Features/Revised Browse default-bookmarks.html

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Comments and Explanations:




Summary

What I am trying to Achieve:

An enhanced "start new" screen for sugar.browse. It should have added customizable links and Graphic Elements Suitable for Soas-v4 -Mangolassi

Ideas from Soas #sugar-meeting: 06/14/2010

  • Idea Crystalization credits to mchua:, mtd and others.

Case 1) improve the default browse page with a few well documented links that upstream agrees with

  • suggested links:
Use exiting 4 links
Home
Wiki
Bugs
Activites
Link to Live DVD page -
This is a separate way for teachers and users to access information from the wiki and other pertinent web sites. It consists all of the links and the same Structure as the SugarCreationKit DVD
existing Google search

Case 2) we do a custom default page that accomplishes the same but specifically for SoaS-v4 -Mangolassi

Custom Artwork
Custom links added later


3-) Maybe we should consider BOTH solutions as features

Soas-v4 -Mangolassi Only
Sugar f14 as distributed from the fedora repositories

NOTES:

  • mtd: a customizable start page exists.
  • This is the first thing a SoaS user will see when the Sugar web browser is launched. This is a critically important page. I don't think we should accept anything until these groups have looked at it:
Existing SoaS deployments
Other sugar deployments
SL Marketing
Fedora Marketing (not sure if this is applicable)

At least as much thought should go into changing the page as went into creating it in the first place.

MartinDengler 15:06, 14 June 2010 (EDT)

Owner

  • Email: satellit@bendbroadband.com

Current status

  • Targeted release: SoaS_v4_Feature
  • Last updated: (06/12/2010)
  • Percentage of completion: 90%

History of TESTING

  • Tested on sugar-emulator in f12 (file locations and names may be different in Soas)
  • copied file:///usr/share/bookmarks/default-bookmarks.html to desktop,
  • opened and edited with OooWriter
  • added hyperlinks and saved
  • renamed index.html
  • opened terminal
su
gedit
  • opened modified file
  • saved as file:///usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html
  • Started "sugar-emulator" and Browse as "Start new"
  • took this screenshot:


Modified-default-bookmark.png


Change-Browse.activity index.html-to-use-Modified-Browse-html in a live USB

  • In booted USB-soas-i386-20100611.15.iso:
  • In Sugar Terminal;
su
yum install wget
wget http://people.sugarlabs.org/Tgillard/Modified-Browse.html
cd /home/liveuser
chmod 777 Modified-Browse.html
cp /home/liveuser/Modified-Browse.html /usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html                                                                                                 
[root@localhost ~]# cp /home/liveuser/Modified-Browse.html /usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html
cp: overwrite `/usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html'? y
[root@localhost ~]#

It worked after this. Browse has a new "Start-New" screen. SUCCESS (06/12/2010)

  • Note: One step farther:
su
mkdir /usr/share/library-common
cp /usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html usr/share/library-common/index.html
  • Sets up Firefox v 6 .xo (experimental on ASLO) to use the same index.html as Browse uses.
  • On live USB Stick (06/13/2010)

Detailed Description

In a discussion with Peter Robinson last night I discovered that a custom Browse bookmark can be downloaded from the fedora repository. I propose to use this "Feature" to allow a custom set of bookmarts to be maintained that would have a series of links ie: e-books; Floss Manuals; wiki.sugarlabs.org, all of the proposed links to files in SugarCreationKit DVD + The NormalBrowse Google Screen

  • This should be a simple edit in Browse to point to file:///usr/share/bookmarks/default-bookmarks.html instead of file:///usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html.
  • Repointing the default-screen allows us to have fedora supply our revised "Start New" screen ( or maybe several depending on the deployment or schools requirements to Soas v4)

Current Example (see screen-shot above) works well as an Starting Screen

  • Contains the normal Browse links:
  • Home
  • Wiki
  • Bugs
  • Activites
  • plus
  • MENU- which points to an On line Version of the SugarCreationKit DVD, (with all of the links to the sources.)
  1. CLICK THIS LINK TO TEST: http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Creation_Kit#INDEX_OF_Soas_Features
  • AND
  • The fedora Personal Toolbar Folder with all of it's links


