But I thought I would write a short post on a project I am currently working on. It is the deployment of an online multi-lingual help system. The company I work for, Questionmark, are moving towards a Software As A Service methodology. We have several applications out, or in the pipeline, that are designed to be multi-lingual. Questionmark Live, is a perfect example. It allows Subject Matter Experts to easily create questions using a web based interface that can then be uploaded to Questionmark Perception for delivery to students in an exam or assessment.

The current help system employed by Questionmark Live is basic, so I have been looking at ways we could improve this. Essentially I needed a system that could be:

• Used to create help pages
• Able to display images
• Translatable
• Language aware
• Able to provide direct links to pages in an easily identifiable manner

I checked all our existing systems and tools (Madcap Flare, RoboHelp, WikiSpaces, Contribute) but none really did what I needed them to do. I then started checking out other specific Help and Knowledge Base system and I came to the conclusion that they were either really good at organising and displaying information or being multi-lingual aware, but finding a system that could do both really well was impossible.

I decided to start looking outside the box and came across Joomla!. Joomla! is an open source Content Management System, in the same vain as Drupal. However, Joomla on its own isn’t language aware but there a are a multitude of add-ons and extensions that make pretty much anything possible.

My current line of thought for the new help system includes a deployment of Joomla!, with an extension called Joom!Fish. Joom!Fish provides Joomla with a whole translation workflow and makes the software language aware. Also the way that Joomla indexes pages makes it easy for our developers to call specific pages stored on the Joomla system in the language needed quickly and easily.

Each piece of content stored in Joomla is tagged with an ID. Any translations of the content is stored with the same ID so translations are actually part of the same piece of content rather than a seperate piece of content written in a different language. Perfect!

For example to call the help I would need to pass something similar to the following URL (simplified for the sake of this blog post):

index.php?contentid=38Lang=en

If I wanted to call a different page the URL would simply change to:

index.php?contentid=41Lang=en

If I then wanted to present a translated version of the above page I would just need to change the identified Lang parameter, like so:

index.php?contentid=41Lang=es <- To display a Spanish translation of the page

Now this is all pretty easy for our developers to arrange. Each Help button would be associated with a contentid and depending on the language version of the software the user was using the Lang parameter would also be passed to open the appropriate page in the required language. The Joomla and Joom!Fish combination is also clever enough to understand that if a translation of the selected page isn’t available it will show the predetermined base (original) language, which in most cases will actually be English. It can also be configured to work with language cultures like en-US and en-UK.

Another really cool thing that I like about the Joomla system is that I can change the look and feel of the page being called by simply modifying the URL slightly. For example calling the following URL would open the page with the full template and menu system:

index.php?contentid=38Lang=en

But calling the following URL would open the content without any distractions, no template, headers or menu, and display just the article:

index2.php?contentid=38Lang=en

This makes it perfect to open help pages directly from the application, while still giving me the control to allow users to open the help as a help centre with full navigation and searching capabilities. I’m hoping to finish off my proposal for the system in the next few days and get buy-in from various stake holders. So far all the developers I have shown it to love the solution. It makes life easier for them and everyone has agreed that it will make the content more meaningful, relevant and easier to maintain.

I’ll keep you all posted as the project progresses. If anyone else has any thoughts or comments feel free to let me know in the comments section.

Update

I thought I’d include some links to a demo system I have setup.

Here is a link to a sample help page:

www.foulwritersworld.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&&lang=en

The same page in Spanish:

www.foulwritersworld.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&&lang=es

With the menu and navigation turned off:

www.foulwritersworld.net/joomla/index2.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&&lang=en

So far I am loving it. It’s fast, efficient and oh so cool. Shame the battery life isn’t great, but the iPhone wasn’t much better.

So far it looks like WIndows 7 is a big hit. I haven’t seen any over negative blogs about. Howver, the proof of the pudding will come from how quickly corporate users upgrade.

The truth is I have been using Windows 7 (64-bit) ever since its MSDN release and I have been pleasantly surprised. I like:

The snap to screen (however, annoyingly it doesn’t support multi-monitor displays properly)

The battery management options

The improved load times and system messaging

After some getting used to, the new task bar is intuitive and easy to use

Overall look and feel

UAC improvements

What do others think/like about Windows 7?

I am not looking forward to having to update all my installer docs with the new OS. But, I suppose it needs to be done.

Analytics According to Captain Kirk by Matt Bailey

He makes it sound so simple yet fun. Well, maybe only if you are a Star Trek fan.

www.opera.com

The new “Turbo” feature really does seem to speed things up. It looks like Google Gears finally has some competition.

In the meantime here is my pick of interesting news:

•  Windows 7 is shaping up well I’ve been testing recently and I have had very few problems. There is an interesting post by Scott Fulton about why you should upgrade.
• I’m considering getting my very own James Bond watch
• Can’t believe what they named a rat eating plant.

Dan is a Tech. Writer with amazing talent and from following his antics through his blog i’m sure that the book will be a great read. Can’t wait to get hold of my copy.

I’m really liking the automatic upgrade feature. Makes life so mush easier.

• Microsoft removes IE 8 from Windows 7 shipping in EU.
• EU still hungry for Microsoft cash and decide to go to court anyway
• The end of Twitter and the world was avoided this week, when twitpocalypse came to nothing except if your a Apple user.
• Live Search rebranded as Bing.com to take on Google
• Hopes of many are dashed in Iranian elections and cause widspread discontent
• MadCap release Flare v5. I’ll be doing a review of the changes once I’ve spent more time with it
• FIA / FOTA war of 2009 is intensifying as the FIA continually push car manufacturers further and further away from Formula 1 (The FIA should just get rid of Mad Max Mosley, it would solve so many problems)
• Is Twitter’s dominance at microblogging is under threat from Google?

