STE

^{09 Jul 2010 06:47. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
WOW! This looks EXCELLENT. I love the new import and export :P
I started creating an import/export version but gave up :P

^{09 Jul 2010 07:13. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Great job Shane! I can tell just from the change log you've put a lot of effort into this! Here's my first impressions:

• the layout of the settings dialogue is much better - it feels less cramped.
• While I like the new font, I would like the option to choose the default font from a list of standard fonts (serif, sans-serif, monospace) and maybe even font size.
• when i click the preview button, it paused for a good 30 seconds (while I assume it was accessing the servers). I think you need to add some sort of loading message, because for me I thought the app was about to crash. Other than that the preview feature worked well.
• the code wizard dialogue seems a little cramped - and the title is cut off (see screenshot below).
• I love the new icons ;), but there's still a border around each of them.

I'm waiting for an API key so I can test out the import/export features - they seem promising though.

Here's a screenshot from my mac so you can see the border around the icons, which is still there.

Again, great job!

Bryce

^{09 Jul 2010 17:02. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Hi, Shane. I downloaded STE but it asks me for my API personal key, so I can export/import (whatever that means :))… What is that? Where I can find it?

As I see, this editor has exactly the same buttons (even less) than Wikidot editor. I am really sorry, but… What's the catch? What can I do with this editor that I cannot do with Wikidot's editor? And how exactly should I use it? Is there somewhere something like "STE for Dummies"? :P I really need it to see what's this program about…

^{09 Jul 2010 17:53. Edited 1 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Brunni, you can request an api at http://developer.wikidot.com/i-want-api-access. It might take a day or so to get it. Once notified that you have got it, it will be in your account settings.

As to your main point about what you can use STE for, I typed in a page of text and then uploaded it to a new page on my site, adding tags and parent page, without going into the site at all. I then imported it again into STE, changed it and re-uploaded it. So STE is is really useful if you don't always have internet access; it allows you to work offline and then just upload everything to your site as soon as you have internet access again, without copying and pasting or re-typing everything. You can also save local copies of pages on your computer which is a useful partial backup facility, although only for individual pages.

For me this will be most useful when I am working from my local library (at least one day a week) where, due to firewall restrictions imposed by the local Council I can't login to any wikidot site. So this will be absolutely fabulous for me and should allow me to run STE from my flashdisk and work as normal in the library. For me the import/export is what makes it a killer Wikidot app.

Shane, this is really really good. You are a very clever chap.

^{09 Jul 2010 18:06. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Bruuni, it doesn't affect the history either, all that is maintained properly as though you had edited the page in the page editor. Just for the record (no pun intended once you see the page), the page where I did this without going into the site at all is here

Shane, if there is one thing that I would like (rather than need) with this, if you import a page and edit it then want to export it back again to the site, you have to type in all the details again of the site, page, tags and parent. If there was a way of it retaining this information so you don't have to re-type it that would be brill.

^{09 Jul 2010 18:46. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Ah, I see that you don't have to re-type the tags and parent, the site and page is sufficient. That's good :)

^{09 Jul 2010 20:45. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Thanks Rob for the ex‘planation. I’ll ask for that API nº.

But, apart from that, can I do something more with STE? Can I customize the buttons? And if yes, how?

BTW, I don't get email notifications even though I subscribed to this thread. And I also dont get notifications from my other site recently created. Maybe I'd better post this at Community site in Bugs…

^{09 Jul 2010 21:05. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
I would think that getting used to using it would come first, before worrying about customising it which I suspect could only be done by Shane.

Something is definite odd with notifications at the moment: I've been getting duplicate notifications for many posts over the last few days.

^{09 Jul 2010 21:40. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
I don't need it if it is the same as Wikidot editor, since I always have the access to Internet. It can be useful for me if it does/has something that Wikidot editor doesn't do/have. Otherwise, I really don't need it. Besides, if it is the same as Wikidot's why it would be hard to use it?

I posted the bug report. I don't know if it is bug or not, but I don't get emails from here, nor from a new site I opened, but from my old site I get email notifications without any problem…

^{10 Jul 2010 02:04. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Wow, a lot to reply to! :)

Brunhilda, you asked for the ability to add custom buttons - e.g. buttons that will add Serbian quotation marks - so I will get that done soon for you. Is there anything else you can think of that would make this useful for you?

