dw_docs | FIRST DRAFT OF DREAMWIDTH LEXICON

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FIRST DRAFT OF DREAMWIDTH LEXICON

This exists because I am an enormous dork. An enormous *picky* dork. And I was typing along and got to the phrase: "Interactions Menu" and realized that if *I* didn't know what it was (I had to go ask) people suddenly showing up on the site with gun and camera in a week or so wouldn't have any bigger clue. So I figured maybe we could do a little lexicon (because Momma

rho hates the word "dictionary") of the really confusing stuff. At the bottom, there's a question that doesn't really fit into the dictionary format and may need to become a FAQ, but it showed up in my "confusing terms" solicitation.

DREAMWIDTH LEXICON

Site-scheme pages: These are any pages on the site that you can't change the look of (aside from choosing a "Site Scheme" from the "Display" tab on the "My Account Settings" page). All of the Site scheme pages except "Lynx" display the Dreamwidth logo.

Interactions Menu: The strip on the left of the Profile Page with the icons for options like Modify, Access, Send Message, Track.

Archive: This displays past entries of a journal or community by year or by month.

Navigation Strip: This strip displays at the top of your journal or community page and can also display at the top of your Reading Page and the top of other journals and communities in your Circle if you make that selection from the "My Account Settings" page. This strip always provides hotlinks for "Home" "Post" "Reading Page" and "Inbox" — the other hotlinks it displays at the top center of the strip will change depending on what page of the site you are viewing. At the top right of the strip there is a box into which you can type a search term, a pulldown menu that allows you to choose "Interest", "Region", "Site & User", "FAQ", "Email", or "IM Info" as your search area. Beside the pulldown menu there's a button marked "Go".

RTE: This stands for "Rich Text Editor" which is something that lets you add formatting and pictures to text when you post an entry without knowing or using HTML tags. The RTE can only be used when posting an entry, not making a comment. The RTE can tend to be a little temperamental.

HTML editor: This is sometimes also called Plain Text, where you add <angle brackets> around your HTML tags (manually) when you post either an entry or a comment to change the look of your text.

Subscribe: Journals that you Subscribe to or that Subscribe to you are the journals of people who can read your Public/Unlocked/Open entries, and you can read theirs. Once you Subscribe to a Journal or a Community, it appears on your Reading List.

Access/Give Access/Have Access: When you give someone Access to your Journal, they can read your Private/Locked/Protected entries. They can't read entries you have further protected by using an Access Filter, if they are not on that Filter. You are not automatically able to read their Private/Locked/Protected entries in return: they must choose to give you Access to their Journal.

Reading Page: Your reading page is where you read the latest entries of your Circle. Your "Circle" is all the people, communities, and feeds with whom and with which you have a relationship of any kind.

OpenID: OpenID is a way for you to take the account you've created from another site that supports OpenID and use it to log in to Dreamwidth Studios with an OpenID account. There's more information on creating and using OpenID accounts on Dreamwidth in FAQ #62

HOW DO I...?

Say "may I subscribe to AND get access from you?" at the same time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

First, a lexicon is a splendid thing; thank you. Second, perhaps I don't understand the question posed at the very end, because the answer seems to me obvious: you write something like “I would like to subscribe to your journal and get access to your private posts; may I?”. What am I missing?

I think the person wants an equivalent way of asking to be "friended", which here is to gain mutual access and mutual subscription (i think) at the same time.

I'd just use "friend", and hope that they got the implication, since friending does give both.

We're trying to get away from the "friending" terminology on Dreamwidth; it's part of the philosophy behind splitting the functionality into Subscribe and Access. There are people whose content you may wish to read -- and even people who you may wish to read your Locked/Protected content -- that you wouldn't consider a "friend". Eliminating that sort of misleading language is part of Dreamwidth's mandate toward clarity and transparency.

The Interactions Menu and Navstrip are defined spatially. :(

There are some other things on DW that I don't know the name for but which I feel it would be helpful to have a name.