• Confluence
• MindTouch Deki

Both offer good web based editing and have the optional extras we need. Now, I just need to come up with a format for the older content that everyone is happy with.

I’ve been thinking of something like this:

For example:

Anyone got any other suggestions?

Like most cats they spend approximately 20 hours of the day asleep. Hence the rather drowsy looking pictures above. With the remaining 8 hours of the day eating or fighting. Both have amazingly different personalities. Kiri, loves to be the center of attention, but is rather timid to try new things. Whiskey however, hates to be around people and only comes to people for comfort when she is tired and wants some love. Whiskey is certainly the more adventurous of the 2 and many times have we found her sneaking a peak in the neighbours apartment by putting her head through an open window.

To celebrate the upgrade, i’ve applied a new theme. I’m just trying out for now.

What do you think?

I tend to use it primarily as a:

• way for keeping up with friends, colleagues and other interesting parties
• way of asking direct questions to a person or group of people
• way to follow and create Live Blogs relating to an event
• method  to crack one liner gags at my friends

What I don’t tend to use Twitter for is:

• Holding conversations with others (I prefer MSN or Skype for that)
• To market myself, products or organizations
• Microblogging (I did once, but it’s not easy to express yourself in less than a 140 characters)

How do others use Twitter?

I’ve seen some interesting ideas from the likes of Greg Pope and Sean Farrell at the Questionmark Blog about using Twitter to collect

job task information

An interesting idea, but why use Twitter? I tend to keep that sort of information up to date using Evernote on my PCs and Smartphones. However, I like the idea of someone thinking about Twitter outside the realm of a social tool. About giving Twitter a purpose other that simple social communication.

So how do you use Twitter? Please discuss.

Well I have 4 pairs of noise cancelling headphones. These are:

• Sony MDR-NC6

• Panasonic RP-HC500

• Bose Quiet Comfort 2

• Sony MDR-NC500

The headphones go up in the range of noise cancelling from the lowest with the NC6 all the way to the top of the range with the NC500s.

Below I’ve rated each on various aspects from effectiveness to price:

As you can see the difference between the high-end headphones isn’t great, but the main focus of these headphones is noise cancelling and with that the ratting for each is:

• MDR-NC500 : 99%
• Bose QC2: 90%
• RP-HC500 : 92%
• MDR-NC6 : 70%

The cost difference between each is great. The MDR-NC500 set me back about £250, while the QC2 were not that far behind. The RP-HC500 came in at a more reasonable £130. While the MDR-NC6 the cheapest of the bunch is worth about £50.

The QC2, HC500 and NC500 all feel pretty much the same when wearing. As all use the around ear configuration rather than the on-ear like the NC6. However, the NC500 are my favourite, you can really forget your even wearing them.

The noise cancelling on each differ. The NC500 win hands down, it is really difficult to hear anything once on thanks to its digital noise cancelling. While the RC500 and QC2 are not far behind, but the difference is notable. The NC6 being on-ear are far behind the other three.

Music from each is good, particularly the HC500. The QC2 are slightly bass heavy and the NC500 are very weak with and low low bass beats. However, the clarity when listening higher up the sound range more than makes up. For the rest, they are all pretty similar in mid to high frequency range.

Basically I use the NC6 when out and about, with no particular destination in mind. Because these are the cheap and cheerful pair. However, the other three are used daily by myself and the misses. She uses the RC500s, while I use the NC500 at work because of their superior noise cancelling and the QC2s at home.

So for anyone working in a noisy environment and needs to block a bit of sound to concentrate i deffinately recommend getting a pair of noise cancelling headphones. And I hope my quick review has given you some idea of which one might suite you.

• Documentation is difficult to get to
• Cumbersome format
• Difficult to maintain

On top of this there is no way for users/developers to add comments or suggestions to the document.

I’ve always thought the way to build a set of useful APIs is not to only get them to do the t

asks needed and well. But, get users of the API to contribute towards their fellow developers education. This has a sort of snow ball effect that as more users provide tips, tricks or advice the more engaged others will become by referring to examples, suggestions and deployment options. So that’s the plan. But to do this I first need to get the API documentation out of their existing format (RoboHelp 5 projects with over 450 pages) and in to something more conducive to collaboration. So from all the options available, I think a Wiki is the best option. Why? Because a wiki allows me to:

• Break out of the confines of the RoboHelp style we currently use
• Is easier to maintain minor updates than the RoboHelp project
• Allows consumers to add comments
• Allows consumers to add examples in the community section
• Allows consumers to communicate with other like minded people
• Easier searching

So now with the decision to move it to a WIKI made, the next step is determining what WIKI would be most capable. We currently use Wikispaces for one of our other customer based WIKIs, but I’m not a fan of this platform. I’m thinking more down the line of Confluence or pbwiki. But I’ll see which one will be easier to get approval for.

After the wiki is confirmed, I’ll have to start looking at different styles of API documentation. And trust me there are many. A personal favourite so far is the Twitter API wiki. It is clean and simple in presentation and the style they have chosen to document to APIs is non cluttered and easy to understand.

Keep posted for updates