Confusion over spartacus

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wagwag
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Confusion over spartacus

Post by wagwag »

Hi everyone,
I've been using serendipity for about a year, and I try to keep up with blog.s9y.org so I've read about Spartacus, however I still don't know exactly what it is.

Actually I've just noticed the similarity between the plugins listings at http://spartacus.s9y.org/ and those on the "Install a new xxxx plugin" pages in the admin interface of my blog.... does that mean this _is_ spartacus? If so I have to say I found this really confusing. Although the install docs and the s9y faq mention spartacus dir permissions, etc; the name "spartacus" does not appear anywhere in the serendipity interface, that I could see.

Also, where it says "Spartacus is a Plugin for the Weblog Engine Serendipity.
Once installed, you can fetch and manage plugins via Serendipity. No need to use FTP or manual downloading - just click & fetch!"
on the spartacus.s9y.org site, it makes it seem as though the user needs to first install the Spartacus plugin for s9y. At least that's what I though it sounded like-- "Spartacus is.... Once installed, you can fetch..."

I think it would be helpful to better clarify in the FAQ and/or on the spartacus.s9y.org site what spartacus is and where it is found. (it says that it is a plugin... I looked at my list of installed plugins in s9y and didn't see "spartacus", so I thought I didn't have it). Maybe including the word "spartacus" on the "install new plugin" page in the s9y admin interface would be helpful?

Cheers! :)
garvinhicking
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Re: Confusion over spartacus

Post by garvinhicking »

Hi!

When you click on the panel to install an event plugin from within Serendipity, it should tell you for each plugin where the source is from (there should be a "spartacus" appearing).

In case you have a similar plugin listing like on the webpage, spartacus is installed. Look in your event plugin listing, it must be there.

I actually think in your post you already described pretty well what Spartacus is. It is a central web repository, that you can connect to using the "spartaucs event plugin" from within Serendipity. :)

Best regards,
Garvin
# Garvin Hicking (s9y Developer)
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wagwag
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Post by wagwag »

Hmm... I'm still not seeing anything that identifies the installer thing as spartacus, or that tells where the plugins are coming from. It just has a title, short description, and names the author and version of the plugin.

While I think I understand it now, it literally took me months to come to realize this is spartacus. Before, I assumed the listed plugins were already on my server, just not "installed" in the plugin directory for s9y to use. I had no idea they were coming from a remote server. They seem to install instantly.

I'm just saying that this was confusing and a little frustrating to figure out. I think it would be helpful for other people new to serendipity to make it more clear what spartacus is, since it is referenced in the documentation.

:)
garvinhicking
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Post by garvinhicking »

Hi!

Hm, on top of the plugin list to install it should give you a note like "Fetching XML plugin list from server..." or something like that?

Maybe you have a precise wording we could put up online, and where you would like to see that? Of course we can add things to make it clearer, but I'm not the best guy at documenting :)

Regards,
Garvin
# Garvin Hicking (s9y Developer)
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wagwag
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Post by wagwag »

That's weird, but I don't see any "fetching xml" type message at all. Maybe it's in a frame that I'm not seeing, like my preview problem? ;)

My suggestion would be to refer to Spartacus as a "plugin manager" or "plugin installer". Calling it "...a Plugin for the Weblog Engine Serendipity." makes it sound like it is just another plugin itself, like Calendar or Quicksearch. Maybe technically it is a plugin in the sense that it is a separate bit of code, but it clearly isn't in the same class as the plugins it installs.

On http://spartacus.s9y.org/, where it explains "What is Spartacus" I would suggest something like:
Spartacus is a Plugin manager for the Weblog Engine Serendipity.

You can use Spartacus to fetch and manage plugins right from the Serendipity Admin interface. No need to use FTP or manual downloading - just click & fetch!
Since you have branded this thing "Spartacus", I think that name should appear in the serendipity admin interface too. It's maybe too long to try to change the name of the "Configure Plugins" link in the interface, but on the install and configuration pages for the plugins, it could say "Spartacus Plugin manager", or maybe just "Spartacus" at the top of the page?

Cheers :)
wagwag
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Post by wagwag »

Also, in the plugin documentation:
http://www.s9y.org/45.html

The description does make it pretty easy to understand what spartacus is, however it refers to Spartacus as ".. a repository manager plugin which you can install." But isn't already included with Serendipity 1.0?

I also don't have a link called "Click here to fetch a plugin from the Remote Plugin Repository". Is this just out of date?

Where it says "After you have downloaded all files you can go to your Serendipity Plugin manager" I start to feel confused again... what is the difference between the Spartacus and the Serendpity Plugin manager? I thought Spartacus IS the Serendipity Plugin manager?

Maybe I need to be hit with a clue hammer but I still find this confusing ;)
garvinhicking
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Post by garvinhicking »

Hi!

The problem is that Spartacus is NOT the plugin manager!

Spartacus simply hooks itself into the plugin manager to enhance it for fetching plugins online...it does not replace the plugin manager, it simply adds more functionality to it. :)

Best regards,
Garvin
# Garvin Hicking (s9y Developer)
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wagwag
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Post by wagwag »

aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh... ok NOW I think I understand!! :)

So do you call the repository itself Spartacus as well as the "plugin" that fetches from it?
garvinhicking
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Post by garvinhicking »

Exactly. Spartacus is simple the name that goes for the repository itself plus the plugin that accesses it :)
# Garvin Hicking (s9y Developer)
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wagwag
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Post by wagwag »

This mystery of Sparacus is really clearing up for me now. Now I know that the reason I wasn't seeing the part about "fetching xml" in the available plugins list is because I didn't even have spartacus installed before. I think I was always clicking on the Install sidebar plugin link instead of the install Event plugin link, so I simply never saw the spartacus plugin I could install.

I've installed spartacus and now everything seems to match up well with the documentation and the other stuff I've read about spartacus.

Sorry for my confusion and thanks for your patience, Garvin! :)
garvinhicking
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Post by garvinhicking »

Hi!

Relieving to read that it all cleared out for you. *g* However I still consider this a mistake in our basic braining, so I will try to think of a way to make this more clearer somehow...

Best regards and have fun,
Garvin
# Garvin Hicking (s9y Developer)
# Did I help you? Consider making me happy: http://wishes.garv.in/
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wagwag
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Post by wagwag »

I think on the Spartacus webpage http://spartacus.s9y.org/ underneath "What is it", you could add "How to get it" or something. A quick explaination of how to install it ("Configure plugins" -> "Click here to install a new event plugin") would have saved me a lot of confusion because once I installed it I quickly realized how it works. That was the big thing I missed-- just getting it installed.

Maybe a quick paragraph in the FAQ and/or install documentation as well? Spartacus is mentioned there, but it is not explained how to get it, that I saw.

I noticed that someone else was confused about spartacus so now I don't feel so stupid ;)
http://www.s9y.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5699

Cheers :)
garvinhicking
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Post by garvinhicking »

Hi!

In the FAQ we longer have this statement: http://www.s9y.org/11.html#A27

Did you maybe overlook that, or do you think it does not help?

I clarified the wording on spartacus.s9y.org, it will be reflected there tomorrow. I changed it to read "Once installed through the usual plugin configuration amanger within your Serendipity Installation, ...". :)

Best regards,
Garvin
# Garvin Hicking (s9y Developer)
# Did I help you? Consider making me happy: http://wishes.garv.in/
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wagwag
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Post by wagwag »

Oh my... that was always there? I looked at the FAQ and somehow never saw it. Back to feeling stupid again!! ;)

I do think the additional text on spartacus site will help :)
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