The "main menu" on the site scheme pages: Create/Organize/Read/Explore. I have been calling it the CORE menu but I know that's unofficial, is there an official term?

Also, the search bar which appears both in the navstrip and on site scheme pages, what is that called?

Also, also, the abbreviated menu which is also available on Site Scheme pages, the one which includes: Post/Reading Page/Inbox/Account Settings/Invite Someone/Help and maybe your icon and the logout button (not sure if that's actually part of the same block or if it's just put next to each other in Tropospherical.)

The Interactions Menu and Navstrip are defined spatially. :(

Yes they are. I honestly could not think of another way to define their location, since they aren't labeled and can both change color. In the case of the Navigation Strip, it does extend across the entire top of the page. I've watched a couple of video demos of screen-readers being used to navigate a site, so in your opinion, would somebody using a screen-reader and using the command "top" to reach the navigation strip be able to find what they needed from there? Or do I need to figure out a better way of defining its location on the page (help?)

With the Interactions Menu, I'm kind of at a loss about how to define where it is on the screen so that somebody who can't see it can find it, especially since it isn't labeled. I would welcome input from anyone more familiar with writing this sort of documentation.

Help?

There are some other things on DW that I don't know the name for but which I feel it would be helpful to have a name.

Me too!

The "main menu" on the site scheme pages: Create/Organize/Read/Explore. I have been calling it the CORE menu but I know that's unofficial, is there an official term?

I have never seen an official term used for it anywhere. I like this term. If it's adopted, I will add it to the Lexicon.

Also, the search bar which appears both in the navstrip and on site scheme pages, what is that called?

Do you mean the little combination of box, button, and pulldown menu? I have never seen a specific name for that either (what it *does* is search the Directory though, so maybe it's the Directory Search menu?)

Also, also, the abbreviated menu which is also available on Site Scheme pages, the one which includes: Post/Reading Page/Inbox/Account Settings/Invite Someone/Help and maybe your icon and the logout button (not sure if that's actually part of the same block or if it's just put next to each other in Tropospherical.)

Tropospherical Red and Tropospherical Purple are identical except for color, the abbreviated menu appears in the same grouping in Celerity (though it moves to the other side of the page), and it is not visible at all in Lynx. I do not know what this menu is called, aside from "the navigation menu on the site-schemed pages if you aren't using Lynx", but so far the FAQs haven't referenced the menus separately from the site-schemed pages.

I never did watch the vids for using a screen reader because it kept crashing my browser.

The thing is, I don't think we should be thinking in terms of "Look here" for explaining what things are. So, my very first, it's the middle of the night stab at navbar would be:

A javascript panel which the logged-in user can choose to display on styled pages, which contains useful links and displays the relationship of the logged-in user to the account which is currently displayed.

For interactions menu: A menu of four links for modifying the relationship of the logged-in user to the account whose profile the logged-in user is at. This is part of the first section of the profile page.

Those are rough and not right, but you see what I mean about defining what they are instead of where they are?

Yes! That's incredibly helpful! Thank you!

Unless there's an active attempt to educate people about web coding, I'd drop the word "javascript" from the navbar description.

I had no idea it was a javascript thing. I have no idea what other javascript things might exist. I don't mind learning this--it goes in the pile of "useless code trivia" that's accumulating in the corner of my brain, waiting to reach critical mass, after which point it will explode and I will have absorbed 1337 code-master h4x0r skills through osmosis. But some people are turned off by anything code-ish, and their brains shut down with a note of "too technical; whatever follows this, I obviously won't understand it."

If there's an intention of feeding people small bits of code-ish terminology in the hopes of making code-ish explanations less scary, it's a good thing. If the intention is closer to "the average non-geek user doesn't need to know a damn thing about code, evar," it shouldn't be in the definition.

IMHO, YMMV, and all that. This is an opinion, not a manifesto.

The reason I specifically included the fact that it's javascript is that for someone who is surfing with javascript turned off, the navigation strip will not appear.

