Forum OpenACS Q&A: My first package: service list

Collapse
1: My first package: service list
Posted by Jade Rubick on 03/16/02 07:34 PM
I've gotten OpenACS 4.5b1 installed on my TiBook, and I'm ready to do some development today.

The web site I'm building is a database-backed version of the Stop Abuse For Everyone website.

The first thing I'd like to build is a workflow-based resource list, where anyone from the website can submit new resources, and then the admin approves and/or edits them.

Questions:

  • Has anybody done anything like this before?
  • If not, I was thinking of starting from the glossary package and modifying it. Does this sound like a good plan?
  • Does anybody else have interest in a module like this?
  • Are there any ways I could generalize this so that it would be useful to others?
  • If I follow the model of the glossary package, will I be able to easily integrate in the user-rating package once it's developed? I'd like people to be able to rate and comment on the resources on the webpage.
I'll probably start working on this today unless I hear anything advising me otherwise.
Collapse
2: Response to My first package: service list (response to 1)
Posted by Peter Alberer on 03/16/02 08:11 PM
Hi Jade,
I must admit i have not done any work with the workflow package, so i don´t know about that. As far as the storage of ressources is concerned (if you think about file-upload) there is a package called file-storage that might help you. So i think the glossary package is not so good to start from. But i might have missed a point.
Collapse
3: Response to My first package: service list (response to 1)
Posted by Jade Rubick on 03/16/02 08:31 PM
Perhaps I should have been more clear about what I meant by resources.

Scenario 1: an abused man or woman comes to the website, looking for resources of various types, such as support groups, domestic violence shelters, etc.. The website should allow them to list what they're looking for, according to their location and what type of services they're looking for (ie an abused man might want to look for different services than an abused woman, or an abused gay man man might look for services targeted towards him.)

Scenario 2: one of the members of SAFE notices that a local resource is missing from our resource list. Or, a new resource becomes available. They click, "suggest a resource". They enter the information about the resource, and click submit. Then I or another administrator can approve the resource, and then it becomes available to the website. Anybody can submit resources, but they have to be approved before they become visible to the rest of the world.

Does the glossary package make sense for a starting point for something like this?

Collapse
4: Response to My first package: service list (response to 1)
Posted by Talli Somekh on 03/16/02 09:16 PM
Jade, do you mean you would like to use the workflow package or a resource list with a specific workflow?

for your needs, workflow might be a little overkill, if all you need is someone to be able to suggest and submit a resource. ETP might be a better solution, with the item being submitted to a queue before it's posted.

talli

Collapse
5: Response to My first package: service list (response to 1)
Posted by Jade Rubick on 06/27/02 12:43 AM
Thanks for your comment, Talli.

The reason I wasn't thinking to use ETP is that I'd like to take
advantage of other OpenACS packages, such as Lars' general-
ratings system, for the resources. It would be nice to give people
the ability to rate the quality of the services they received.

I'm surprised nobody has provides geographically based
resource lists before. Has nobody produced a package that
does this? If not, I'll get to work on it (sorry it's taking so long --
I'm doing this in my free time mostly).

Collapse
6: Response to My first package: service list (response to 1)
Posted by Dave Bauer on 06/27/02 01:29 AM
Jade,

I am building ETP 2.0 to support this type of application.

You might have to customize it a little bit, but I am planning on using if for a very similar application.

ETP 2.0 support for workflow will probably come later, but I am building a simple pageflow that supports the type of interaction you are talking about.

Ratings support could also be added to ETP.