Removing the book hierarchy on DITA Wiki pages

["Carol Geyer" <carol.geyer@oasis-open.org>]

DITA XML.org EdBoard:
I've been doing some 'book' and 'sitemap' experimentation since our call last
week. If the EdBoard feels Drupal's 'book' hierarchical navigation is a
negative feature, we can change it. 

I believe the best solution would be to create new 'page' nodes for all the
current Wiki pages, then delete the current 'book' nodes. 'Page' nodes don't
support outlining, so users won't be confronted by that 'Parent:' drop down
menu on the edit page.

Recreating the pages is not hard, just tedious. If we can get a volunteer or
two to take this on, the conversion can be accomplished fairly quickly. (I
don't think there's a way to automate this.) I'm happy to work with someone on
this.

As for the sitemap, we'll either be able to list all wiki pages on the site map
in alpha order (or by creation date) or just have one link to the main wiki
outline page (or maybe the main wiki page and the sections). 

Are we sure this is what we want to do before we put in the time to make the
change? 

Pros:
-more closely mimic traditional wikis
-one less thing users need to do
-doesn't force users to choose one primary location
-eliminates risk of users putting pages in wrong order

Cons:
-makes sitemap less meaningful
-removes automatic navigation to subpages (links at the bottom of the parent
pages)  


If we are in agreement that ditching the 'book' will add to the site's
usability, then we should do it--now before the site grows larger. What do you
think?


--Carol



_________________________________
Carol Geyer
Director of Communications
OASIS
+1.978.667.5115 x209 

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