title> and does not show the
> prefix <namespace> in internal wiki link usage. Consulting the
> MediaWiki documentation, I had to realize, that utilizing namespaces
> does not seem to be as straightforward as I assumed.
>
> Apparently creating a namespace of one's own requires administration
> rights and access to MediaWiki's guts and innards, that is
> DefaultSettings.php :(
>
> You can have a look at it here:
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Custom_namespaces
>
> What do you (all) think we should do in order to avoid running out of
> common page titles?
>
> Are you OK with extending page titles of which you think they could be
> common with a pre-/suffix of your liking?
>
> The problem I see with this is, that
>
> a) we will end up with inconsistent titling, where some pages have a
> plain title, others some sort of prefix and yet another set with
> different suffixes, such as "for ECF", "of ECF" etc.
>
> b) coming up with prefixes or suffixes only for titles of which we
> think to be, have been or might become common leaves quite some room
> for (mis-)interpretation/-judgment, effectively rendering this
> approach useless. (Me being me and knowing me, will I always be able
> to anticipate a page title to be, become or have been common? No, I
> don't think so.)
>
> This very much feels like a hack.
>
> Right now I can think of two options, either we inquire for the
> creation of custom namespaces for each project or we agree on a prefix
> of our own, which we'll use to prefix all our page titles.
>
> The latter option strips us of the features that come with "real",
> i.e. wiki-supported, namespaces, but could be realized with minimal
> administrative impact (by using the "move" function in MediaWiki).
> It would prevent us from stepping on other project's toes (those which
> they use to come up with the titles for their wiki pages) and most
> likely also save us from running into names already in use by others.
>
> The latter option is of immediate nature, where the former would
> require other projects to adopt a similar approach.
>
> What are your thoughts on the issue? Is it worth the hassle? Does
> anybody have another suggestion?
>
> Have a nice weekend :)
>
> Mustafa
>
>
> On 11/15/06, Mustafa K. Isik <codesurgeon@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I think we should use a shorter category prefix than "Eclipse
> > Communication Framework", since inter-wiki linking will require the
> > full lengthy prefix to be typed each time.
> >
> > As the category prefix is not necessarily exposed to your common
> > reader, using an acronym should not deteriorate usability.
> >
> > Remy, I saw that you have already integrated a category prefix into
> > our wiki pages, what do you and the other ECFers think of having that
> > changed to our beloved "ECF"?
> >
> > In case you guys are accord with this, I'd make the appropriate changes.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Mustafa
> >
>
>
> --
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/mki/


--
Weird Ed Edison: Mommy, I'm worried! He hasn't eaten in 5 years.
Nurse Edna: Yeah, SO?
Weird Ed Edison: And he's been bringing those bodies, and he carries
those bodies to the basement at night.
[Maniac Mansion, 1987]