[IPython-dev] Website - static files?

[Fernando Perez]

On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 4:31 PM, Brian Granger <ellisonbg at gmail.com> wrote:
> I think that the github wiki is a good option, mainly because (I
> think) it solves all of the problem of who can edit the wiki.  Moin is

The github wikis don't have a search feature at all, that seems to be
a pretty major oversight to me... But I haven't played with them at
all in practice, so perhaps it's hidden somewhere.

> a nightmare for that and forces us to manage users by hand.  Also, in

Well, what is really the nightmare?  Moin automatically manages user
creation, it's just that we made an ACL to restrict writing to members
of the WritersGroup.  That means that for a new user to get write
privileges, someone has to add them to this page:

http://ipython.scipy.org/moin/WritersGroup

Reading this:

http://ipython.scipy.org/moin/WritersGroup?action=info

This page has seen a total of 15 edits in the last three years, all by
me.  That hardly qualifies as a nightmare, and that's all there is to
it.  What else did you have in mind that's an actual, concrete problem
with Moin?

> my mind, github is not just for developers in that it hosts our issue
> and downloads which both are user focused.

That is true, though I think a class of user exists who just wants to
read some info on a simple wiki (and who might get confused by all the
UI controls at the top of every github wiki), that is different from
the user willing to file a bug report.

Basically what I'm saying is that I don't think github is the most
newbie-friendly wiki environment out there, given its lack of search
and the fact that all the Github-specific machinery remains exposed
always.

> But if we do want a separate wiki, I am -1 on Moin.  I have not been
> impressed with it at all.  We would have to go searching for
> alternatives...

I'm not particularly partial to it, but honestly I don't see what the
problem is either.  What specific problems do you have with it?  In my
mind the only real issue was spam, and with the WritersGroup trick it
simply vanished over three years ago.  As for the rest, it:

- supports reST natively (hugely important for us, so we can easily
move wiki content over to the docs).
- supports images and attachments
- is searchable
- we already know how to use it.

I'm not opposed to changing systems, but I would like to see concrete
problems with Moin that force us to change before we take that step
(which will cost us time).

Cheers,

f