Flavor: Documentation

Last modified by Vincent Massol on 2024/02/26 17:54

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Description

Documentation Flavor

Community Feedback

[xwiki-devs] [Brainstorming] [Flavor] Documentation Flavor http://markmail.org/thread/cvfzvwv6dnhkimuy (25 Mar, 2013) 

Objectives

A Documentation Wiki is an information repository about a certain topic (product, service, etc.) 

It needs to provide means for information to be collected, organized, shared, searched and utilized.

Short Version

The highlights of the Documentation wiki are:

  • Import and Export from diverse formats
  • Custom Templates in order to rapidly create new documents
  • Custom Macros focused on content creation and formatting
  • Workflow in order for the content to be reviewed by dedicated users
  • Hierarchical navigation and organization of the content

Issues

Tasks & Features

Task: Collect Information

Import

Import Office Documents (Word, Excel, Ppt) and other formats (CSV, DokuWiki, TWiki, MediaWiki, etc.) into wiki pages.
Mandatory Default Extension

WYSIWYG

You can edit the wiki page in Syntax mode or WYSIWYG mode, which provides a way to create rich content with ease.
There will be a selection of macros specialized for creating content, like adding layout, adding charts, images, table of content, footnotes, etc.
Mandatory Default

Comments & Annotations

Collaboration and reviewing on wiki pages can be made through comments (global level) and annotations (contextual level) on unpublished content. The functionality could be disabled or enabled on published content.
Optional Default

Workflow

Workflows are used to manage page stages, assign content contributors and publish only approved content. This way we can control the access and make sure only high quality content is visible to end-users.

Content will be first created, reviewed, approved and then published, following some predefined stages like: 'draft', 'in progress', 'approved', 'published', 'archived'

Users are separated in levels of users from: 'viewers', 'writers / contributors', 'editors / moderators', 'admins / webmasters', etc. each with their predefined rights.
Mandatory Extension Custom

Macros

Macros add extra functionality inside wiki pages. There are certain macro categories, from content formatting to application specific macros, that can be generally used or specific to documentation wikis (Workflow Status, Page Contributors, Related Pages, Rate content as useful etc.).
Mandatory Default Custom

Pages

Pages are atomic entities of the wiki. They have 'Copy', 'Rename', 'Move', 'Delete' functionality. Also you can manage the 'History' (restore versions), add Attachments to them and manage them with 'Document Index'.
Mandatory Default

Templates

We can create an empty page or use Page Templates, that contains predefined content and structure. Templates are integrated in the 'Create' page action. See XE-897, XWIKI-6684
Mandatory Default Custom

Applications

Alternative to Templates. We could store the content in specialized Documentation Applications. They are using forms to add content input.
Optional Default Custom

Task: Organize Information

Spaces

Spaces are collections of wiki pages. They have separate administration, so they can have independent rights, presentation, backups, etc. 

Spaces organize pages in 'physical' locations, accessible through URLs.
Mandatory Default

Metadata

Add additional information on top of pages in order to provide additional layers of information and organization.
Optional Custom

Hierarchy

Organize your content in hierarchical order by having parent-child relationships. 

They organize the pages 'logically', across spaces.  
Mandatory Default Extension

Tags

Tags can be added to pages to describe and categorize them. Can be visualized in Tag Clouds.

They organize the pages 'logically', across spaces.  
Mandatory Default

Task: Access and Utilize Information

Rights

The whole purpose of a documentation wiki is to make information accessible to the audience, while preserving the content workflow.
There will be the following groups:

'Viewers': can read articles and may leave comments;

'Writer / Contributor': adds new articles, makes changes to his own articles, attach files to his own articles and all the new articles created by a writer are not published to the documentation unless they are moderated/approved by either an Editor or Admins;

'Editor / Moderator': writer rights + create new articles, make changes to existing articles, create/manage categories, delete articles (but cannot access the ?Trash? for permanent deletion), create/manage tags;

'Admin / Webmaster': have no restrictions. writer + editor rights + ability to create/manage users, manage global settings, view reports and statistics, take backup etc.
Mandatory Default Custom

Export

The wiki displays the information as an online web page, but various output formats are needed for a wider audience. This should cover formats like XML, PDF, Word, ODT, Excel, CSV, HTML, DocBook XML, Dita XML, etc. but also the ability to print the content.
We need the ability to export a single page or multiple pages.
Mandatory Default Extension

Backup & Archive

Prevent information loss by having regular backups, useful also when doing upgrades or moving from one instance to another.

