[Xerte] Re: Xerte Develper Nonference: Suggested Dates

Wed Jun 29 09:58:07 BST 2011

There's no avoiding some programming concepts and constructs, but I'll let you into a secret: (whispers) it's not hard. The core language (the stuff you use to make everything else work) is really not very big at all, and with half a dozen concepts and half a dozen constructs you can do things.

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Alistair McNaught
Sent: 28 June 2011 21:23
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Xerte Develper Nonference: Suggested Dates

I'll be there anyway - its just a question of whether I make the tea or try the sessions :)
You're persuading me (but I have to maintain a certain level of technical ignorance in order to be accepted as a 'fellow teacher' in staff development circles... the politics of persuasion..

Alistair

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Kemp Johnathan
Sent: 28 June 2011 17:56
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Xerte Develper Nonference: Suggested Dates

"Would this allow non techie people like me to add additional optional elements to a page"

In principle yes.

Once you get your head around how Page Wizards work you just go hunting.

If your page lacks a feature that you want to add, you find a page that has that feature, create a page of that type and then look at how it is implemented. You can duplicate icons from one page model and move them to another page. You just have to check for any references to the original page and change them to suit your page. Details of the options you need to add to your wizard form will be contained in the wizard form for the other page.

Sometimes you get issues, video and flash paper might be more prone to that sort of thing than say an image, but largely the principle is the same. With a bit of juggling you can usually get things to work. But getting things to work is a great learning experience and when you have your new finished page you can smile quietly to yourself and feel good knowing you have something you can re-use again and again, should you so wish.

Come on in the waters lovely!

Johnathan

On 28 June 2011 15:34, Alistair McNaught <Alistair.McNaught at heacademy.ac.uk<mailto:Alistair.McNaught at heacademy.ac.uk>> wrote:
Johnathan,
Would this allow non techie people like me to add additional optional elements to a page - for example to have a video clip in a page template that currently hasn't got that option?

Alistair

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>] On Behalf Of Kemp Johnathan
Sent: 28 June 2011 15:28

To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Xerte Develper Nonference: Suggested Dates

My thinking, in offering to do something in relation to Page Wizards was to expect no previous experience other than use of Page Templates or On-line toolkits and to get people to a point where they could
*         install and use Page Wizards,
*         understand how the various files worked together
*         learn how they can leverage Page Wizards to build their Developer skill and knowledge from simple beginnings to achieving the ability to create their own new Page Wizards.
This would include practical items such as
*         Understanding the basic make up of a page (not a detailed review of  the different icons)
*         Modifying properties to change the way a page looks.
*         Adding additional properties to a page's wizard form e.g. changing font size or colour, adding dropShadows to images.
*         Saving a modified page as a new Page Wizard for future re-use.
*         Looking at some existing Page Wizards to see how you might re-purpose elements from one page to a different use in a new Page Wizard.
In other words not so much "what do you want to build" but "how can you gain the knowledge you will need to build what you want to build".

You can't learn to be a Xerte developer in a day, but you can learn how to use the resources that Xerte has to offer, so that you can manage your learning in an effective, efficient and rewarding way that is practically useful from Day 1.

What form any input on my part may take would depend on the facilities available and on what people wanted - e.g. informal discussion, presentation, more formal training with opportunity to practice.

I don't know how this fits with everyone else's expectations, but I hope it peaks their interest.

Kind regards

Johnathan

On 28 June 2011 13:55, Davidson, Andrew <Andrew.Davidson at warwick.ac.uk<mailto:Andrew.Davidson at warwick.ac.uk>> wrote:
I'd certainly be interested in this - work permitting. I had ignored it since I knew it would be over my head.

I am still at the templates stage with no individualisation yet attempted and so to access some form of a workshop to level up my skills would be very welcome - I guess it all depends on what the baseline skill level is for such an event - i.e. what would be the minimum experience with/usage of Xerte you would require for a workshop to work?

If a baseline level is needed, the perhaps some pre-conference prep could be organised which would bring attendees up to the level required for the event in sept.

If it doesn't happen for the event in sept then maybe another event focussing on content authors and exploring the potential of XOT would be most welcome.

andy

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>] On Behalf Of Julian Tenney
Sent: 28 June 2011 13:15

To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Xerte Develper Nonference: Suggested Dates

> Would you want to use part of this event to encourage and facilitate aspiring content authors to become some of the developers of tomorrow?

Yes, very much so.

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>] On Behalf Of Kemp Johnathan
Sent: 28 June 2011 12:54
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Xerte Develper Nonference: Suggested Dates

"learn and share ideas..." "but not necessarily limited to developers as all input is valuable"

I am quoting this from the Doodle: Xerte Developer's Nonference page as it may be that content authors who would like to learn how to develop pages may feel that this Nonference is not appropriate for them.

Would you want to use part of this event to encourage and facilitate aspiring content authors to become some of the developers of tomorrow?

If you feel this would be an appropriate use of the time then I would be willing, to provide some input on using Page Wizards to "build your developer muscles". I have posted something to this effect on the Doodle link page, but it occurred to me that content authors might not read the Doodle page if they had already decided the event was perhaps going to be 'over their heads'.

I am not sure how many Xerte developers there are out there at present, but a few more wouldn't hurt. :-)

I appreciate that you may feel that this idea may be inappropriate for the event, or alternatively premature until issues of modularisation are resolved.

Kind regards

Johnathan

On 27 June 2011 09:49, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>> wrote:
For those of you that missed this on Friday...

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>] On Behalf Of Julian Tenney
Sent: 24 June 2011 09:13
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] ANN: Xerte Develper Nonference: Suggested Dates

We are looking to host a two or three day even in September for developers to come together and work on some Xerte stuff, learn and share ideas. There is some current community based work afoot to address internationalisation, and those developers were looking to meet up to move some ideas forward. There are some other ideas that could really do with prototyping, and would benefit from some group discussion: mobile delivery, for example, and Alistair has some accessibility areas he'd like to improve. Everyone always has loads of ideas for new templates as well, it would be good to share some knowledge about Xerte 3.0, and I'd welcome anything - anything at all - that others would like to put on the agenda

The event would be free, and fairly DIY. I'm happy to suggest Nottingham as a venue, but also open to ideas for other venues that might be nice. Attendees would pay travel and expenses, although there may be some booty for people willing to take on certain developments. It's all quite embryonic, but first off I need to get some idea of number of people who'd like to get together, and dates that are suitable in the middle two weeks of September: register your interest here:

http://doodle.com/e9s9raax55ndsxga

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