Just ranting

I agree that David's done a lot of hard work but
realistically there's
only so much one person can do.  From a usability standpoint
blojsom is
incredibly non-user friendly, and making something
user-friendly is a
lot of work.  It's not something you can just ignore and
hope people
manage.  Unless they've joined the club and learned the
secret handshake
your typical user has no clue what to do with blojsom.  Even
the
simplest thing like a login link is nowhere to be found. 
How is a new
user expected to FIND the admin console?  If you've never
blogged before
the Admin section may as well be in Greek.  What's
Technocrati?  What's
a trackback?  What are permissions?  Not a single clue is
given to any
of these questions, and that's merely the tip of the
iceberg.  It all
just looks and feels very unpolished and... well...
unprofessional.
I've spent a lot of time making the blojsom interface
intuitive and user
friendly and I'm kinda frustrated about how much work it has
taken.  In
my opinion a user interface should be intuitive or if that's
not
practical, to provide the user a simple means to learn how
to use it.
If a user has to ask how something works it's not user
friendly enough.
Either that or they're too lazy to read how it works.  If
multiple
people start asking the same question though, they're
probably not all
lazy and you need to fix something.

My gripe with blojsom is that while it's perfectly
functional, a new
user is given no hints as to how to use many functions, nor
what they
even do!  It takes time and effort to make a polished
interface that's
user-friendly, and I haven't seen any progress on that
front.  The
development resources aren't really any better.  A javadoc
listing the
names and bare-bones functionality of each function is
better than
nothing, but just browsing the source is more informative
for me.  I'm
not a Java expert so I have lots of stupid questions, and I
hate having
to ask them in a mailing list.  I much prefer to read
through
documentation for answers or look up forums where someone
else has
already asked my stupid questions.

For our version of blojsom we've added popup or mouseover
help text for
every single item as well as a manual detailing every single
function of
the admin console, plus instructions for how to perform
common tasks.
There's also login and help links on every blog so people
are never
lost.  I picked this up from someone else and I've never
blogged before
so I figured that this was all part of blojsom, but I was
appalled when
I first ran blojsom 3 and it was all gone.  I've been trying
really hard
to upgrade to blojsom 3 and I think it may finally be
possible to do it
without breaking everyone's blogs.  Once that's done I'd be
happy to try
to pull out what changes we've made to the interface (not
all of them
would apply), but it would be a very long list.  Some of the
changes
weren't possible by solely editing templates so core code
was changed as
well.

Basically blojsom was chosen as our blogging thing and I
took it over
from someone else, so I'm stuck with it whether I like it or
not.
There's lots of features that people want, many of which are
in blojsom
3, and many of which only exist as blojsom 2 plugins.  Many
users have
used other blogs which have these features and I'm forced to
constantly
defend why we're using blojsom.  If I give people their
features I'll
have to take them away when moving to blojsom 3, yet blojsom
2 doesn't
allow us to do what we want without the database backend
(ie: mimic
community features of other blogs).  All I want is to move
from blojsom
2 to blojsom 3 without losing any functionality, then I can
create new
plugins myself and add them as other people create them. 
Instead I'm
spending all my time just trying to upgrade.

That person who gave someone the "If you don't like it,
use something
else" attitude really annoyed me as unlike most people,
I don't have a
choice.  We've committed to blojsom so I need to make it
work, and if it
looks unprofessional that reflects poorly on me.  I'm sorry
to be so
harsh but I feel like a lone fish swimming upstream and I
really need to
vent.  It's frustrating how hard it is to do something that
should be so
simple.  





-----Original Message-----
From: blojsom-users-bounceslists.sourceforge.net
[mailto:blojsom-users-bounceslists.sourceforge.net] On
Behalf Of
danmcginn-combs.org
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 9:21 AM
To: blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [Blojsom-users] Has blog-home been redefined?