Rob, I haven't tested it too extensively yet but if you don't enter a parent page or anything, it would most likely overwrite the existing title, tags and parent page (i.e. delete them) … or are you saying that it just keeps the existing information instead?
I have created a feature request that should fix this, as I know it's a problem and want to get it fixed: thread:92

Kenneth, thanks for the compliment! Glad you like it.

Bryce, Could you create a new thread for any problems you find as well? (e.g. a bug report for that text being cut off on the Code wizard dialog) - that will help me to organise things and will make sure I don't miss it when I'm on a bug-fix spree.

Thanks for the compliments… and thanks for making those extra icons for the editor! Without those I probably wouldn't have even added the "icon set" feature at all. When I was adding in your icons, I saw an opportunity to make it a little bit more universal and allow for future expansion … though of course it needs improvement as I don't want to have to manually add icon sets in the future.

Thanks guys (and Brunhilda!) :)

^{10 Jul 2010 03:18. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Here's a screenshot from my mac so you can see the border around the icons, which is still there.

I'm all out of ideas with that then :( I found something that basically said "Do you want to hide the border around buttons until the mouse hovers over them? By default this is false and borders are always shown."

So I said Yes/True, and it still doesn't work. Go figure :P

^{10 Jul 2010 04:06. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Shane,

I can't wait to try this out. While it seems I've been a bit absent, I have been following things via notifications. I should be back to my "normal" level of Wikidot activity soon. Congrats on all the praise. I'm sure it's well-deserved. As a user since the beginning, i know how hard you've worked on this. The addition of the API access is very exciting.

^{10 Jul 2010 04:31. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Bryce (or anyone else with a Mac): I would like to see what the settings dialog looks like using Mac's version of tabs… could you please post a screenshot? :)

I've seen Mac-style tabs in other apps in the past but as I don't have a Mac myself I can't check what STE looks like when it's using them.

^{10 Jul 2010 11:56. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Shane, here's a couple of screenshots of the settings dialogue from my mac…

Cheers,
Bryce

^{10 Jul 2010 13:00. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
I got the notification today, so maybe yesterday was just a strange day…

Brunhilda, you asked for the ability to add custom buttons - e.g. buttons that will add Serbian quotation marks - so I will get that done soon for you. Is there anything else you can think of that would make this useful for you?

I would like to have buttons for a pipe, for example, because I use it a lot, as I always have to write the text that must be seen as a link, or just to put the pipe so the title of the linked page can appear. Like this:

raw text[[art:kingrichard|Краљ Ричард]]
or
[[art:kingrichard|]]

I know I have it on the keyboard, but as I usually use the Serbian keyboard, I always have to change the keyboard when I want to write some codes…

Also, from the same reason, I would like to have square brackets [ and ].

Right now, I cannot think of anything else, but maybe I can ask my site friends, maybe they come up with some useful suggestions.

I also saw somewhere that someone already asked this, but I will repeat it, as I cannot remember if it was exactly the same as I want it.

It would be nice if I could have a possibility to add an include template from a drop down menu, just like we have it when opening the new page to choose the template for the page we are about to create. I cannot use this because if I change the template the whole content of the page disappears, and I would need the possibility to just add some code I created on the other page and i want it to be included. For example, I have several different infoboxes (some of those with lots of parameters that I simply cannot remember), and while I write an article, I always have to go to that particular page that I want to include, and then to copy the include template that i have on its discussion page, and paste it in the article. If I could just open a drop down menu, and choose from the list the include template I want, it would be great. I hope I explained it well. If it is not clear, please tell me and I'll try to explain it better…

^{11 Jul 2010 07:56. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Okay, being able to add the square brackets and pipe symbol would be done the same way as for your serbian quotation marks… if you are able to add it to your computer's clipboard (copy it from somewhere), then I can give you a spot in STE to paste it in there and turn it into a button. That seems like the best way to do it.

As for the last paragraph - the templates. I have one question I'm not sure about. Just say you have entered some text into STE… if you then choose a template should it replace all of that text, or just be added wherever your mouse cursor is sitting?

