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in reply to Re^2: Revitalize the Code Catacombs using DocLists! (fit)
in thread Revitalize the Code Catacombs using DocLists!

Do doclists allow one item to appear in multiple lists?

Yes; the parent refers to its children; the children do not refer to the parent.

So long as authors can put their own nodes into an appropriate list, then this might work.

One of the cool things about this proposal is that it doesn't demand any changes to the structure of the nodes being categorized. sourcecode nodes currently have a codecategory field which users are requested to fill in when posting. This could be used by the "curators" in selecting a category in which to file the new node.

We're building the house of the future together.

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Re^4: Revitalize the Code Catacombs using DocLists! (fit)
by tye (Sage) on Dec 09, 2006 at 06:42 UTC

    "used by the curators in selecting" means nothing gets sorted unless a curator does it. Yuck! The normal flow should be people posting and selecting the list(s) to post to with curator intervention only required when an author gets the choice "wrong" (and clearly wrong, unless the curator gets the author's buy-in on the move).

    - tye        

      ...nothing gets sorted unless a curator does it.

      But that's the current situation with Tutorials. Doesn't seem to be a problem there.

      The problem with the traditional "type in a category" is that posters can enter new/nonexistent categories, which means either creating a new category for every user who doesn't know how to spell, or dropping their post in an "unfiled" category anyway. Of course, it would be possible to give the poster a pick list of existing categories... but I think this could get unwieldy when the categorization structure is arbitrarily hierarchical.

      I also think the concern (if there is one) about overloading the curator group is misplaced. The volume of new postings in Code Catacombs is quite low — only about a dozen over the past two months.

      (and clearly wrong, unless the curator gets the author's buy-in on the move)

      I certainly agree with this, as a matter of principle. However, I'd offer Tutorials as a counterexample: the Pedagogues have (as far as I know) had free rein to reorganize categories and move tutorials as they see fit. And as far as I know, no tutorial poster has complained...

      We're building the house of the future together.

        I'm not worried about overloading curators. And tutorials needs the tighter control because it is a special-purpose section that should only contain high-quality content, not just whatever people want to post that doesn't get rejected for being completely inappropriate.

        Posters shouldn't have to wait for a curator to be around for their node to show up on their selected list. With node approval we at least have hundreds of "curators" there (and it is still enough of a problem that automatic approval is repeatedly proposed and I'm in favor of that with a few details worked out).

        If the user fails to successfully pick a valid category, then a curator would need to place it for them, of course.

        I don't like either of your alternatives for users selecting a list to add to. I'd have each list have an "add" link that gives a submission form with that list preselected.

        Can these lists allow the viewer to select whether they want to see nodes under this keyword shown newest first or highest rep first? That seems important too.

        - tye