Perhaps you could share some of your updates (particularly
to the ADMIN
*shudder* pages) so the rest of the community could benefit
from your
effort! I for one would like to see them. I myself asked a
couple of
questions and am now in the process of writing a plugin or
two that I
think would be valuable for both the Blojsom community as
well as my
own personal blog. I have noticed that David answers e-mails
frequently
and often on this list in addition to his development work.
He seems to
be the hardest working part-timer around!
Dan

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [Blojsom-users] Has blog-home been
redefined?
> From: "Horan, Kenneth M." <KHoranintelink.gov>
> Date: Tue, December 19, 2006 12:32 pm
> To: <blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net>
> 
> Yes, the version 3 documentation is mostly non-existent
and I was
rather
> frustrated with that for a while.  You have to realize
that there's
just
> one person behind it all, so unless people want to help
out there's
> really only so much one person can do.
> 
> For example, I was extremely frustrated that the
blojsom 3 upgrade was
> incomplete and after whining for a bit I gave up and
filled in the
holes
> myself.  It's rather annoying though that I have to do
that for a
> feature that I consider to be basic functionality of an
application.
> 
> In my opinion blojsom is quite functional yet extremely
lacking in
> polish.  As a developer polish is one of the last
things I generally
add
> to a product, so I've spent much of my time polishing
up my version of
> blojsom (especially the admin pages *shudder*).  It
would probably
take
> less time to use a platform that's already polished,
but this is what
> we're using and I've already invested my time in it. 
It's extremely
> difficult for one person to develop, test, document,
and polish an
> application, especially one as big as blojsom.  I don't
mean this as
an
> insult and I appreciate what David has accomplished,
but the reality
is
> that David's just one person and there's only so much
you can expect
him
> to do.
> 



------------------------------------------------------------
------------
-
Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT
Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the
chance to share
your
opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys -
and earn cash
http://www.techsay.com/default.p
hp?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDE
V
_______________________________________________
Blojsom-users mailing list
Blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/blojsom-u
sers

------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT
Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the
chance to share your
opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys -
and earn cash
http://www.techsay.com/default.
php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV
_______________________________________________
Blojsom-users mailing list
Blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/blojsom-u
sers

This is one of the strategic consequences of the use of
free,
open-source software for your product. The real person to
complain to
would be your it-architect and such, who chose for an open
source
solution in the first place.


