[pmwiki-users] PmW Mag?

[Sandy]

I like the idea. It would reduce the pressure to keep up with the user 
group just in case there's an idea I could use, be more efficient than 
the user group for searches, and be a way of moving alternate approaches 
out of the core documentation.

Agreed the name should be translatable.

My dream PmWiki Magazine:

Regular schedule. Monthly or biweekly. If biweekly, some columns would 
alternate, but make sure there's a good mix in each issue. Maybe email 
the security / announce list when it's ready.

Summarize the user group discussions. Especially the ones where the 
question and answer get refined over several posts.

Case studies. Get a variety of expertise levels and purposes.

Interviews. There are some really fascinating people and projects in 
Users and Success Stories.

"Newbie Corner". Best practices and reason behind them. (yes, "best" 
varies with purpose of site and skill of maintainer), simple case 
studies, FAQ.

User Group Look-back. An interesting or useful discussion from 1-2-3 
years ago.

Related Techie Stuff. All that stuff clogging my "to learn" list. I'm 
sure there are lots of knowledgeable folks out there with at least some 
of the same gaps. Things like:
* "All you really need to know about htaccess." (Still afraid to touch 
it; just the name makes it sound like it could create a security hole.)
* PHP arrays. (There was a line of code about adding something to a skin 
array, and my C/Basic/Pascal-trained brain balked.)
* CHMOD. What's with the period in the settings changing?
* Cookbook Comparison. What's the diff between similar recipes?
* CSS. Why bother with it? I swear I changed it to green. Useful utilities.

Include a "suggest / request an article" method.

Fun stuff:
Awards.
Challenges.
Quizzes.


Sandy


Russ wrote:
> I'd be in favor of a more structured, regular approach for the "miki" 
> (wiki magazine) ... I think the structure would provide a more 
> consistent and valuable archive that would help newbies to PmWiki learn 
> about it's capabilities.  However, that approach would require one or 
> more regular editors to compile articles into the various regular sections.
> 
> We could use Categories to create a pool of pending / approved articles, 
> so in the near future hopefully the editor(s) have a large selection to 
> choose from and will not be chasing down articles or having to write the 
> magazine/"miki" itself. (BTW, is that name catching on yet? :) )  The 
> editors then simply change the category to reflect the "issue" that the 
> article appears in, and edit the Category home page to create the Table 
> of Contents / overviews.
> 
> What "sections" would everyone like to see?  Interview, Success Story / 
> Site Profile, Tech Tips, Q & A (perhaps taken from the mailing list, 
> similar to what WebProNews does with their forums), and of course a 
> Donate button in each issue for Pm ;)
> 
> Russ
> 
> Content Management Systems - e-Commerce - Internet Strategy 
> http://www.InternetAdvisor.ca
> 
>