Repository is Ready for Testing

• • MODX Staff
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  Ryan Thrash Reply #81, 20 years, 3 months ago

  Some things on my mind regarding the repository...
  
  CSS for the entire support site is now a bit off with underlines on navigation links, etc.
  
  Feature item(s) layout should be fixed... the closing parenthesis is intermixed with the download button. Feature (at a minimum) should also have short description.
  
  LOVE the RSS feeds on the different categories. This should be applied to all tags for that matter.
  
  The "For: Something-or-Other, Type: Jabberwocky" on the front page means nothing to me. A short description would mean a ton! Similarly in this area, why the pipe character between the name and version if it all links to the same location?
  
  Latest Items and Most Downloaded could go down a font-size and be stacked next to each other (2 cols), Featured should probably stay full width and at the top. I am really inclined to want to see the tag cloud inserted between the Featured Items and the proposed double-column. And a smaller header image. And a short description too.
  Ryan Thrash, MODX Co-Founder
  Follow me on Twitter at @rthrash or catch my occasional unofficial thoughts at thrash.me
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  Zaigham (aka zi) Reply #82, 20 years, 3 months ago

  Thanks for your Input Ryan.
  
  I was continously working on the styling of the reposotiry pages, while I got stuck on folder pages (the page on which all releases & updates are displayed for each item individually, I need to understand , how is that page being constructed, and Kyle can give best explanation of that , so I am waiting for him.)
  
  Other than that, please add:
  
  .topnav a {
  text-decoration: none;
  }
  
  after:
  
  /* Main navigation list
  ------------------------------------------------ */
  
  in greenzi.css
  
  [update] I did update the css.
  
  Thanks.
  Zaigham R - MODX Professional | Skype | Email | Twitter
  
  Digging the interwebs for #MODX gems and bringing it to you. modx.link
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  kjaebker Reply #83, 20 years, 3 months ago

  Zi,
  do you think you could change the smaller star rating image to match the green one you created on the single item pages?
  
  @Ryan,
  Is that start image better now?
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  Garry Nutting Reply #84, 20 years, 3 months ago

  The "For: Something-or-Other, Type: Jabberwocky" on the front page means nothing to me. A short description would mean a ton! Similarly in this area, why the pipe character between the name and version if it all links to the same location?
  
  Latest Items and Most Downloaded could go down a font-size and be stacked next to each other (2 cols), Featured should probably stay full width and at the top. I am really inclined to want to see the tag cloud inserted between the Featured Items and the proposed double-column.

  I’m just working through these changes now, a bit more tweaking and they’ll be completed
  
  
  Garry Nutting
  Senior Developer
  MODX, LLC
  
  Email: [email protected]
  Twitter: @garryn
  Web: modx.com
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  Ryan Thrash Reply #85, 20 years, 3 months ago

  I just checked the repository and WOW ... I’m running out of things to nit-pick about
  
  I now get the dates vs. download subtitle on the bottom sections... doh! lol
  
  I think the header image is better, but we could gain probably another 30 px height by moving the HD image up and to the right, but that’s minor. Breadcrumb has double-underlines.
  
  On the http://www.modxcms.com/FileDownload-1.6-504.html page, the right-floated image needs a clearing break, or the HR needs to have a class applied to it with clear:both
  
  Do the RSS icons need to be reference by alias as opposed to [~id~] ... I’m seeing a .html extension on the end if that matters.
  
  Can we filter some items like the core distribution files from the most downloaded list as that’s going to grotesquely outweigh any other resource for download counts? While we’re on that subject, how do we handle multi-version downloads (alternate encodings like .tar and .tar.gz) for our core files and patches ... attach them as extras I’d assume?
  Ryan Thrash, MODX Co-Founder
  Follow me on Twitter at @rthrash or catch my occasional unofficial thoughts at thrash.me
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  PaulGregory Reply #86, 20 years, 3 months ago

  The new Repository is lovely, a really nice application that reinforces the qualities of MODx.
  I have several thoughts.
  
  Adding Older Resources Etc
  Could someone work out which existing snippets are by people who are no longer around, so that those of us who haven’t yet released a snippet can be assigned one to add - both to test Repository and to bulk it up?
  
  Link To More Info
  I’d like to see a More Info button in the search results.
  I know that clicking the title gets you to the more info, but I know from experience with ecommerce that more people click "More Info" than click the product title.
  
