Christian dictionary article database

[David Gifford]

Hi everyone

This is a long term project I started probably a year ago, and have worked on little by little. Not yet finished, but far enough along to be useful.

https://giffmex.org/gifts/dictionaryarticles1.html

31 dictionaries and encyclopedias, over 15,000 articles. No content, just the ability to search multiple dictionaries for articles, in various ways as needed.

Perhaps some here might find it helpful to poke around and see how I did it, for inspiration for their own projects. Blessings!

[Charlie Veniot]

Looks really good, David.

[ludwa6]

That is one remarkable work of curation you've done, David;  Congrats!  and Thanks for sharing. 

One question i have, about the form of presentation: is it your intention to make the User eXperience of this resource seem as much as possible like a typical website, hiding the idiosyncrasies of TiddlyWiki? 

So it seemed to me at first, and though i saw the little icon in top RH corner of screen to open the sidebar (and that only because i'm a bit familiar w/ your UI design style :-), i tried to live w/in confines of the horizontal navigation menu bar.  But then when it disappeared after a mere 2 clicks ( from "Sources" tab to one item in the list), and i was faced with just a long list of sources and a simple filter widget, i did what i think a typical user might do, and hit my browser back button... Which as we all know does not deliver the expected result, here in TiddlyWikiWorld.

Not to nitpick over UI details about a work that is as you say not yet finished, i ask this more fundamental question about UX, because i think it's an important question for all those of us in this community who aim to deploy online works that should be usable for people who may not have prior experience with TW.

What i'd like to do for such TW-naive users is give a bit of guidance right up front about what's different here (i.e. forget about your browser navigation tools, and open the sidebar -or ToC, ideally- if you get lost), but then i do know enough about Human-Computer Interaction realities to know that this this is no easy thing to do effectively.  

Am curious to know what y'all think.

/walt

[David Gifford]

Thanks Walt,

I am not deadset on hiding TiddlyWiki-ness from users. I just wanted to maximize space by hiding the sidebar, with the additional advantage that people using mobile would not see the sidebar first. I don't like that aspect of default mobile view.

That is helpful feedback, keep it coming!

I have to administer a final exam today, but after that I will add simple instructions in the instructions tiddler: "This is one file, so don't use your browser's back button. Close tiddlers with the X at the top right of the tiddler." Maybe I will add a home button somewhere and add an instruction about that, too.

[ludwa6]

Better already, David, IMO; if one cannot have ubiquitous nav-bar, then that "Home" icon is the next best thing.  I for one would sooner see it right in the top LH corner, because on my desktop wide screen, it's WAAY off in right field, and moreover kinda small... But then your placement may well be preferable for people on mobile, which might even be your most common UseCase, i dunno.  

Anyway: a great resource as it stands, from which i've learned a good few things already, having only scratched the surface. Long may it live!

/walt

[TiddlyTweeter]

Does it deal with  'Skilful Means' or is that just a Buddhist thing?

[David Gifford]

Thanks Walt!

TiddlyTweeter, I haven't yet run across that term in my library. Thanks for the link!