The idea behind the FAQ list is to make it easy for knowledgeable people, like yourself, to write a FAQ and submit it. If people add keywords or categories to their FAQs, then these would show up on the search. Someone could also submit a reply to a FAQ with some keywords or categories, so it would then show up on the search with a link to the rest of the thread.
My goal is to make it easy for someone, anyone, to say "Hey I've seen that question before! Maybe it's time to summarize it for the FAQ!" They can then cut, paste, and edit something together and pop it off to the FAQ list. The moderator (which is to me) can then choose to pass it through as is, or maybe edit and send it a revised up to the FAQ. If updated information or erratta comes along, it's easy to post a reply to thread. We've had database-driven FAQs on Jakarta before, and the one at JGuru is stellar. But in my experience they just are not as easy to use as a mail-reader, and no more effective than a mail-archive for searching. I've also been down the road you're paving here, but in practice, it just doesn't scale. Though, any time you want to set something like this up, I'll be happy to link to it =:0) -T. James Mitchell wrote: > > My original thoughts on categorizing was this: > > Take valid questions (threads) that have good, solid > answers and organize (index) them into a couple of db > tables where someone can relate topics/keywords against > the thread. > > Example: > > *Someone posts..... > ------------------------------------- > Jayaraman Dorai wrote: > > > > I have a collection of Value objects which I iterate > > through the logic iterate in JSP. This value object > > has a int. The requirement is to display a blank > > instead of a 0. I can convert this value object into > > a form bean which has a string equivalent for this int > > and replace a 0 with an empty string. But the idea of > > iterating over a collection of form beans doesn't > > sound well for me. Is that ok? > > > > In the struts example, the collection of subscription is > > iterated and not the subscriptionForm. If subscription > > had an int attribute would it be wise to iterate through > > the collection of subscriptionForm. Which is more MVC? > > The jsp page iterating over the model object or the form > > object. > > > > Jayaraman > > *Then Ted replies > --------------------------------- > You probably want there to be a collection of beans, and a helper method > on the bean that returns a blank instead of 0. Then all the JSP has to > do is call the helper, without having to know anything about the blank > or 0 requirement. > > In a case like this, whether the bean object itself was born in a model > package or controller package isn't pertinent. The page is only bound to > the property name, not the object. You could switch the bean object at > any time, and so long as the property name stayed the same, the page > would be none the wiser. > > ---------------------------------- > In and of itself this thread is limited to searching by only the > words mentioned in the thread. However, if someone knowledgable > were to add a few cross references to commonly searched keywords.... > > Searches would be case-insensitive > Structure is of a Many-to-Many match of keyword/s and threads > > The person categorizing would add key-word references from a > list (and be able to add more on the fly): > value object > embedded bean > embedded beans > collection of bean > collections of bean > collections of beans > int > returns int > returns 0 for int > bean > beans > helper > method > > anyway, you get the idea....... > > Ideally the search engine would return results similar to mail-archive or > google, showing a brief snip of where their keyword was found. > > If I had this problem (listed above), and I didn't know what to do. I would > probably have searched the archives for something like 'return 0'. > > Here's a search I did about 10 minutes ago.... > > 'return 0' - 272 results found > 'return int' - 49 results found > 'returning 0 or blank' - 0 results found > > Currently, searching the mail-archive with that criteria will not produce > Ted's response (or any valid answer...at least not on the first page). In > fact, the first match returned is a thread about relational databases. > > Ever notice how many messages begin with: > "Hi, I've searched the archives and couldn't find an answer. Can someone > help..." > > And then when you read the question, you KNOW you've seen it answered and > usually within the last few weeks. > > James Mitchell > Software Engineer\Struts Evangelist > Struts-Atlanta, the "Open Minded Developer Network" > http://struts-atlanta.open-tools.org > > P.S. check out the new thread that just landed... > "Help - Action Mapping" > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Ted Husted [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 2:31 PM > > To: Struts Developers List > > Subject: Re: [VOTE] struts-ANNOUNCE / struts-FAQ > > > > > > Martin Cooper wrote: > > > +0 on a FAQ list. A central submission point might be useful, > > but IMHO the > > > information needs to make it to a web page and be browseable > > (in the non-web > > > sense of the term) to be truly useful. > > > > Ahh, but it is =:0) > > > > If the subjects were worded properly, what's the real difference between > > > > http://www.mail-archive.com/struts-user%40jakarta.apache.org/ > > > > and > > > > http://jguru.com/faq/Struts > > > > ? > > > > In either case, I can browse back from the most recent questions to the > > earliest, drilling down as I go, or pull up a weighted word search. > > > > And if someone wanted to categorize them, well that's what hyperlinks > > are for =:0) > > > > -- Ted Husted, Husted dot Com, Fairport NY US > > -- Developing Java Web Applications with Struts > > -- Tel: +1 585 737-3463 > > -- Web: http://husted.com/about/services > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: > > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > For additional commands, e-mail: > > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > > -- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- Ted Husted, Husted dot Com, Fairport NY US -- Developing Java Web Applications with Struts -- Tel: +1 585 737-3463 -- Web: http://husted.com/about/services -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
