[drupal-docs] Developing vs Empowering : Or how the wording inside Drupal/CS affects a sites design

[Sean Robertson]

With regard to the create content links, I think perhaps in addition to that
create content list, there should be a link in the navigation going directly
to the post form for whichever content type is relevant to the current page.
For instance, if you're browsing the forum, "New Forum Topic" should be
right there at the top of the navigation box (the link should also inherit
the taxonomy for whichever forum you were browsing).  Likewise, while
browsing Events, you'd see a New Event link and while browsing blogs a New
Blog Post link.

I think doing something like that would go a long way towards simplifyig
things, while still leaving the Create Content menu available as-is for more
complex stuff.  Drupal already has a link for a new forum topic at the top
of the forum pages, but it'd be usefull to have it in the navigation block
as well, and do the same for other content types too.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Liza Sabater" <blogdiva at culturekitchen.com>
To: <civicspace-community at civicspacelabs.org>; <drupal-docs at drupal.org>;
"Civicspace" <civicspace-dev at civicspacelabs.org>
Cc: "Liza Sabater" <blogdiva at culturekitchen.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2005 6:27 PM
Subject: Developing vs Empowering : Or how the wording inside Drupal/CS
affects a sites design


> Hey'all,
>
> This first started out as a simple question about how to change the
> information that appears on the "Create Content" page; but it spiraled
> into something else. Just speechifying here and absolutely NOT creating
> content. So here it goes:
>
> First off, let's talk about "Create Content". As Doc Searles has
> pointed out so well, in his "What blogs are vs. What blogs are not"
>
> http://www.searls.com/doc/2005lesblogs/index.html
>
> blogs --and by extension community sites-- are not content, they are
> free speech. Not just free democratic speech but speech that is free of
> the barriers to entry to mass media. Blogs are fast becoming the mass
> media of our day and as "techno-fear" decreases and ease of use rises,
> we will have millions of not just readers but contributors --through
> comments, diaries, forums-- growing this new mass media and changing
> the landscape of public/private discourse,
>
> To invite anyone reading a blog entry to contribute their opinion on an
> issue is not the same as asking for content contributions. Opinions and
> content are two mutualy exclusive things. Wouldn't you feel weird if
> you were at a cocktail party and someone asked you to submit an article
> about briefs vs. boxers instead of saying right then and there what you
> thought?
>
> I want people coming to my sites to feel empowered to contribute their
> insights and opinions on an issue. To be able to "speechify"
> effortlessly and with no barriers to entry.
>
> I know Kieran has been working double overtime on correcting a lot of
> the documentation. That man needs a drink and as blog as my witness,
> I'm getting him one when I get my arse to California in July. But,
> something I feel is missing is the non-techie mission, elan,
> inspiration that propels people to work hard to make CivicSpace work.
>
> In other words, what do we stand for should be inspiring every bit of
> coding and documentation. If this is what CivicSpace stands for :
>
> ______
>
> CivicSpace is a free open-source software platform for grassroots
> organizing and civic activity. It allows individuals and organizations
> to build online communities that communicate effectively, act
> collectively, and coordinate coherently with a network of other related
> organizations and communities.
> ______
>
> This is what needs to push every single bit of info on the site.
> Actually, I'd like to cut that wordiness to this : empowering
> grassroots and civic activity with powerful online community spaces
>
>
> So for the sake of netroots sanity, the following has to go because it
> is not flexible :
> ______
>
> Choose the appropriate item from the list:
>
> * book page
> A book is a collaborative writing effort: users can collaborate writing
> the pages of the book, positioning the pages in the right order, and
> reviewing or modifying pages previously written. So when you have some
> information to share or when you read a page of the book and you didn't
> like it, or if you think a certain page could have been written better,
> you can do something about it.
>
> * forum topic
> A forum is a threaded discussion, enabling users to communicate about a
> particular topic.
>
> * image
> An image you can insert into nodes, or see in image galleries.
>
> * issue
> Add a new issue (bug report, feature request, etc) to an existing
> project.
>
> * personal blog entry
> A blog is a regularly updated journal made up of individual entries,
> often called posts, that are time stamped and typically arranged by the
> day, with the newest on top (a diary is the reverse). They tend to be
> quite personal, often containing links to things you've seen, or to
> editorials that you find interesting. Some blogs also contain original
> material written solely for the blog. Since a Blog is personal, you and
> only you have full control over what you publish. The most interesting
> blog entries or those blog entries that fit the site's topic well might
> get promoted to the front page by the community or by users with the
> access do this.
>
> * project specification
> Description of a CivicSpace project.
> _____________
>
>
> This works great for people in the know of Drupal --ie, we geeks and
> freaks of all kinds. For your regular Bob and Bobette --no matter how
> techy skilled they might be-- if they have never used this system,
> there's a learning curve to use. I have a particular problem with the
> fact that BLOGS, is not at the top. If blogs are each users
> co-ownership of a community space, they ought to be able to find it in
> a snap. Fast. Effortlessly. I also have a problem with the fact I
> cannot easily change this  text. Nobody I know, NO ONE, talks about
> personal blog entries. They BLOG IT! They RANT IT! They whatever it.
>
> I am first and foremost a communicatrix. So publishing is not just
> about using Movable Type vs. CivicSpace. It's about setting up a tone
> through the design, the flow of content and the language used
> throughout the site's interface. Being able to change "News Feeds" to
> "Sheroesphere", on a nav bar (which I can), is part of my job. And is
> in the language, in the vocabulary I use all throughout the site that
> allows me to set a tone, a message, a vision. So I don''t setup and
> design a blog --a turn a blog into personal loudspeaker. I don't just
> use community platform as social software (whatever that is). My goal
> is to develop it into a commons, a real life yet digital town square
> --or a community loudspeaker. I should be able to change this. Easily.
> Effortlessly. Fast.
>
> So with this entry I would like to do two things :
> (1) Could the real coders please tell us mere mortals where to change
> the links on the modules. I want to do away with "Book page", "Forum
> topic", etc. I want to know if changing those would affect anything.
>
> (2) Those explanations have to go. Sorry, they're just not doing it for
> me. Node? NODE? WFT is a node to someone outside of the Drupalsphere?
> Seriously! Let's use this forum for alternative blurbs.
>
> Enough speechifying. Let's get cracking :)
>
> Best,
> Liza Sabater
> Blog Publisher
> www.culturekitchen.com
> www.blogsheroes.com
> www.brownbloggers.com
> www.dailygotham.com
>
> AIM - cultkitdiva
> SKYPE - lizasabater
>
>