^{11 Jul 2010 07:59. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Thanks bcammo. I wasn't aware that it split it up like that… is that something you've done by customising your Mac's theme, or is that the default way for Mac tabs to behave?

I explicitly said in STE's code that when there were too many tabs it should wrap to a second row instead of doing that - so I'm guessing that along with the borders around each button, these are bugs in Apple's version of the JRE, or things that they have intentionally made different to the official JRE.

^{11 Jul 2010 10:28. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

if you then choose a template should it replace all of that text, or just be added wherever your mouse cursor is sitting?

That's the point! :) Right now if you change the template, then all text is replaced by that template, and I want to be able just to ADD it to my text. So, it would be the second part of your sentence: to add it wherever my mouse cursor is sitting… (heheeh, funny expression, the cursor is sitting… :P)…

^{11 Jul 2010 10:30. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

if you are able to add it to your computer's clipboard (copy it from somewhere), then I can give you a spot in STE to paste it in there and turn it into a button. That seems like the best way to do it.

Okay, I have them, just tell me what I should do… But please, imagine you're talking to a 5-year old… :P I really don't have a clue about programming… :)

^{11 Jul 2010 11:00. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
About the template…

I was investigating a little bit STE, and I found the Modules command to insert CSS and Users module. So this is exactly what I wanted. To insert some include modules I made by just clicking the button.

BTW, this Module button is very useful. You might want to amplify this drop down menu and add more modules….

^{11 Jul 2010 11:26. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Okay, I have them, just tell me what I should do… But please, imagine you're talking to a 5-year old… :P I really don't have a clue about programming… :)

You can't do it yet… I have to make it possible for you to do that.

If you look on the home page, you will see that I have released a new version yesterday, called 2.01 - we are discussing on the thread for version 2.00 which I released two days ago.

So in version 2.02 or some future version, I plan to make it possible for you to do this - but you can't do it yet.

^{11 Jul 2010 11:28. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

BTW, this Module button is very useful. You might want to amplify this drop down menu and add more modules….

Yes, I want to add more modules to that list soon as well. The CSS and ListUsers modules are the two easiest because they don't have any options that you can change… I will add some more complicated ones like ListPages when I can. :)

^{11 Jul 2010 11:41. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Thanks bcammo. I wasn't aware that it split it up like that… is that something you've done by customising your Mac's theme, or is that the default way for Mac tabs to behave?

Shane, that's just the way they turned out. For native mac apps the settings/preferences window is generally a bit wider than the one in STE, and the tabs are represented by icons along the top. Here's a screenshot for your reference…

Cheers,
Bryce

^{11 Jul 2010 11:48. Edited 2 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

You can't do it yet… I have to make it possible for you to do that.

Oh, ok… :) Then I'll have to wait….

If you look on the home page, you will see that I have released a new version yesterday, called 2.01 - we are discussing on the thread for version 2.00 which I released two days ago.

Wow, this is really fast. Maybe it'll be better for me to wait the 2.02 version… :)

So in version 2.02 or some future version, I plan to make it possible for you to do this - but you can't do it yet.

OK, thanks, Shane. I'll be waiting for the release of this verson…. :)

Yes, I want to add more modules to that list soon as well. The CSS and ListUsers modules are the two easiest because they don't have any options that you can change… I will add some more complicated ones like ListPages when I can. :)

Wonderful! :)

^{11 Jul 2010 20:18. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Another suggestion: It would be nice if this editor had the possibility of find/replace…

^{11 Jul 2010 23:20. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

• Added: Preview button on the toolbar. Does not require an API key.

I can't get this to work. Can someone explain how I should set up the preview options on the Wikidot API tab? I keep getting an XmlRpcException error.

Sorry, you can not create a new page in this category. Only site administrators and perhaps selected moderators are allowed to.

This sounds like a Wikidot error and not an STE error.

^{12 Jul 2010 03:55. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Feature requests section for STE is here: section:requests

Someone has already requested that! :) thread:72

If you reply to that thread to say that you want that feature as well, it will help - because I look at how many replies there are when deciding what feature to add next.