Hmm. Balancing "useful bit of technical info for those who understand it" with "scary bit of technese to those who don't." I suppose you're right; the people who turn off javascript need to know that it's j'script more than people whose brains skip past anything with a code-ish reference need to have their brainfrag catered to.

I completely missed that saying "this is javascript" could be useful in more than an abstract sense.

(deleted comment)

(Reply to

greg, which I am noting here because I do not seem to be able to get my replies in the right place EVAH): I agree that our documents should not dis-privilege users who navigate the site visually, since the entire operating ethos of Dreamwidth is of inclusiveness. To that end, I think the best course of action may be to begin each definition with

zvi's "what" methodology and follow it with a "where" definition. The reason for placing the definitions in this order is because both locational definitions can be useful to users whose form of site navigation is primarily visual, and also because those users are frequently able to read over documentation at a faster rate than those using special equipment to interact with the site.

before i crashed hard earlier i had a go at it and came up with this and saved this to my notepad:
"The Interactions Menu is a group of controls for organizing your interactions with other Dreamwidth users: Subscription (Subscribe, Modify Subscription), Access (Grant Access, Modify Access), Send Message, and Track. The Interactions Menu is displayed on Profile pages for personal, community, and feed accounts. Depending on your layout, the Interactions Menu may be displayed near the user icon on other pages as small icons (list icons)."

would something like that work?

Yes, I totally think it would! Thanks! *snerches*

Hmmm. Well, you don't have to ask to subscribe to someone, since all you're reading is what they've made public, any more than you have to ask permission to go to blog x and read the public ~~posts~~ entries by god...

So I'd say if you want someone to give you access, you ask them for it?

My thoughts, too -- I kind of hoped that permission to subscribe would simply be taken as given and that you would only ask for access, not for permission to subscribe.

entries by god... *snicker*

I am not completely sure what the deal is: I think the person asking the question (it's over in my DWJ if you want to see the original post) comes from a different part of LJ culture than I do and it's a matter of a form of etiquette that I'm just totally unfamiliar with and so can't map onto DW forms.

personally i want god to post more entries.... ;)

re the question, maybe it would be a good idea to make the point that subscribing to someone is like reading a blog -- whatever's public is for public consumption and you don't need permission to read it. if you want to ask someone if you can subscribe to them, you can, but it's not required. To ask for access you can either comment on a public entry and ask or pm and ask for access to their protected content.

maybe i'm in the minotiry, but i don't see why friend/defriend will come over when it's so clearly not the same thing here (which i love. *g*).

I'll have to ask God to post more entries the next time I see Her.... *G*

I would really like the whole "high school clique" aspect of friend/defriend to die the death and not become an issue here. But only time will tell.

Yes, there are parts of LJ culture that get all *huffy* over people not asking "Can I add you?" before adding someone. These are generally the same parts that would really like all relationships to be completely mutual.

I sort of understand it intellectually, but don't really trust my emotional understanding of that particular subcultural phenomenon. (Read: I don't get to punch people in the nose through the internet.)

We're working on the orbital laser platform and the Ninja Strikeforce honest...

You describe site scheme by what it isn't, not what it is....

Interactions menu - strip on the left is visual language, no?

nav strip - visual language again both as 'top of page' as well as 'top center' and 'top right'

the access def: brilliant. clearest description I've seen yet.

should circle be a separate entry? I was expecting it to be.

You're right that "Circle" should be a separate entry; I'll make it one.

Site scheme pages... I'll try to figure out a way to describe it by what it *is* instead of by what it isn't. (I think all the Site scheme pages have the site logo on them, unless you're using Lynx as your browser. Must check this.)

(And... yay! for the clarity of the "Access" definition, because you know it wasn't clear to me either until I'd been using the site for a while...)

Interactions Menu: The strip on the left of the Profile Page with the icons for options like Modify, Access, Send Message, Track.

I assume the same term also applies to those icons/links when they're associated with the "basic journal info" module on non-profile journal pages, though it may not always be present?

Maybe it is more confusing to refer to something that may or may not be there for a given layout, but I was curious about how to refer to those links before I ever thought about the profile page ones.

