For some years now I have been saving J posts where I felt that "one day I might want to use that". I now have so much 'stuff' that I will never find what I need anyway. I am not even sure where to find my own questions from five or so years ago.
The concept of tagging is music to my ears. David On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 18:34 -0500, Devon McCormick wrote: > Skip - I think the way we mentioned _is_ extremely simple. It consists of > the following steps: > 1) at the top of the wiki page, click on "Edit", > 2) add keywords to the "#pragma keywords" statement at the very top of the > page, > 3) click "Save". > > However, you make some good points about how this does not help us with > non-wiki material. Also, this method does not work for an immutable page; > you'd have to create a page pointing to the immutable one and add the > keywords there. > > Could we agree on a more searchable phrase for J, like "J-language"? > > By the way, I'm by no means a wiki expert unless that encompasses knowing > only about seven things. You can see these seven things on my "Wiki Tips" > page (http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/DevonMcCormick/WikiTips) which exists > partly just to remind myself of the few things I've learned. > > In any case, I'm glad to see others interested in this peristent problem of > finding J-language information. > > Regards, > > Devon > > On 2/2/08, Skip Cave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Oleg, Devon, > > > > In order for the keyword scheme to work it must be extremely simple, so > > that anybody can add keywords, without having to read directions, write > > scripts, or know how to create a wiki page. Keep in mind, users looking > > for answers are not interested in building wikis, only finding the > > answers to their problems. The keyword-add process should be so easy, > > that even casual wiki or forum browsers would have no problem dropping > > in a couple of keywords, if they felt it would help someone else have an > > easier time finding their discovery. > > > > The basic rules that need to be in place to really make the keyword > > scheme work, are as follows: > > > > 1. Every forum post, wiki page, or reference book chapter, or article on > > J, should have two things at the bottom of that post or page: > > a. An active link which says "Add a new keyword" that, when clicked, > > will bring up a dialog box that enables the user to enter a list of > > keywords. Any keywords entered in the box will be added to the keyword > > list for that page or post. > > b. The list of all keywords that have been added to that page or > > post should be displayed at the bottom of the page. Perhaps the list > > could be hidden by default, with a view/hide button/link to allow > > viewing or hiding the list. We may have to convert some of the reference > > docs to html to make this keyword-add scheme ubiquitous across all of > > the J documentation, but I believe that it would be worth the effort. > > > > 2a. There should be one single search engine that encompasses all of the > > forum posts, wiki pages, reference books, discussions, and articles on > > J. That search engine should be prominently displayed on the home page, > > wiki home, reference book home, etc., and anywhere else that a user > > might go to find information about J. Actually, this has already been > > done pretty well by the J software folks. The engine just doesn't find > > the appropriate item often enough, which isn't the fault of the search > > engine. The information is usually out there. The users just don't enter > > in the right search terms. The keyword scheme can help fix this. > > > > 2b. A very brief explanation of the keyword scheme should be displayed > > along with every search engine box, and also perhaps with every "add a > > new keyword" link, so users will understand how they can help others > > find the things that they discover, by adding their own keywords. > > > > Devon's #pragma scheme is fine for experienced wiki builders to add > > keywords to wiki pages. IMHO, simple as it is, the average wiki-browsing > > user won't take the time to learn how to add keywords to the wiki that > > way. Also, it does nothing for the forum posts or reference docs, which > > have much great info hidden in them. The keyword plan must be structured > > simply enough so that as soon as someone finds the information they > > need, they could add a keyword or two which would have helped them find > > their information quicker. > > > > A little incentive could go a long way to help the cause. JSoftware > > could have a raffle so that registered keyword "taggers" would get an > > entry to the raffle every time that the added a keyword to the doc. The > > taggers could be tracked using cookies. The prize shouldn't be too big, > > to discourage inappropriate tagging, but big enough to encourage typing > > in a couple of keywords that could help others find that useful post or > > page. > > > > There are many "user-graded" posting schemes out there, (Digg, Slashdot, > > etc) where users grade the importance or usefulness of an article or > > blog, so this keyword concept is not too far out. However, the J > > keyword mechanism is about adding information to a post, to improve its > > chance of being found, instead of a grading scheme. Both schemes rely on > > people's altruistic natures. Actually, the keyword mechanism is a > > simple-minded way to back into Tim Berners-Lee's "semantic web" dream, > > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web) without all of the > > technical complexities Tim throws in. > > > > When you think about it, if every document, post or wiki page had a > > unique keyword in it, such as jlanguage, or jay language, or jsoftware, > > or Iverson, etc., then general searches on Google which included one of > > those keywords, would find the same set of information that the > > specialized J search engine would find... > > > > This discussion may be moot, as I am not sure that there is any easy way > > to add the described mechanisms to the forum postings or reference docs. > > If it could be done, it would be an interesting experiment that could > > potentially revolutionize how web information is categorized and > > discovered. > > > > Skip > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