You're doing something wrong I think - though it's probably caused by me not explaining it very well or not making things obvious enough, so please let me know if you have any suggestions to improve that.

The default is that the "Use my Wikidot account" option is de-selected. If you leave it like that then preview should work.

Alternatively, if you want to use your own API key then tick the box titled "Use my Wikidot account" and enter this information in order from top-to-bottom (I want to add labels to each box, but that takes time as I need to fiddle around with it a lot to get things to display properly, thus why I haven't done it yet)

Authentication

• Your username - try "Ed Johnson" first and if that doesn't work try "ed-johnson"
• Your API key

Document preview

• The unix name of a site that you are member of
• The name of a category in that site (e.g. "ste")

The unix name of the pages generated for previews are randomly generated from a number between 1 and 100, so if you enter 'ste' as the category the full page name might be 'ste:55' or something. This means that multiple people can use STE and generate previews on the same site, and the chance of conflicting with one another is very rare.

^{12 Jul 2010 20:45. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Authentication

• Your username - try "Ed Johnson" first and if that doesn't work try "ed-johnson"
• Your API key

Document preview

• The unix name of a site that you are member of
• The name of a category in that site (e.g. "ste")

The authentication is working fine. I used my unix user name and am able to import and export pages just fine.

It was the total lack of titles for the preview input boxes that threw me off. Maybe you can throw some hint text in there instead of "preview" and "p". ;) I'll try it later tonight when I get home from work now that I know what's what.

It looks like you have plenty of room for input box titles.

You're doing something wrong I think - though it's probably caused by me not explaining it very well or not making things obvious enough, so please let me know if you have any suggestions to improve that.

My issue was caused by a lack of documentation and a non-intuitive pair of input boxes, but don't let that slow you down! When I'm engrossed in a fun project, the last thing I want to do is pause and actually document everything. Yuck! I'll keep asking questions if I can't figure it out. Documentation can be caught up later once development settles down.

^{12 Jul 2010 22:05. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
well done leiger! i'll be sure to use it! :D

^{13 Jul 2010 04:37. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Feel free to add to the documentation yourself if you want Ed ;-) As a user you'd know what people need help with a lot more than I do - I'm the one who built it so it's more difficult for me to imagine what problems people are having.

I'm going to create a bug report for the lack of labels in the settings dialog.

^{13 Jul 2010 04:38. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Like I said in the PM, let me know if you have any ideas :)

^{13 Jul 2010 14:09. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Feel free to add to the documentation yourself if you want Ed ;-)

I will. And the first thing I'll do is document the API config! ;)

Speaking of that, I'm having trouble getting the results I expect when I try to set the preview theme. If the CSS I want to use is located at http://mysite.wikidot.com/admin:theme/code/1 and I put http://mysite.wdfiles.com/local--code/admin:theme/1 in the preview CSS theme input box, it doesn't look anything like my site. When I open it in my browser, it works fine since it's showing the random preview page you create.

Is this a limitation of the internal preview in STE?

^{13 Jul 2010 22:32. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
It is worth an announcement at http://community.wikidot.com/blog:_start.
I did not have the time to have a go. But from the posts above, I think I should.

^{13 Jul 2010 22:37. Edited 1 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
I've manually removed the sidebar and header from the internal preview so that only the page itself is shown, to save space. My intention when I added the 'open in browser' button was to make up for that by letting you open it in your test site if you wanted the full preview.

I've also noticed that the internal preview doesn't like CSS very much. For one thing, it seems to completely ignore and margin, padding and border-radius that I add to the CSS, so it might be using CSS1 rules or something instead of CSS2/CSS3.

^{13 Jul 2010 22:41. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}

Thanks gerdami :) You saying that it deserves to be mentioned on the community means a lot.

I'll wait for someone else to create the blog post, because I want to see what they write. And it would feel a bit like a "shameless plug" for me to do it myself.

^{14 Jul 2010 05:33. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Editing simple or less-simple tables is painful…

^{14 Jul 2010 07:40. Edited 0 times. (Edit, Permalink)}
Okay. Can you post the idea here? http://editor.wikidot.com/section:requests — I'm interested to hear any ideas you have about how to make using tables easier.

That way I've got a list of all requests in one place.