  Link To version Specific Info
  I’m not completely certain why clicking on the title on the more info page links to a version-specific info page. I would prefer to see this link under Previous Releases (which would then be renamed Release History). That would also mean that there was always at least one item in that section, and it would be easier to check release dates.
  
  Support Threads
  I note that each item links to a support thread.
  This appears to be resource-specific rather than version-specific.
  There are a number of ways of handling the changeover - which is it to be?
  a) Merge all existing threads into the new official support thread.
  b) Merge the most recent version thread into the new thread.
  c) Close off all existing threads, and edit "See previous discussion:" links into the top post of the new thread.
  
  And going forward, when a new version comes out:
  i) Have a really long thread that runs forever and is confusing to new people because the first 5 pages are about things that are already fixed in the version they downloaded.
  ii) Move posts about older versions into a second thread and link to it in the top post.
  iii) Have some mechanism for starting a new thread.
  iv) Have some mechanism for editing which thread the link points to.
  
  Support Thread Forum
  The launch of Repository seems a good time to rearrange key forums. Can we please title the forum that the support threads are in "Resource Support", as "Repository Support" sounds like support with the repository application rather relating to its contents. Oh, and I think we should ultimately have Resource Support under Support, move all the resource-usage threads to it from "Modules, Plugins & Snippets" AND the news/image/nav subforums. Possibly have subforums for specific resources like Ditto, but no categorisation of resources. We can then refocus "Modules, Plugins & Snippets" on programming issues related to extending MODx. And add to the "Wishlist" description to include ideas for snippets etc. There’s a bunch of work to be done here, and it needs to be done just before the Repo goes live. I’m willing to help out on that. (Unless its Friday).
  
  Tags
  Can other users/moderators add/remove tags from a resource?
  
  Deprecated Resources
  Is there a facility for making it clear that a snippet is dead, and if appropriate directing people to whatever snippet replaces it?
  
  Phew. Lot of thoughts. Hope they’re useful.
  No, I don't know what OpenGeek's saying half the time either.
  MODx Documentation: The Wiki | My Wiki contributions | Main MODx Documentation
  Forum: Where to post threads about add-ons | Forum Rules
  Like MODx? donate (and/or share your resources)
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  MODx "Most Promising CMS" - so appropriate!
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  Ryan Thrash Reply #87, 20 years, 3 months ago

  Thanks Paul... very good feedback indeed. I don’t know what the best way to handle existing support threads is and am totally open to suggestions.
  Ryan Thrash, MODX Co-Founder
  Follow me on Twitter at @rthrash or catch my occasional unofficial thoughts at thrash.me
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  doze Reply #88, 20 years, 3 months ago

  Quote from: PaulGregory at Jun 27, 2006, 10:50 AM

  
  Deprecated Resources
  Is there a facility for making it clear that a snippet is dead, and if appropriate directing people to whatever snippet replaces it?
  

  This would be great! and the information would be nice to be visible straight at the listing views ect.. maybe some icon or something (like the featured/audited icons)..
  
  When talking about feature suggestion, would it be needed to have some way to easily state the current stage of the resource, i.e. is it in beta stage/under developement or ready for production use? I know all this can be written to the resource description or achieved by using tags, but I think it would be nice if users can just glance the search results/listings an notice which are still in beta stage (and filter beta resources from the results listings, because some users only use "final" resources for important projects etc).. maybe same kind of icon what I said above.
  
  I don’t think that it would be good if the repository is only meant for "production-type" resources (and I’m not saying that it is, just asking). At Etomite site, I noticed that most of the early stages snippet developement/first announces were made in the forums (an adviced to do that way too). But many of the developement stage resources are better use even for production enviroments comparing to old ones in the snippet library, and many users settle for the first resource they find (ie. from snippet library) and don’t bother searching the forums for a better one. Also when the initial developement/announcements are done just in the forums, the resources might end up not added to the repository at all.. So I think, it would be good to advice users to announce even the first versions of every resource at the repository and just "tag" it as develompement release or something.. I guess this is allready planned like this because of the "built-in" version history features etc.
  
  Then to the new looks of the repository.. I almost hate to say this, but I don’t like the new fuzzy voting stars that can be seen for example here. To me, the green ones seem too blurry and hurt eyes to look at them. I liked the yellow stars better. Also the modx minilogo in "featured" and "audited" buttons are too blurry for my likings, but I guess the logos are the same as in the forum userprofile "tags" and in main page feed buttons.. But the stars doesn’t look good to me.. Other than that, I like the layout changes, good work! Many thanks to all of you involved in this!
  