On 12/22/06, Horan, Kenneth M. <KHoranintelink.gov> wrote:
> I agree that David's done a lot of hard work but
realistically there's
> only so much one person can do.  From a usability
standpoint blojsom is
> incredibly non-user friendly, and making something
user-friendly is a
> lot of work.  It's not something you can just ignore
and hope people
> manage.  Unless they've joined the club and learned the
secret handshake
> your typical user has no clue what to do with blojsom. 
Even the
> simplest thing like a login link is nowhere to be
found.  How is a new
> user expected to FIND the admin console?  If you've
never blogged before
> the Admin section may as well be in Greek.  What's
Technocrati?  What's
> a trackback?  What are permissions?  Not a single clue
is given to any
> of these questions, and that's merely the tip of the
iceberg.  It all
> just looks and feels very unpolished and... well...
unprofessional.
> I've spent a lot of time making the blojsom interface
intuitive and user
> friendly and I'm kinda frustrated about how much work
it has taken.  In
> my opinion a user interface should be intuitive or if
that's not
> practical, to provide the user a simple means to learn
how to use it.
> If a user has to ask how something works it's not user
friendly enough.
> Either that or they're too lazy to read how it works. 
If multiple
> people start asking the same question though, they're
probably not all
> lazy and you need to fix something.
>
> My gripe with blojsom is that while it's perfectly
functional, a new
> user is given no hints as to how to use many functions,
nor what they
> even do!  It takes time and effort to make a polished
interface that's
> user-friendly, and I haven't seen any progress on that
front.  The
> development resources aren't really any better.  A
javadoc listing the
> names and bare-bones functionality of each function is
better than
> nothing, but just browsing the source is more
informative for me.  I'm
> not a Java expert so I have lots of stupid questions,
and I hate having
> to ask them in a mailing list.  I much prefer to read
through
> documentation for answers or look up forums where
someone else has
> already asked my stupid questions.
>
> For our version of blojsom we've added popup or
mouseover help text for
> every single item as well as a manual detailing every
single function of
> the admin console, plus instructions for how to perform
common tasks.
> There's also login and help links on every blog so
people are never
> lost.  I picked this up from someone else and I've
never blogged before
> so I figured that this was all part of blojsom, but I
was appalled when
> I first ran blojsom 3 and it was all gone.  I've been
trying really hard
> to upgrade to blojsom 3 and I think it may finally be
possible to do it
> without breaking everyone's blogs.  Once that's done
I'd be happy to try
> to pull out what changes we've made to the interface
(not all of them
> would apply), but it would be a very long list.  Some
of the changes
> weren't possible by solely editing templates so core
code was changed as
> well.
>
> Basically blojsom was chosen as our blogging thing and
I took it over
> from someone else, so I'm stuck with it whether I like
it or not.
> There's lots of features that people want, many of
which are in blojsom
> 3, and many of which only exist as blojsom 2 plugins. 
Many users have
> used other blogs which have these features and I'm
forced to constantly
> defend why we're using blojsom.  If I give people their
features I'll
> have to take them away when moving to blojsom 3, yet
blojsom 2 doesn't
> allow us to do what we want without the database
backend (ie: mimic
> community features of other blogs).  All I want is to
move from blojsom
> 2 to blojsom 3 without losing any functionality, then I
can create new
> plugins myself and add them as other people create
them.  Instead I'm
> spending all my time just trying to upgrade.
>
> That person who gave someone the "If you don't
like it, use something
> else" attitude really annoyed me as unlike most
people, I don't have a
> choice.  We've committed to blojsom so I need to make
it work, and if it
> looks unprofessional that reflects poorly on me.  I'm
sorry to be so
> harsh but I feel like a lone fish swimming upstream and
I really need to
> vent.  It's frustrating how hard it is to do something
that should be so
> simple.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blojsom-users-bounceslists.sourceforge.net
> [mailto:blojsom-users-bounceslists.sourceforge.net] On
Behalf Of
> danmcginn-combs.org
> Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 9:21 AM
> To: blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net
> Subject: Re: [Blojsom-users] Has blog-home been
redefined?
>
> Perhaps you could share some of your updates
(particularly to the ADMIN
> *shudder* pages) so the rest of the community could
benefit from your
> effort! I for one would like to see them. I myself
asked a couple of
> questions and am now in the process of writing a plugin
or two that I
> think would be valuable for both the Blojsom community
as well as my
> own personal blog. I have noticed that David answers
e-mails frequently
> and often on this list in addition to his development
work. He seems to
> be the hardest working part-timer around!
> Dan
>
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: Re: [Blojsom-users] Has blog-home been
redefined?
> > From: "Horan, Kenneth M." <KHoranintelink.gov>
> > Date: Tue, December 19, 2006 12:32 pm
> > To: <blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net>
> >
> > Yes, the version 3 documentation is mostly
non-existent and I was
> rather
> > frustrated with that for a while.  You have to
realize that there's
> just
> > one person behind it all, so unless people want to
help out there's
> > really only so much one person can do.
> >
> > For example, I was extremely frustrated that the
blojsom 3 upgrade was
> > incomplete and after whining for a bit I gave up
and filled in the
> holes
> > myself.  It's rather annoying though that I have
to do that for a
> > feature that I consider to be basic functionality
of an application.
> >
> > In my opinion blojsom is quite functional yet
extremely lacking in
> > polish.  As a developer polish is one of the last
things I generally
> add
> > to a product, so I've spent much of my time
polishing up my version of
> > blojsom (especially the admin pages *shudder*). 
It would probably
> take
> > less time to use a platform that's already
polished, but this is what
> > we're using and I've already invested my time in
it.  It's extremely
> > difficult for one person to develop, test,
document, and polish an
> > application, especially one as big as blojsom.  I
don't mean this as
> an
> > insult and I appreciate what David has
accomplished, but the reality
> is
> > that David's just one person and there's only so
much you can expect
> him
> > to do.
> >
>
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------
------------
> -
> Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT
> Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the
chance to share
> your
> opinions on IT & business topics through brief
surveys - and earn cash
> http://www.techsay.com/default.p
hp?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDE
> V
> _______________________________________________
> Blojsom-users mailing list
> Blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/blojsom-u
sers
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
> Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT
> Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the
chance to share your
> opinions on IT & business topics through brief
surveys - and earn cash
> http://www.techsay.com/default.
php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV
> _______________________________________________
> Blojsom-users mailing list
> Blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/blojsom-u
sers
>

------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT
Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the
chance to share your
opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys -
and earn cash
http://www.techsay.com/default.
php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV
_______________________________________________
Blojsom-users mailing list
Blojsom-userslists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/blojsom-u
sers