You will see a different Access Menu when you are looking at your own Profile Page than when you are looking at somebody else's Profile Page. The options you see on an Access Menu depend on whether it is yours, someone's with whom you have mutual Access and Subscription, or so on through the four possible permutations. The Access Menu will always be present, and the first two items on it will always be about Granting (or Modifying) Access and Subscribing (or Modifying) Subscription.

I'm not sure what you mean by "non-profile journal pages", could you explain further?

Sorry, that was a horribly unclear way of referring to it. My reference to non-profile pages should probably have been non-site scheme pages, or styled pages.

On the /recent entries/, /archive/, /tags/, and /reading/ pages, (not profile and memories, which are site scheme pages) one has the option to display a module that is box, typically with one's default icon, username, etc. That also contains the links that are on what you refer to as the interactions menu on the profile page.

My question was whether the interactions menu referred exclusively to the links as they appear on the profile page, or to any occurrence of the (change access, post, track, and message)-type icon menu?

I hope that's more clear now?

Oh yes very helpful! And in fact, I have *not* seen such collections of icons referred to as an Interactions Menu in the site documentation, possibly because only things that are on site-schemed pages that will more-or-less display the same way for everyone (I say this because very little of the site's graphic content displays in Lynx), are going to be referenced in the documentation.

I hope comments from watchers are ok.

Unless this will change: subscribe (read on my reading page/list--you use list there, but the language on the site scheme says page) needs differentiating from notifications--the tracked items are still subscriptions (in the notifications tab, they're called subscriptions) which is not the same thing as the reading list, and also the language might carry over anyway.

Also might change, but if it's not going to: to view comments pages with site scheme rather than custom/layout design you uncheck a box that says something about the "app style." I think those app style words might ought to change anyway at some point because they're jargony, but until then, especially if they occur elsewhere, you might add that.

Is the interactions menu also the name of, on my layout, under the default icon, the new icons for change relationship, post, private message, and tell a friend? Your layout doesn't show these, but it's a module option ("basic journal info") in customization. It has similarity with the interactiness, but also is not the same. Does it have a name?

Zvi says CORE menu (and notes that's maybe not the real name), but in vertical site schemes (with stuff down the left rather than across the top), CORE would be a lot less apparent. Also, the Read section has Read: Reading page, Profile, Feeds, Tags, Inbox, and Comments, only some of which are things you read; I'm wondering if that word won't change anyway. I understand that the word Read there isn't what you can control, just if it's staying, it might need explaining, and if it's not, that might be relevant to what to call it

I know the reason for the acronymn isn't as clear on a vertical menu, but I thought that Core (as in central) menu, might still be an acceptable name in a non-acronym-y way. I mean, that's what I was thinking, if the docs team thinks of something clearer, then that's good. But I had given some thought to it.

Oh, sure, and I agree, it's good as a non-acronym. And I also agree it might be useful to give it a name if it doesn't have one.

I hope comments from watchers are ok.

Comments from watchers are great!

Unless this will change: subscribe (read on my reading page/list--you use list there, but the language on the site scheme says page) needs differentiating from notifications--the tracked items are still subscriptions (in the notifications tab, they're called subscriptions) which is not the same thing as the reading list, and also the language might carry over anyway.

So you're saying I need to add another entry about notifications, right? Because "Subscribe" and "Notify" are set as the terms to be used for now as far as I know.

Also might change, but if it's not going to: to view comments pages with site scheme rather than custom/layout design you uncheck a box that says something about the "app style." I think those app style words might ought to change anyway at some point because they're jargony, but until then, especially if they occur elsewhere, you might add that.

Oh cool! Where is this box? Once I see it, I can see about getting the wording changed: sometimes dork wording is ALL about making it short enough to fit on the button.

Is the interactions menu also the name of, on my layout, under the default icon, the new icons for change relationship, post, private message, and tell a friend? Your layout doesn't show these, but it's a module option ("basic journal info") in customization. It has similarity with the interactiness, but also is not the same. Does it have a name?