  
  
  
  "He can have a lollipop any time he wants to. That's what it means to be a programmer."
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  PaulGregory Reply #89, 20 years, 3 months ago

  @doze - I guess Deprecated is a stage of a resource too.
  
  @rthrash - It’s a bit "picking yourself up in a bucket", so the steps I suggest for handling threads are:
  
  1) Add to the new threads a post with links to the old threads, like I just did with Ditto.
  2) Move Repo forum to Support (and ensure zi and I have mod access).
  3) Release Repository, encouraging authors to link to existing help material in their top posts.
  4) Dance about a bit, maybe raise a toast.
  5) Do other changes suggested in my section "Support Thread Forum" above.
  6) Close older threads with message linking to new thread.
  7) Merge/split threads and remove/create links where appropriate.
  
  I’d like, in short, to see the first post of the thread link to lots of other threads - ideally about specific issues, but not necessarily.
  
  Hmmn. Just volunteered myself for a lot of work.
  No, I don't know what OpenGeek's saying half the time either.
  MODx Documentation: The Wiki | My Wiki contributions | Main MODx Documentation
  Forum: Where to post threads about add-ons | Forum Rules
  Like MODx? donate (and/or share your resources)
  Like me? See my Amazon wishlist
  MODx "Most Promising CMS" - so appropriate!
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  kjaebker Reply #90, 20 years, 3 months ago

  Quote from: PaulGregory at Jun 27, 2006, 10:50 AM

  
  Adding Older Resources Etc
  Could someone work out which existing snippets are by people who are no longer around, so that those of us who haven’t yet released a snippet can be assigned one to add - both to test Repository and to bulk it up?
  

  
  If someone wants to take this up that would be great. Otherwise when we make the repository live we can just wait a few weeks to see what gets added. Then after that period add ones that did not get added by the original author.
  
  Quote from: PaulGregory at Jun 27, 2006, 10:50 AM

  
  Link To More Info
  I’d like to see a More Info button in the search results.
  I know that clicking the title gets you to the more info, but I know from experience with ecommerce that more people click "More Info" than click the product title.
  

  
  This shouldn’t be to hard to add, I will take a look at it.
  
  Quote from: PaulGregory at Jun 27, 2006, 10:50 AM

  
  Link To version Specific Info
  I’m not completely certain why clicking on the title on the more info page links to a version-specific info page. I would prefer to see this link under Previous Releases (which would then be renamed Release History). That would also mean that there was always at least one item in that section, and it would be easier to check release dates.
  

  
  Paul, here is what it will look like with the previous releases (there aren’t any in the repo yet so here is a link to a test site: http://modxtest.muddydogpaws.com/image-test-57.html) Maybe if we just add the more info link to these it would be better as well??
  
  Quote from: PaulGregory at Jun 27, 2006, 10:50 AM

  
  [And going forward, when a new version comes out:
  i) Have a really long thread that runs forever and is confusing to new people because the first 5 pages are about things that are already fixed in the version they downloaded.
  ii) Move posts about older versions into a second thread and link to it in the top post.
  iii) Have some mechanism for starting a new thread.
  iv) Have some mechanism for editing which thread the link points to.
  

  
  We figured that the forums might get to crowded with multiple topics craeted for each resource. But if you guys think we should create a new topic each time a new version is released we could definatly change it to do that.
  
  Quote from: PaulGregory at Jun 27, 2006, 10:50 AM

  
  Tags
  Can other users/moderators add/remove tags from a resource?
  

  
  At this time the only people that can edit a post is the person that created it. It can also be changed by logging into the modxcms.com manager, but this is not recommended. We can look at setting up the ability to allow certain power users to modify resources i na future update.
  
  Quote from: PaulGregory at Jun 27, 2006, 10:50 AM

  
  Deprecated Resources
  Is there a facility for making it clear that a snippet is dead, and if appropriate directing people to whatever snippet replaces it?
  

  
  This is probably a good idea, I will see what it takes to get it added.
  
  Quote from: doze at Jun 27, 2006, 12:10 PM

  
  When talking about feature suggestion, would it be needed to have some way to easily state the current stage of the resource, i.e. is it in beta stage/under developement or ready for production use?

  
  At this point I think this si best solved by the version numbering. The version number field lets you enter numbers or text so you could add a resource with version alpha or beta.

This discussion is closed to further replies. Keep calm and carry on.