[pmwiki-users] RFC: PITS 00701 -- WikiFarm confusion

[Patrick R. Michaud]

On Wed, Mar 15, 2006 at 03:39:11PM -0500, DaveG wrote:
> This is exactly the suggestion I was proposing in another branch of this 
> thread. I think if we did that we'd remove the terminology problems. We 
> could even remove the need for Farms and Fields. Simply have the base 
> install, and multiple wiki's.

Let's not forget that the ability to create farms isn't
PmWiki's primary goal or purpose.  I still want to keep a
very low barrier to entry for people who are running a single
wiki, and spreading things out among multiple directories
by default goes against that.

On the surface it sounds like it's easy to just move the
the data directories out of the base install, but for
newbie installs of a single wiki, it just points to
confusion.  Try creating instructions for

  - where to place skins
  - where to place cookbook recipes, and how to load them
  - identifying the url of the base install's pub/ directory

and I think you'll find that the end result would be much
like making *every* installation deal with farm issues, even 
to run a single wiki.  

For first-time installers,  having everything in a single
location is significantly easier than splitting them up.
I'd rather put effort towards making the transition from
single-install to farm simpler, than to make everyone pay
the price for a farm (even if that price is a lot lower
than it is now).

I'm not saying we cannot go this way, I'm just saying that
we need to bear in mind that we'd be raising the barrier
to entry for many folks who don't need farms.

Pm