I have downloaded the current beta version of IQ (portable) and have played around with it briefly. PPL has a lot of information packed in the program, and even more so on the numerous web sites related to the program's development. Given the different web sites, is there some way to approach all of this information in an easily digestable manner? Its frustrating that everything is not "under one roof", and figuring out which site to go to is often a challenge. Perhaps I am being lazy, but can somebody help me make sense of this arrangement. I want to see if IQ can possibly work for me as a replacement to Ecco when it is released, but I often feel like I am chasing my tail when I try to search for more information about the program (irony intended). Any advice would be appreciated, as most of the other portable programs I am sampling are not really cutting it for me.

Thanks,

--Ken

Your post comes in at an excellent timing. We've just opened a new Community web-site. It combines information previously found in separate web sites into 1 place:

- Each user has an individual blog space
- A forum module with issue specific sections
- Books with hierarchy structure for the documentation, where everyone can contribute
- Books have printer-friendly versions
- Documentation books can include Forum and blog posts, no need to copy/paste
- Glossary terms are automatically highlighted in text, along with synonyms
- Hovering over a glossary term can bring up a description bubble, complete with hyperlink to the relevant page(s)
- Collapsible menu shows useful links (post content, recent blog/forum posts, who's online
- New Post page shows all new / modified posts (blog, forum, books), with user-specific (unread posts) highlighting (in red)
- Advanced search and fuzzy search of all content and content types
- Dynamic tips from the Glossary on the main page (i.e. tips of the day)
- Document revision tracking (view revisions)
- WYSIWYG editing with easy image thumbnail creation
- Private messaging between users (option to opt-out)

This new "hi-tech" website (based on award winning Drupal) will be a big plus, compared with the previous "disconnected" approach.

http://www.sqlnotes.net

Thanks for the reply, Pierre. I looked at the sites earlier today, and I guess that I saw both old and new at the same time. I will try a fresh approach at the linkthat you provided. I have to admit that I was very skeptical last year when you started on this project. Having looked at your current beta, and having suffered through many a buggy application, I am hope that you are successful beyond your wildest expectations. I continue to use Ecco, but it would be great to have a mature and robust replacement lined up in the future. Ironically, I am now considering a netbook, so while I still would like to have a good portable application, the netbook may be a good solution for my needs.

--Ken

Pierre,

BTW, what will happen to the old web sites, like the wiki and the one at Google? Should we completely ignore them?

--Ken

Ken wrote:

BTW, what will happen to the old web sites, like the wiki and the one at
Google? Should we completely ignore them?

The InfoQube google site will stay, as it provides a stable, fast front-end for "corporate" and "product" information. It is super fast, 99.99% up time.

The wiki is being downgraded. All pages are now write-protected and content moved to the new site. Move is one page at a time, as the information is being updated, reviewed, and restructured to fit the new community environment.

The old forum is also read-only. Its content will not be transfered, as it would be major undertaking. Much of the information is mostly outdated historical in nature. Important threads will be copied when suitable. It will remain operational and searchable.

Mantis as issue tracking / feature request, will remain, at least until rev 1.0 release. Issue tracking may be combined with the community web site in the future. An experiment is in progress regarding this.

Both the main web site and Mantis content are controlled by me, as they serves as official information (Front page, change log, roadmap). The community web site belongs to the community, not me.

Regarding this new community web site content, it will take time building. It is growing and should be considered a "work in progress". But I believe that the infrastructure provided will, in 2-3 month timeframe, provide a unique and powerful knowledge base for all IQ users

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

Both
the main web site and Mantis content are controlled by me, as they serves as official
information (Front page, change log, roadmap). The community web site belongs to the
community, not me.

Pierre,

The above post was extremely helpful. Two questions, if I may. When you refer to the "main" web site, which one are you referring to? And, I understand that the community web site belongs to the users, but are you the administrator?

--Ken

Ken wrote:

When you refer to the "main" web site, which one are you referring to? And, I understand that the community web site belongs to the users, but are you the administrator?

--Ken

I'm glad that this info was useful.

The main web site is the front page (www.sqlnotes.net, which gets redirected to the Google site). I have the www.infoqube.biz name reserved at Google sites and will eventually transfer there (no impact on users).

The community web site belongs to the users. I manage it, perform administrative tasks only. I'll blog, reply to forum posts and write documentation, like all other users.

One such administrative task is the automatic in-text glossary term highlighting with bubble popup. The way Drupal works, I cannot allow user permission for this without allowing permissions to other key components (such as deleting forum sections...). So, while Drupal has a very nice and granular permission system, it has a few small limitations. So those glossary terms will be managed by me, (or any other user that is chosen as administrator)