The executive summary is "I am finally jumping into the Mezzanine pool".
I'm not new to computing, Linux, Python, the Web, ... and even built something for internal use with Django a few years ago. But, each time I look at doing a web site I have either picked Drupal or agonized over alternatives. It seems I always conclude that what I need exists in some oversized PHP-based kludge and I then put a lot of time into changing/debugging someone else's idea of a good tool.
This time I have a new project and after wasting too much time with other choices have finally taken a serious look at Mezzanine. While it doesn't do everything I want, the idea of starting with something that does what it does correctly and is designed so that adding the rest should be relatively easy (plus being in Python) is clearly the right place to start.
I am still getting my feet wet re-learning Django things (and seeing how it has changed since 1.0) and figuring out what Mezzanine does/can do. I do have it running in a couple of places and see no surprises yet. I have skimmed Ross's tutorial (thanks) and will be seriously absorbing it.
Then, on to extending things. The two big pieces I need to work on are:
- Either adding forums or a Q and A system. I am not sure which is right but I did get pyBBm connected and almost working properly so it seems like this piece will not be really hard. - A decision about whether the current hierarchical pages do everything I want. The issue is really dealing with multiple authors who will need to "plug into" different places in the tree. A wiki-like approach could be better. I just have to play and evaluate.
In any case, after too much time thinking about solutions that just don't feel right, I think I am in the right place.
We will not have the Internet censored. We built it as a tool to make
every single human being on the planet more empowered. What the users
do with the Internet is up to them - not up to Hollywood, not up to pol-
iticians, and not even up to us who built it. Whatever else we Internet
geeks may disagree on among ourselves, we will not allow our gift of
fire to be snuffed out by jealous gods. - Eric Raymond, February 2012
On Tuesday, June 19, 2012 12:30:28 PM UTC-6, Nicola Larosa (tekNico) wrote:
> Phil Hughes wrote: > > The executive summary is "I am finally jumping into the Mezzanine > > pool".
> Is that Phil "Mr. Linux Journal" Hughes? Welcome, sir!
> > I'm not new to computing, Linux, Python, the Web, ...
> That's quite the understatement. :-)
> > [snip] > > In any case, after too much time thinking about solutions that just > > don't feel right, I think I am in the right place.
> You most likely are. Again, welcome!
> Yes, one and the same other than you can find me in Nicaragua these days.
The biggest clue should be my "feel right/doesn't feel right" comment. I got into Linux because it felt right and once I met Linus I understand why. I got into Python because it felt right and once I met Guido I understood why.
I feel very fortunate that at least 90% of my "work" has been things I just wanted to do. Mezzanine feels right for this next piece of life.
> We will not have the Internet censored. We built it as a tool to make > every single human being on the planet more empowered. What the users > do with the Internet is up to them - not up to Hollywood, not up to pol- > iticians, and not even up to us who built it. Whatever else we Internet > geeks may disagree on among ourselves, we will not allow our gift of > fire to be snuffed out by jealous gods. - Eric Raymond, February 2012
> Either adding forums or a Q and A system. I am not sure which is right but I did get pyBBm connected and almost working properly so it seems like this piece will not be really hard.
You might want to take a look at AskBot or OSQA, both open source Django-based Q&A solutions. http://askbot.org and http://osqa.net (both are derived from the same original code base)
On Thursday, June 21, 2012 10:24:05 AM UTC-6, Nate Aune wrote:
> - Either adding forums or a Q and A system. I am not sure which is > right but I did get pyBBm connected and almost working properly so it seems > like this piece will not be really hard.
> You might want to take a look at AskBot or OSQA, both open source > Django-based Q&A solutions. http://askbot.org and http://osqa.net (both > are derived from the same original code base)
> Nate
I have actually played with both and chatted with the AskBot folks. I see two issues. The one that worries me the most is whether non-geeks will do OK with Q and A rather than a forum. So far, I have not had great experiences there but I do think it could work. It is my preference over a Forum as forums tend to get off track quickly.
The other issue is whether either will play nicely with Mezzanine. My playing was stand-alone and, as I remember, AskBot at the time really wanted to user authentication its own way.
> I have actually played with both and chatted with the AskBot folks. I see two issues. The one that worries me the most is whether non-geeks will do OK with Q and A rather than a forum. So far, I have not had great experiences there but I do think it could work. It is my preference over a Forum as forums tend to get off track quickly.
I think StackOverflow is the best example that Q&A sites do work, but it also depends on what kind of audience you're trying to engage with.
> The other issue is whether either will play nicely with Mezzanine. My playing was stand-alone and, as I remember, AskBot at the time really wanted to user authentication its own way.
Hmm.. good point. It would be really great if the authentication could be federated so that all Django apps (and even apps written in Rails or PHP) could be integrated with single-signon. Maybe Mozilla's BrowserID is the answer - http://browserid.org
Don't let me hijack this conversation, but related, I've been contemplating putting together a list of apps that play well with Mezzanine. Let me know if anyone has interest.
