[Openaaq-discuss] Patron Question Posting Specification
Status: Beta
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a-non-mouse
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From: Alex P. <ale...@zw...> - 2005-02-10 04:19:22
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OK, here's the start of a spec for the question posting module. I'm trying to simplify, because the more complex notions were going nowhere. I'm handing off the responsibility for complex user profiles and any kind of stored patron profile. Take a look at the Ask page at the Internet public library: http://www.ipl.org/div/askus/ My new philosophy: Ask A Question is a solution for a transaction driven question and answer service. It is not a Customer Relations Management system, although it may be integrated into one. ============ OpenAAQ Patron Question Posting Specification * Overview The system uses a one page patron profile and question model. This is intended to simplify the basic question posting interaction. The system * Complex profiles When a complex profile requires multiple pages, or the contact email and other information comes from a web site's existing membership system, email and other fields can be passed by a preceeding page. Preceeding pages can use mechanisms OAAQ does not incorporate, such as image maps or DHTML forms. Any number of values can be passed to OAAQ to be stored in the form as hidden fields and recorded as a part of the question record. * Output requirements The system will produce complete HTML pages or just the question form as a Server Side Include page component. SSI is the easiest way to insert the OAAQ form into an existing site design. When a site uses an SSI to include the OAAQ form in a page, submitting a question will return a redirect to a "success" page. * Input verification The system will use Java script to verify the presence of required fields. More importantly, it would be helpful to verify the email field by ensuring there is an @ symbol, and by resolving the IP address of the destination server. |