QST to all Flexers, In keeping up with FlexRadio Systems motto "the radio that just keeps getting better", we have applied this philosophy to the Internet-based delivery and presentation of technical information. To that effect, we have upgraded the Knowledge Base (KB) software to a new and more feature rich version.
We have been waiting on this software upgrade for almost a year now and received the first beta releases back in early June. Since then we have been testing the new features to see how best they could be used to improve access to pertinent information related to FlexRadio Systems' products. This new web-based application will have a future enhancement where it will interoperate with the Forums to provide a better-integrated and seamless environment for archiving and delivering content related to SDRs and FlexRadio System's products. Well the evaluation/testing period ended and the job of migrating content from the old KB to the new KB started in earnest back in July. There were over 500 KB articles that had to be reviewed, validated and some modified before the articles could be selected for inclusion and manually re-created in the new software. Even though there existed the ability to migrate the articles automatically, differences in the database structure did not allow all of the new KB features to be used most effectively after the articles were converted. We also wanted to institute a standard "style guide" so articles would have a common "look and feel" which mandated the manual recreation of the articles. Granted this took a significant amount of effort to complete, but the results were worth the effort as it better positions FlexRadio Systems to support future hardware and software expansion. The new KB has many new features that the old one did not have. Below is a summary of the new features, improvements and capabilities. 1.) A New Console Layout - The upgraded software contains many new controls (buttons & links) and features for accessing FlexRadio Systems' technical information and content. Because of these fundamental changes in the software's capabilities, which now makes it a multi-faceted integrated support tool, the name Knowledge Base is no longer sufficient for accurately describing its expanded function. In this regard, we have renamed it as the FlexRadio Systems' Knowledge Center (KC) since its scope has widened significantly. At the top of the Knowledge Center is the main menu bar with icons to direct you to the different sections or "zones" of the KC and to external links on the FlexRadio System's web page. Clicking on these icons will take you directly to the resource section you want to access. The Knowledge Base zone is the area where you will find most of the content previously found in the old KB. The URL for accessing the new KC will get a web address. You will still be able to access it is using http://kb.flex-radio.com or by using the new preferred URL http://kc.flex-radio.com. NOTE: While we make the DNS changes for the new site, access to the Knowledge Center may be intermittent, but it should clear its self up in a few days once your local DNS server flushes its DNS cache of the old KB IP address. The main panel on the Knowledge Center home page is where you can access the different features and zones of the KC along with being able to view the latest content added to the KC, search multiple databases within the KC for information and use the KC Tag feature (more on this later). There are also links in the top right hand corner for displaying the latest additions and most popular articles added to the Knowledge Center. As with the previous KB, you *do not* need to logon to the KC to access its content. In the future, we will be integrating the user account database we currently have in the Forums with the KC which will allow users to access some of the more advanced features such as e-mailing articles and the ability to submit article content directly to the content review team for inclusion in the KC. Even then, the default Guest account will always have full access to all of the KC content. 2.) Multiple knowledge base databases - We now have the ability to have multiple KB databases within the KC software framework for better content organization. To this extent, we have both a "Getting Started" and a standard "Knowledge Base" defined in the new Knowledge Center. The Getting Started section is designed to help new users find the important information to enhance their "out of box experience" and to get their new software defined radio up and running quickly. We will be expanding this section in the coming months. The Standard Knowledge Base section was re-organized to better delineate between hardware and software content and function. You will find major sections for PowerSDR 1.x, different radios, documentation, PC and peripherals and a special section for Expert Setups based on the SDR software being used. This new structure was developed to better accommodate the changes that will come with the new SDR software that is scheduled to become available in its initial form later this year. 3.) The KC Glossary - there is now a glossary of radio terms that can be very helpful for new users getting started with software defined radios. We have a base glossary defined (which is no where complete) and will be adding to it going forward. If you cannot find a term you think belongs in the Glossary, please e-mail the KC Administrator and let me know what needs to be added. 4.) The KC TroubleShooter section - This is an exciting new feature we are looking forward to exploiting in the near future. The KC TroubleShooter is a user interactive series of articles to guide users through specific problem solving steps logically in order to resolve common issues. This is a very powerful tool and one where we will be adding new TroubleShooter articles especially when the new SDR software starts becoming available. There is one Troubleshooter article available now to use so you can get an idea of how the TroubleShooter works. 5.) The KC "Tags" feature - The new KC has a "tags" feature. Tags are a way of identifying specific articles to improve "discoverability" and to provide an alternate logical organizational structure independent from the functional KB "tree" structure. Currently we have tags for "Best Practices" for using FlexRadio Systems products. Even though these articles can be found in multiple folders in the KB, they are logically organized using the Tag feature. 6.) Improved Search Capabilities - the KC search engine will search through multiple KB databases and the TroubleShooter to find key word and phrase look-ups. The new KC search engine does a better job of indexing content and returns results quickly. One of the most important upgrades is the ability of a key word or phrase search to return a "weighted" search result. Beside the search results is a row of green bars that indicate the relevancy rating and the results are sorted by it. This should improve your ability to quickly fine information you are looking for based on the selection of the words in your keyword search. 7.) View and save articles as PDF files - You now have the ability the view and/or save any article in PDF format. This is a nice convenience when you want keep or share article content with other people. 8.) RSS feeds for specific KC zones and sub-sections - The KC has the ability to syndicate content, which allows you to subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds for specific folders and even articles in the different KC zones. By using a standard RSS "reader", you do not have to manually search the KC for updates and new articles. Here is a great YouTube tutorial about RSS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU and a web site for additional information http://www.whatisrss.com/. 9.) KB articles now have System Dependencies - All KB type articles have a table that indicates the minimum version of PowerSDR and the hardware that the article is applicable to. This will better indicate the operating context that the article was written under. Note that this information is not an absolute indication of what software and hardware the article is applicable to since the software is changing and improving at such a rapid pace. It is very possible that an article written today which is PowerSDR 1.12.1 specific may or may not be applicable to a future software update. Now that the new KC is on-line, there is still a bit of "clean up left to do to make the migration complete. We have a lot of references on the web site and in documents that use the old KB URL syntax for linking to articles. Over the next few days we will be updating these links so that they access the new Knowledge Center rather than the old KB. We appreciate your patience while we execute the finial stages of the migration. We hope you find the new KC a valuable resource for presenting FlexRadio Systems information and it adds a new level of ease of use for accessing our Internet based resources. If you find anything that does not work as expected or any content that might be incorrect or missing, please send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and describe in detail what you have run across so we can address it. As always, comments and suggestions are encouraged and welcomed which is the only way your FlexRadio SDR experience "just keeps getting better". - Tim --------- FRS Internet Systems Administrator W4TME _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