On Friday, June 22, 2012 1:15:51 PM UTC-5, Nate Aune wrote:
> > I have actually played with both and chatted with the AskBot folks. I > see two issues. The one that worries me the most is whether non-geeks will > do OK with Q and A rather than a forum. So far, I have not had great > experiences there but I do think it could work. It is my preference over a > Forum as forums tend to get off track quickly.
> I think StackOverflow is the best example that Q&A sites do work, but it > also depends on what kind of audience you're trying to engage with.
> > The other issue is whether either will play nicely with Mezzanine. My > playing was stand-alone and, as I remember, AskBot at the time really > wanted to user authentication its own way.
> Hmm.. good point. It would be really great if the authentication could be > federated so that all Django apps (and even apps written in Rails or PHP) > could be integrated with single-signon. Maybe Mozilla's BrowserID is the > answer - http://browserid.org
On Sat, Jun 23, 2012 at 4:32 AM, zgohr <zachary.g...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Don't let me hijack this conversation, but related, I've been
> contemplating putting together a list of apps that play well with
> Mezzanine. Let me know if anyone has interest.
> On Friday, June 22, 2012 1:15:51 PM UTC-5, Nate Aune wrote:
>> > I have actually played with both and chatted with the AskBot folks. I
>> see two issues. The one that worries me the most is whether non-geeks will
>> do OK with Q and A rather than a forum. So far, I have not had great
>> experiences there but I do think it could work. It is my preference over a
>> Forum as forums tend to get off track quickly.
>> I think StackOverflow is the best example that Q&A sites do work, but it
>> also depends on what kind of audience you're trying to engage with.
>> > The other issue is whether either will play nicely with Mezzanine. My
>> playing was stand-alone and, as I remember, AskBot at the time really
>> wanted to user authentication its own way.
>> Hmm.. good point. It would be really great if the authentication could be
>> federated so that all Django apps (and even apps written in Rails or PHP)
>> could be integrated with single-signon. Maybe Mozilla's BrowserID is the
>> answer - http://browserid.org
> On Sat, Jun 23, 2012 at 4:32 AM, zgohr <zachary.g...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Don't let me hijack this conversation, but related, I've been contemplating putting together a list of apps that play well with Mezzanine. Let me know if anyone has interest.
> On Friday, June 22, 2012 1:15:51 PM UTC-5, Nate Aune wrote:
> > I have actually played with both and chatted with the AskBot folks. I see two issues. The one that worries me the most is whether non-geeks will do OK with Q and A rather than a forum. So far, I have not had great experiences there but I do think it could work. It is my preference over a Forum as forums tend to get off track quickly.
> I think StackOverflow is the best example that Q&A sites do work, but it also depends on what kind of audience you're trying to engage with.
> > The other issue is whether either will play nicely with Mezzanine. My playing was stand-alone and, as I remember, AskBot at the time really wanted to user authentication its own way.
> Hmm.. good point. It would be really great if the authentication could be federated so that all Django apps (and even apps written in Rails or PHP) could be integrated with single-signon. Maybe Mozilla's BrowserID is the answer - http://browserid.org
On Friday, June 22, 2012 12:15:51 PM UTC-6, Nate Aune wrote:
> > The other issue is whether either will play nicely with Mezzanine. My > playing was stand-alone and, as I remember, AskBot at the time really > wanted to user authentication its own way.
> Hmm.. good point. It would be really great if the authentication could be > federated so that all Django apps (and even apps written in Rails or PHP) > could be integrated with single-signon. Maybe Mozilla's BrowserID is the > answer - http://browserid.org
> Nate
Very interesting. I had not seen this before. OpenID "should" work bit it does seem there are advantages. As i remember, AskBot works with openID but through its own creativity rather than in a standard Django-ish manner. It would seem that pushing applications developers toward using Django-ish authentication is the biggest part of making things play well together. The end result is, of course, that Mezzanine just needs to then play nicely as well.
> Very interesting. I had not seen this before. OpenID "should" work bit it does seem there are advantages.
My understanding is that BrowserID is like OpenID but less aggravating for both users and developers.
> As i remember, AskBot works with openID but through its own creativity rather than in a standard Django-ish manner.
Hmm.. seems like it should really use the standard way rather than implementing it's own. I've used django-social-auth on a couple projects and it works quite well, and in addition to OpenID, it also supports Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Github, etc. authentication.
> It would seem that pushing applications developers toward using Django-ish authentication is the biggest part of making things play well together. The end result is, of course, that Mezzanine just needs to then play nicely as well.
I would think you could plug in django-social-auth for both Askbot and Mezzanine to get single-signon, even if they're running on separate Django instances.
