Re: A new graphic user interface
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg111703] Re: A new graphic user interface
- From: telefunkenvf14 <rgorka at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:44:49 -0400 (EDT)
- References: <i3ogq7$p3d$1@smc.vnet.net>
On Aug 9, 4:12 am, "David Park" <djmp... at comcast.net> wrote: > In addition to the weekly full system backup on the PC backup drive, and a > monthly backup to DVD of all my important files, I also have a short term > CurrentBackup folder on my desktop. I make quick copies into there from the > home folder for current notebooks that I've been doing a lot of work on. > It's a simple low-tech method. > > Make the Documentation Center like Wikipedia so users could edit it and add > examples or caveats? If it works for Wikipedia it might work for > Mathematica. Then could MathLeaks be far behind? I don't think transferring the entire documentation center to MediaWiki would be a good idea. (or possible---without insane effort) But it would be nice if WRI enabled a simple way to connect the documentation to additional resources, such as explanations by and for other users. I can envision several ways this would be done. Everything in the documentation center already seems to have a tag associated with it. Perhaps users could just post their input and tag references to the Wolfram Library? (BTW, it would also be super-sweet if the library had some sort of rating and commenting feature. And it would also be nice if they'd encourage people to update their code... at least once a decade.) Then users could change a setting in Mathematica to, say, download all user documentation supplements with at least S (star rating), intended for subjects/topics (x, y...). If done right, this would enable WRI to continue to keep the documentation succinct----pleasing both experienced users, who'd rather see less clutter, and newbies, who crave additional examples. It would also enable the user community to help fill out the more sparsely documented features. (just typing that made me excited.) Hahaha... MathLeaks. > > David Park > djmp... at comcast.nethttp://home.comcast.net/~djmpark/ > > From: telefunkenvf14 [mailto:rgo... at gmail.com] > > On Aug 7, 5:22 am, Mihail <macherkass... at gmail.com> wrote: > > 3. I'm not totally in favor of integrating backup features. I can > imagine cases where this would cause problems, slow-downs and crashes, > especially if notebooks are large. Perhaps a backup feature that > ignores output cells would work? > > The irony is that as you get better at Mathematica you don't code as much > notebook crashing garbage, making backups redundant. (haha) Of course > this doesn't comfort new users... I use Microsoft LiveSync to sync my > notebooks across machines, and along with regular system backups, this > seems to be enough. > > 4. While I've also REALLY grown to love the documentation materials > (especially compared to other languages!!), I do wish there were a way > WRI could somehow include a way for users to contribute to it and > customize it. (i) When a user comes across a documentation example > they find confusing, it would be nice if there were small/discrete > button that linked to additional explanations provided by the > community. This would be a way to document 'gotchas' and points of > confusion amongst users---and would surely be useful summary info that > WRI could use to improve the product. (ii) I'd also like to be able to > bookmark locations in the documentation and save scraps of customized > code ideas, tagged to those bookmarks. I know this would cut down on > the mountain of scrap notebooks I have!!