Can the skin global config section be more self-explanatory?
Using Jamroom
Dear Strumelia,
You have answered several questions I did not know I was asking, and needed to ask!
Thank you.
Forum Activity for @researchcooperative
Using Jamroom
Dear Strumelia,
You have answered several questions I did not know I was asking, and needed to ask!
Thank you.
Can the skin global config section be more self-explanatory?
Using Jamroom
I am looking at my skin settings at this location:
http://[my domain name]/core/skin_admin/global/skin=psNingJaClone
Under Global Config> > Site index, two choices are given, but they are not explained by help statement "Check to show, uncheck to hide ".
The help I need here are explanations of what the "about" and "activity" sections are, where they can be seen, and why I might want index them.
Index About Section - Check to show, uncheck to hide
Index Activity Section - Check to show, uncheck to hide
Presumably the activity section is the section shown on a public profile page, when this option is enabled. What are the consequences of indexing or not indexing this?
In this context, where does the "about section" come from, where can it be seen, and why should this be indexed or not indexed? (I don't see it on profiles in my network).
updated by @researchcooperative: 01/16/17 07:51:47PM
Auto-tagging content
Suggestions
It might work like this... if all content is indexed, then banned words, particles, full-cap acronyms, numbers etc. can be stripped out, and then the rest can be turned into automatically generated tags.
At the same time, content owners could have the choice of deleting unwanted tags, and adding new tags if they want.
Creating large tag clouds based on total content might make tag-cloud navigation apps, and related-content suggestion apps more useful.
Or would very large tag sets become server-eating beasts that slow sites down?
Perhaps they could be sampled randomly in some way to generate smaller but representative tag clouds that mobile apps can handle.
Alternatively, there could be a tag-density dial to be set by visitors according to how deeply they wish to explore a network of related content.
I would be surprised if these kinds of tools have not already emerged around the concept of tag clouds. Meanwhile, what we already have at JR looks good to me.
updated by @researchcooperative: 01/14/17 03:23:05AM
Login for members imported from Ning
Ning To Jamroom
I am still trying to grasp what Michael has repeatedly told me and others:
To quote:
The Form Designer gets stuff into the datastore.
{jrCore_list} gets stuff out of the datastore.
You can add extra fields to any form using the Form Designer, but the input values of those will only be shown on the screen if you output them somewhere. "
This explanation does not go quite far enough. In JR "output" can mean (1) output to a page seen only by a logged-in user, looking at their own account and profile settings, and (2) output to a page seen by all visitors to a public site. These different kinds of output are controlled in very different ways. Form designer only helps us with output (display) to the user pages for account and profile settings.
"DISPLAY" in Form Designer
In Form Designer, Admin can go to a single field, and tell the profile settings form to "display" this field to certain users/user groups/quotas. Only these users will see this field when they are looking at their profile settings.
"PUBLICATION" on a page visible to the Internet public.
For profile data, this means display in a public sidebar under the profile image (in the usual post-Ning setup). We can do something about this at the Skin level, usng this template page:
http://[yoursite]/core/template_modify/skin=[your skin]/template=profile_sidebar.tpl
I have done a test there, changing the output a little, saving the change, making the new .tpl file active, resetting caches, etc., and now the public view of my profile sidebar has changed.
Note: I think JR has been lacking a common-language term to distinguish between "Display in a settings page controlled by Form Designer" and "Publication on a page visible to all visitors from the general public". Both of these goals are covered by the generic term "Output" but require very different methods to achieve.
My dream is to have tools for Publication that reduce the need for working directly in templates -- without taking away the freedom that developers enjoy with them -- allowing non-coding Administrators to manage member data and other content more quickly and intuitively.
JR has made huge progress in this direction in the last two years, with Site Builder, and in many other ways, so I remain hopeful!
Meanwhile I am glad that I have discovered how to publish profile data in the profile sidebar.
User/account form vs Ning profile form
Ning To Jamroom
Thanks. I do see that. Here, below, is what I am trying to understand. I will try writing it as if am explaining it to my members.
If my understanding is correct, this might become an example other network owners can adapt for their own purposes. Before I send this kind of explanation to all my members, I need to make sure that the forms for profile data and user accounts are properly set up. I will ask about setting up these forms separately. Although there is a good introduction to form design in the JR system, at the URL below, it does not explain in specific terms these two very critical areas of form design.
https://www.jamroom.net/the-jamroom-network/documentation/jamroom-admin-handbook/1275/using-the-form-designer
***Draft message to my members***
Welcome back to the [our network name]. Our network is now running on a new system that has many differences from the old Ning system, and many advantages. When you login with your new password, please check (1) your public profile data, and (2) your account details. After login, you can change the password to something you like better in your account settings.
PROFILE DATA
When you login, you are automatically directed to your profile page. Assuming you are using a desktop screen, not a mobile phone, you will see your profile photo or default image at left, and under that, some public information about you. If you wish to change this public information, look for the gear icon in the title banner of your page. If you hover there, a pop-up label will appear: "update profile". Click on the gear icon, to see all the fields where data can be entered. Some of these fields will contain data transferred from our old system, and some will be new fields created in our new system. Please review these fields, and add information to any "required" fields that do not already have information in them. There are notes explaining how to use certain fields, and further help buttons represented by a box with question mark inside.
ACCOUNT DETAILS
After login, wherever you may roam in the network, you will see your login profile name in the top menu. Under that you can find a sub-tab called "Account Settings". Please review the settings there for "Profile" to edit your profile image, "Account" to edit your user name, email address, and password, and "Notifications" to edit what kinds of messages you receive from the Research Cooperative.
Note: If you disable all notifications, Admin will still be able to contact you, if necessary, but no-one else in the network will be able to contact you through the network, and our usual (infrequent) broadcast messages will not reach you.
Login for members imported from Ning
Ning To Jamroom
Thanks very much for the rays of light! That looks all good.
I will hold off actually sending out the passwords until I have understood better how to set up, manage and explain the profile editing system to members (I am trying to investigate this with another thread)
User/account form vs Ning profile form
Ning To Jamroom
User/account form - this appears to be the JR version of a profile form where users can add information about themselves after setting up their account and logging in. Is this correct?
Does the default JR user/account form replace the old profile form that members are familiar with?
Where is the data from the Ning profile form? How can it be displayed?
updated by @researchcooperative: 01/13/17 05:14:24AM
Login for members imported from Ning
Ning To Jamroom
My important members are imported.
They might want to login. Can they do this with their old login details?
What explanation should I give them regarding login?
If they cannot see their previous profile details after login, what should I tell them?
I am hoping that mailgun will be set up soon, and I can begin communicating with my members again.
updated by @researchcooperative: 01/13/17 07:57:28PM
Can de-activated members continue sending private notes if still logged in?
Using Jamroom
Offtopic:
This discussion reveals something very organic about the Jamroom structure.
It reminds me of antibody/antigen interactions in immunology. Antigens are the profiles, and antibodies are the users who attach to them. And these users may have profiles attached to them, thus amplifying the immune response in a kind of cascade.
Or are we talking about synapses and branching nerve junctions, and the core memory/impulse interaction system for a future AI?
