[Labs-l] [Toolserver-l] A proposal for better tool discoverability

Wed Aug 13 22:51:43 UTC 2014

Hey everyone,
thanks for all the positive feedback! I've only released the tool 8
hours ago, and we already have 30 tools listed. Awesome! Let's try to
get it to 100 in the next few days :)

I've released a new version (http://tools.wmflabs.org/hay/directory)
that incorporates a few of the suggestions here:

* It's now possible to add multiple tools to one toolinfo.json file.
Simply stick your tools in an array instead of an object. Here's an
example:

http://tools.wmflabs.org/hay/toolinfo.json

* Because of this new format it's important to have a unique `name`
property. This should preferably be something like
'yourusername-toolname'. For the 'pretty' title in the directory use
the new 'title' property. The current name will now be used as a
title, but this will probably be deprecated in the future, so change
your toolinfo.json files accordingly.

* Toolnames are no longer needed on the Directory page on the Wikitech
wiki. Just an URL is enough. I've updated this page to reflect the new
format. Comments (preceded by a # hash) are now allowed to structure
the file better.

* You can now add multiple authors to a tool. Simply separate by
comma, just like the keywords. I considered using arrays for
keywords/authors, but it was a bit of a hassle on the database, so for
now i'm sticking with commas (hopefully nobody has a name with a comma
in it :)

* I've added a very rudimentary ranking system, using the number of
clicks on the tool as a metric (no IP's or anything are recorded, just
number of clicks).

Keep on submitting those toolinfo.json's!

-- Hay / Husky

On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 9:38 PM, Magnus Manske
<magnusmanske at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 5:16 PM, Hay (Husky) <huskyr at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hey Magnus,
>> thanks! WDQ is now added to the directory. The cronjob should run every
>> hour.
>>
>> Having a list of tools as an array is something i've been thinking
>> about as well, will probably add that.
>
>
> Thanks, I'll hold off some of my tools then, until this is done.
>>
>>
>> 'Grouping' tools can be done by simply adding a category. Or do you
>> mean something else?
>
>
> I mean, visually separating groups on your wiki page, within the <source>
> tag. Easier to check if I have a tool added there if mine are all in a
> "section". But not really a show-stopper :-)
>
> This is great!
>
> Cheers,
> Magnus
>
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