Archive functionality could be added to pages and spaces when they switch from 'Draft' to 'Publish' stage or when a new version for a documentation page replaces the older published version.
Mandatory Default

Internationalization

There are over 21 language available for your wiki, depending on the audience you need to handle. Also you can add your own translation or improve a current one.
Optional Default

Comments & Ratings

Although comments can be used in the content creation and validation process, they could also be enabled for the published content, in order to get feedback and rating from the viewers.
Optional Default

Task: Search & Navigate Information

Search

Search for content inside pages, comments, objects and also in the content of attachments. You can restrict your search results by using filters based on location, content type, modification date, author, etc. 

Also the Search Suggest feature rapidly displays the top matches for a certain query and highlights documents name, document content, attachment content and user names.
Mandatory Default

Livetable

Livetables allow filtering of pages that share structured data. You can view multiple details on a certain page, like name, location, author, modification date, images, etc. Pages selection can be done for an entire space, wiki, tag, author, etc.
Mandatory Default

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs display for a certain page it's parent / child relation and position in the documents hierarchy.
Mandatory Default

Tag Cloud

The Tag Cloud display all the tags found for a certain use case (in a certain space, or by a certain author) and lets you browse pages that are labeled with the same tag.
Mandatory Default

Tree

You can visualize the hierarchy of pages starting from a specific parent or location. We need a tree integrated in the left panels, used for navigation.
Mandatory Default Extension

Task: Share & Follow Information

Have permanent links to point to your content. This mechanism is mandatory and built in for pages, but you can also link to comments, sections of content, attachments, users, certain version of the content, etc.
Mandatory Default

RSS

Changes and activity notifications are also available in RSS format in order to stay up to date. There are some pre-defined feeds that you can subscribe (activity stream, blog, etc.).
Optional Default

Activity Stream

Activity Stream lets you monitor the activity on pages, comments, attachments, by seing new, edited, deleted content. The Activity Stream is an useful tool in the creation process by highlighting additions and contributions.

Is less effective on published content, since that content doesn't suffer many changes.
Optional Default

Share by email

You can share pages through mail or with other users. The pages can be just linked or embedded inside the message, containing comments and attachments.
Optional Default

Watchlist

Get informed about wiki modifications with the watch feature. You will be notified by email of any changes to the pages: edit, delete content, comments, attachments, etc.

You can specify the frequency and delay of the e-mails. Also you are automatically subscribed to pages you contributed.

Is less effective on published content, since that content doesn't suffer many changes.
Optional Default

Send message

You can send message internally to wiki users, mentioning pages of interest, links or just content.
Optional Default

Task: Instance Administration

Authentification

You can create your own user base and let them authenticate with XWiki credentials or you can delegate the authentification to LDAP and get their credentials from external servers.
Mandatory Default

Presentation

Documentation skins usually have the left column utilized for navigation (hosting the Tree). Default ColorThemes are enough.

The skin could also use an optional Horizontal Menu to contain links to important sections.
Mandatory Optional Default Extension

Features Summary

 Feature  Status
Authentification  Mandatory    Default    
Pages (History, Attachments, Document Index)  Mandatory    Default    
Spaces Mandatory    Default    
WYSIWYG Mandatory    Default    
Backup Mandatory    Default    
Permalink Mandatory    Default    
Search Mandatory    Default    
Livetable Mandatory    Default    
Tags Mandatory    Default    
Breadcrumbs Mandatory    Default    
Tree Mandatory    Default   Extension   
Hierarchy Mandatory    Default   Extension 1 
Import Mandatory    Default 2  Extension 3  
Export Mandatory    Default   Extension 4 
Macros Mandatory    Default    Custom  
Templates Mandatory    Default    Custom  
Rights Mandatory    Default    Custom  
Workflow Mandatory     Extension 5 Custom  
Presentation Mandatory Optional   Default   Extension 6 
Internationalization  Optional   Default    
Comments  Optional   Default    
Annotations  Optional   Default    
Activity Stream  Optional   Default    
Send message  Optional   Default    
Share by email  Optional   Default    
Watchlist  Optional   Default    
RSS  Optional   Default    
Applications  Optional   Default    Custom  
  1. ^ http://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/HierarchyMacro
  2. ^ http://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Office+Importer+Application
  3. ^ http://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Batch+Import+Application
  4. ^ http://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/MultipagePdfExport+Application+-+Space+Export
  5. ^ https://github.com/xwiki-contrib/workflow-publication
  6. ^ http://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/NavigationMenuConfig

 

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