Re: lynx-dev status

[Philip Webb]

981023 Larry Virden commented on my revision of the Main Help Page
at  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~purslow/helpmain.html :
> I would prefer to see a different sort order in the list of HTML docs.
> I also would prefer to see an explanation to the user
> why they would want to visit Lynx Links, Lynxstuff & the Spyglass site.

the HTML section now starts with the latest version & works back;
i've added a few words to the 2nd group to tell people what to expect
(Spyglass is what it says: `technical').
 
> I have some concerns about showing as the primary Lynx FAQ
> a site which says: I do NOT want to just let this fade away,
> but unless someone can help add to this, it is very likely to happen.

"last revised 961127": it seems worth keeping for now, with suitable blurb.
 
981023 Nelson Henry Eric also commented: 
> I'm not going to say one way or the other except to express my opinion.
>   1) The statement "Lynx help in your local files:" is not necessarily
>      true, i.e., there is nothing to prevent the help file set from being
>      on a remote server.  Theoretically, a person could point
>      to slcc.edu or any publicly accessable http server carrying them
>      to get into the help file tree.

well, this is meant to be everyday help for ordinary users, isn't it?
who ordinarily would want to replace local Help files with distant ones
(i know you have encountered problems with storage at times)?
theoretically, everything & nothing ... (smile).

>   2) I have a very strong preference for a single-page main menu
>      since I can flip from top to bottom without taking my fingers
>      off the alphanumeric keys (I use vi keys).
>      Also I can see the numbers of all the links at once.

choose 2 out of 3 : 26 links, brief explanations, single page.

i really find your objection quite incomprehensible:
if i place my fingers on the vi keys -- hjkl -- b (previous screen) lies
right below my 1st finger & spacebar (next screen) right under my thumb:
there are only 2 pages, after all ...

>   3) Although I agree with you that the search engine links shouldn't
>      be on the help page (I personally put them on a page reached
>      with the `i'ndex key.), there could be a lot of users out there
>      who are expecting those links to be there.

leaving the search engines in the Help Page is hardly consistent
with keeping it all on one screen ...

> I think your presentation is "clean" and sharp.
> It's also great that you've gotten rid of that silly "Choose a subject:".

thanx: those were among my aims.

981023 Larry Virden commented on (3):
> Has anyone considered distributing a DEFAULT_INDEX_FILE with lynx?
> Right now we point to NTSA, but that page appears to have not been
> updated for 8 months or more.

this echoes my own thought:
the `index file' is yet another piece of antediluvia,
which we might well update into a really useful list of basic links,
incl a lot of search engines, but probably not for 2-8-1 .

i've dropped `legal comments', which is a section in Stonehand,
& l.b.o , which leads only to Lynx Links or immediate links there.

further comments from NHE & LWV or others?

-- 
========================,,============================================
SUPPORT     ___________//___,  Philip Webb : address@hidden
ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|  Centre for Urban & Community Studies
TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'  University of Toronto