"Interactions Menu" is (AFAIK) only the name of the Menu that appears on your Profile Page, and what you're describing sounds a little like the Navigation Strip and a little like the Home page. So, um, I'm not quite sure what part of the site you're describing.

I know notifications is the language, and I like it; I was just saying IF that isn't scheduled to change by open beta, then it would require clarifying. Right now this has a notifications TAB, but the tracking part says

Subscription Tracking
Notify me in my DW Inbox when:

and also the bell iconlet when you hover says "http://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/subscriptions/entry.bml?(thing to track)" as the URL at the bottom of my firefox window.

So, I totally get that things are changing rapidly and that some of them will still probably be being spackled and glued as the minutes tick down, so this is not at all a complaint about inconsistency or anything. Only what it says now, and that if it will still say that, then it could be a point of puzzlement of the type you are looking to identify, you know?

Re: app style:

The customization options, last section, presentation, says, "Show entry pages in my journal style rather than the app style [tickybox]"

Re: that little menu thing:

I don't have the nav strip turned on, so it's not that. Circled thing here:

This is a module in the customization options, modules tab. It says, for me:

Sidebar
Basic Journal Info

* Default Userpic
* Display Name
* Website

So I guess it's called Basic Journal Info in that context, but what it says there is pic/name/site, and what shows is that plus those little iconlets, so I wondered if that menu had a name. *shrug*

The confusion between notifications and subscriptions on "Your Account Page" has been fixed (by me, so if I've screwed it up, you know who to yell at until it's fixed). I'm not sure that the URL can be changed, since that's a code change, but I'll let the codewonks know.

The thing about "app style" doesn't show in all styles, and I think it only appears for Core 2. It doesn't seem to be something that can be changed in the Translation Editor (the thing that lets you edit most of the text that you see on what are referred to as "site-wide user-facing pages", meaning stuff that Dreamwidth has written for you to see), but I'm trying to find out which part of the code/software/flying monkeys is responsible for it to see if the wording can be changed.

Re: that little menu thing:

I don't have the nav strip turned on, so it's not that. Circled thing here:

The "little menu thing" does the same things that the "interactions menu" does, but since it's an option (everyone doesn't necessarily have it because it's dependent on what journal style you've chosen) and it doesn't appear on site-schemed pages, I don't think it has a name when it's in your journal.

Changing URLs is something we're planning on doing in the future, but isn't a priority for now.

Oh but yes, also, an entry about notifications is good either way.

I always describe "subscribe" in relation to one's reading list. If you subcribe to someone, then their public posts show up when you call up your reading list. If they subscribe you, your public posts show up on their reading list.

"Dictionary" -- I'm not sure when I started hating this wor, but I am happy to do so if required!
Site-scheme pages -- personally, I prefer to call these "main site pages", but that may just be me.
Navigation Strip -- the links are even more different for logged out users. But yes.
Reading Page -- this only shows entries of people you subscribe to, not the entries of everyone in your circle.
Core menu -- I'd be perfectly happy with this term. No real preference. Call it what you want and I'll get behind it.
Spatial language -- Ideally, we want to describe things in several different ways. While it's right not to rely on spatial descriptions, I don't think that we should shy away from using them entirely. We want to make things as clear as possible to all types of people. That includes being accessible to those who use a screenreader (for instance) but also being clearer to the mainstream. So I think that it's good to describe things in terms of both function and appearance, where appropriate.

As to the last question, having played around for a bit now, I would say "join your circle" as the concatenation of subscription/getting access (and perhaps be one email instead of two? *bats eyes*)

In general, the circle terminology is something I found misleading when I first joined; it seemed to contrast the very straightforward "subscribe/give access". The imagery is nice and fits with the DW philosophy, though, so I'd like to see the metaphor extended.

Yeah I agree. There's going to be a bit of emphasis on Dreamwidth terminology and usage in the FAQs, and also in the Lexicon. Which is probably going to be finished after Open Beta starts, dammit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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