[support] How to insert links to other pages on the same site?

[cl at isbd.net]

On Mon, Jan 29, 2007 at 08:43:10AM -0800, Earl Miles wrote:
> cl at isbd.net wrote:
> > But why aren't there good non-browser site management suites?  Or are
> > there some that I have missed?
> 
> That's a good question. I'm going to take a shot in the dark on the answers:
> 
> 1) Web tools are inherently machine/OS agnostic; making non-browser tools that 
> are machine/OS agnostic is difficult. Meaning that someone could come up with a 
> fantastic package for say, MacOS, Windows or Linux but then there's difficulty 
> porting the package. Though it's true that one could try to write something in 
> Java which is much more portable.
> 
True, but we don't seem to have a corresponding problem with other
software, Firefox is avilable for several platforms.  Apache is Linux
only but the most widely used web server.  There's absolutely no need
for a site management tool to run on multiple OS's.


> 2) The expertise to write such tools is quite different from the expertise 
> required to write these web tools. They would need to be in a different 
> language, to start, but really there is a huge separation between what Drupal 
> currently uses and what something like this would require.
> 
.... and?  There was far more expertise available in the past for
writing a non-web version.


> 3) The tool would likely be complicated by the inherently interactive nature of 
> this kind of website. The idea of a Drupal-based site is that multiple 
> maintainers can do their thing, and that adds another layer of complexity.
> 
Yes, but there are many, many applications for a non-multiple-maintainer
software.  It's only when you start saying 'blog', 'wiki', etc. that
the need for multiple maintainers and contributors arises.


> 4) While complexity isn't really a barrier if enough people are interested in 
> the tool, there just isn't a huge demand for it. Most designers are ok with 
> doing it on the Web. Yes, Drupal takes a lot of grief for its UI being 'behind 
> the times' so to speak, and this is one area we've been addressing. But the 
> demand for tools like this has to come from the people capable of writing them; 
> that's the joy and sorrow of opensource. Just because people want something 
> isn't enough; it has to be wanted by people capable of creating it.
> 
>From what I have seen while hunting around for something that works
for me I think there *is* a significant need for something like this.

-- 
Chris Green (chris at halon.org.uk)