Encyclopedia Sparodica
A guide containing possibly true obervations of applications for the web software enthusiast
Blogs
teenagerous angstyii
"A weblog, web log or simply a blog, is a web application which contains periodic time-stamped posts on a common webpage." - Wikipedia
Distinguishing Features
- Most often single authors, some blogs allow multiple authors or blogs under the same blog-software. The articles posted, however, remain single author posted.
- Some applications allow articles to be tagged with Categories. Categories can be used to filter the types of articles received (ie. only show me articles categorised to LDAP), or to aid in search metadata.
- Comments get attached to blog entries, anonymous or authenticated users.
- Comments and articles only permit for use a limited subset of available HTML tags for their posts. Occasionally, blogs offer an alternate markup language specific to the application to further aid non-HTML savvy users and to prevent HTML-based hacking.
- Articles are stored in perpetuity, commonly in reverse chronological order (most recent article shown first).
- Articles do not need any sort of relationship between each other. Interlinking entries or comments is by finding the article's unique ID, creating a URI using the unique ID and creating an href-link to it.
- New articles are created by an article entry interface, either web based or by an application with rpc calls to the web form. Commenting on an article is typically by a web based interface only.
- Moderation exists to varying levels, no moderation, limiting to non-anonymous, ip-logging, full moderation, etc.
- User information is most often detailed with regards to authors, and very sparing with regards to commentors (given the anonymous posting ability.)
- Blog authors can be notified when a comment is posted to an article, most tools email this notification along with a simple web form for commenting immediately instead of having to go to the site.
- Articles and comments remain mostly single topic, or at least related to the topics contained in the initial article or spawned from them.
- Blog applications are typically very extensible, with the most popular open-source tools having an active commnuity creating plugins (moderation, revision history, themes etc.)
Habitat (possible sightings/ uses)
- Professional Pages
- Lecture Comments
- Participatory Tutorials/ Courseware
- Interest Raising
- Feedback on Article/ Concept/ Proposal Gathering
- Life Angsting
- http://blog.usf.edu/: University of Southern Florida's blogs-for-users
Specific Uses
- Single author articles, multi-authenticated user discussion/ responses.
Specific NOT FOR Uses
- Not for: Discussions/ collaboration/ evolving articles.
Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Application
- Phylum: Web-based
- Class: Interactive, Data stored
- Order: Community
- Family: Blog
- Genus: Teenagerous
- Species: Angstyii
Wikis
anarchicus constructicus
"A Wiki or wiki (pronounced [wɪkiː], [wiːkiː] or [viːkiː]) is a website that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. "Wiki" also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website" - Wikipedia
Distinguishing Features
- Articles in a wiki can have any number of authors.
- Most wikis record a history of changes, tied back to user or IP. Some allow rollbacks to previous versions.
- Most wikis do not require login to edit articles posted, but logging in and posting/ editing provides advantages (history, kudos, access levels.)
- There is no feedback or commenting on articles save for making changes to the article itself.
- Wikis only permit for use a limited subset of available HTML tags for the articles. Most wikis have their own alternate markup language specific to the implementation to further aid non-HTML savvy users, to prevent HTML-based hacking, and to support the 'article' and 'cross-linking' purpose behind a wiki.
- Linking between articles and creating heavilly interlinked and related information resources are a wiki's strong points and major feature.
- New articles are created by linking to a non-existant article and then filling in the new article's information.
- Moderation is not formalised in Wikis, relying on the Many Eyes aspect of the internet.
- User information is not exceptionally detailed save for the login requiring wikis.
- Most changes are not notified to authors due to the poly-authorial nature of a wiki article.
- Articles are heavilly interlinked, but each article has its own topic of information.
- Wiki applications are typically quite extensible, with the most popular open-source tools having an active community extending and working on the applications (or branching them into new applications.)
Habitat
- Technical Specifications
- Communal Concept Generation
- Evolving Documentation (with heavy inter-relations)
- Dispersed-Community Collaborations
- Spam
Specific Uses
- Multiple not-neccessarilly authenticated authors for collaborative documents. Most advantage come from heavilly interlinked.
Specific NOT FOR Uses
- Discussions, interactive multiple-viewpoints.
- Topics, multiple self-contained items.
Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Application
- Phylum: Web-based
- Class: Interactive, Data stored
- Order: Community
- Family: Wiki
- Genus: Anarchicus
- Species: Constructicus
Forums
communi-t rapidicum
"An Internet forum, also known as a message board, discussion board, discussion forum, or more simply, a forum, is a web application which provides a place for discussion, often for online communities." - Wikipedia
Disguishing Features
- Articles in a forum are single author, but each forum has as many authors as there are registered users.
- Articles posted have no revision history, or automated record of changes.
- Articles are attched to a single forum (or a forum within a forum application, or further) as a Thread . Users can then attach other articles to the initial thread as comments.
- Forums only permit for use a limited subset of available HTML tags for the articles. Most forums have their own alternate markup language specific to the implementation to further aid non-HTML savvy users and to prevent HTML-based hacking.
- Linking between articles is a matter of finding an article's unique ID, creating a URI using the unique ID and creating an href-link to it.
- New articles are created by a web based article entry interface, the same with commenting on another article
- Most forums require users to be members to comment, so user information is quite detailed on most people interacting with the forum.
- Most forums allow the user to subscribe to a thread. When anyone posts a new comment to the article they are emailed with the change. Most forums auto-subscribe the initial topic-article poster to the topic.
- Forums, having many sub-forums (etc.) and threads in the forums, generally vary wildly in their topics and do not have to have any relation to each other. Having multiple authors means threads heading too off-topic spawn their own threads.
- Forum applications are typically fairly extensible, having been around for longer than the above two applications the forum is more set in how they work. Still, most popular open source forum applications have branches of development to suit specific perceived needs.
Habitat (possible sightings/ uses)
- Categorised Poly-Topics Feedback
- Open Forums
- Discussions
- Flame Wars (text-based arguments)
Specific Uses
- Multiple authenticated user discussions on various topics.
Specific NOT FOR Uses
- Collaborative document creation
- Heavilly interlinked documents
- Single author environments
Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Application
- Phylum: Web-based
- Class: Interactive, Data stored
- Order: Community
- Family: Forum
- Genus: Commni-T
- Species: Rapidicum
Web Feeds
subscripticus
"A web feed is an XML-based document which contains a sequence of information content items, each of which is a short story or "post", possibly with a link to a more extensive story on a web site. Web logs or blogs are a common source for web feeds, but web feeds may also be associated with information sources other than blogs." - Wikipedia
Distinguishing Features
- Articles in web feeds are generally XML-explained snippets of an extensive story contained on the web site the feed is generated from.
- Web feeds are non-interactive, containing links back to the article the feed entry was generated from.
- Many feed aggregators exist that fetch feeds for a user, combine them into a time-relative stream of information, and allow the user to read through them similar to news headlines.
- Being built on XML, Web feeds are very extensible. Standards are difficult (RSS and Atom being two) — the RSS has many current 'standard' versions with none being definitive.
Habitat (possible sightings/ uses)
- News Ticker (currently active)
- Outage Reports/ Service Notifications
- Lecture Updates
- See below
Specific Uses
- Latest information distribution mechanism.
Specific NOT FOR Uses
- Information/ documentation creation or discussions.
- The source material. Web Feeds merely alert others to updates to source materials.
Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Application
- Phylum: Web-based
- Class: Non-interactive
- Order: Community
- Family: Web Feed
- Genus: Subscripticus
- Species:
- RSS (subscripticus polyversional)
- ATOM (subscripticus monoversional)
- Pod-casting (subscripticus audicus)
Pod-casting
subscriptionus audicus
"Podcasting is a way of publishing files to a website that allows users to subscribe to the site and receive new files as they are posted. Most podcasts are spoken word audio created by individuals, often on a particular theme such as technology or movies" - Wikipedia
Distinguishing Features
- Pod-casting refers to the specific types of articles contained in a Web Feed. The articles contain information on a sound file, and either the contents of the sound file or a link to download the sound file.
Habitat (possible sightings/ uses)
- Audial Lecture Distributions
- Radio Aggregations
- Jukebox
Specific Uses
- Audio Web Feeds.
Specific NOT FOR Uses
- Non-audio.
- Non-updating.
Scientific Classification
- Kingdom: Application
- Phylum: Web-based
- Class: Non-interactive
- Order: Community
- Family: Web Feed
- Genus: Subscripticus
- Species: Audicus