  • Case 1 This Modified index-html needs to be customized by fedora and distributed as a .rpm from the repositories
  • case 2 used for the build of the Browse.appliance in the v4 Soas-spin

Benefit to Sugar

A simple enhancement to sugar.browse

MartinDengler 13:51, 14 June 2010 (EDT) In fact this is not an enhancement, it's a hack. The browse homepage should be made configurable (perhaps via gconf) and have a sensible default. In fact, you should do some research before you hack an app to pieces: this customisation is already possible and designed-for...see http://cgit.sugarlabs.org/browse/mainline/tree/webactivity.py#n354 and http://cgit.sugarlabs.org/browse/mainline/tree/webactivity.py#n162. The desired homepage should go in /usr/share/library-common/index.html . Please can we do some research before we flail about doing stuff. Sorry about the language but I don't have time to say this more nicely.

Scope

  • Edit the Browse activity to point to default-bookmarks.html or some other file specified by fedora

UI Design

Does the feature have a direct impact on the work flow, or does it need a UI? Link here mockups, or add detailed descriptions. Original Idea: Now depreciated:

  • Point Sugar.Browse default "start new" screen to:
file:///usr/share/bookmarks/default-bookmarks.html
  • "We'll use something slightly different so we don't conflict." pbrobinson


  • instead of sugars's default:
file:///usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html

Comments:

This is the first thing a SoaS user will see when the Sugar web browser is launched. This is a critically important page. I don't think we should accept anything util these groups have looked at it:
  • Existing SoaS deployments
  • Other sugar deployments
  • SL Marketing
  • Fedora Marketing (not sure if this is applicable)

At least as much thought should go into changing the page as went into creating it in the first place.

MartinDengler 15:06, 14 June 2010 (EDT)

How To Test

In a terminal (the Terminal Activity works):

Move to the folder with the file for the default Browse homepage. 

cd /usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data

Back up your current Browse start page by renaming it to index.html.bak. 

mv index.html index.html.bak

Download the sample index.html file from http://people.sugarlabs.org/Tgillard/Modified-Browse.html 

wget http://url/to/index.html

Start the Browse Activity. It should open to a page of custom links, rather than the normal Browse start page. Try clicking on a few links. If they go to the webpages indicated, the feature is working.

To undo your testing and restore the previous Browse default start page, change the filenames back so that the old file is once again named index.html. 

mv index.html modified-bookmarks.html
mv index.html.bak index.html

User Experience

If this feature is noticeable by its target audience, how will their experiences change as a result? Describe what they will see or notice.

  • When Browse is started with Start new or for first time, this page will open. Custom content with links to web pages will be displayed.

Dependencies

What other packages (RPMs) depend on this package? Are there changes outside the developers' control on which completion of this feature depends? In other words, does your feature depend on completion of another feature owned by someone else or that you would need to coordinate, which might cause you to be unable to finish on time? Other upstream projects like Python?

  • The advantage is that the Modified default-bookmarks file is updated from fedora in a normal way to Soas and is part of the build of v4
  • Fedora requires a .rpm packaging
  • Original Index.html is customizable.

Contingency Plan

Alternate path: edit /usr/share/sugar/activities/Browse.activity/data/index.html. This would allow sugarlabs to maintain the list.

  • the Browse index.html on will need to be changed. (Edited)

Documentation

Is there upstream documentation on this feature, or notes you have written yourself? Has this topic been discussed in the mailing list or during a meeting? Link to that material here so other interested developers can get involved.

  • Discussed with pbrobinson initially and mchua today 06/12/2010 on #sugar-meeting
  • Soas Meeting 06/13/2010

Release Notes

The Sugar Release Notes inform end-users about what is new in the release. An Example is 0.84/Notes. The release notes also help users know how to deal with platform changes such as ABIs/APIs, configuration or data file formats, or upgrade concerns. If there are any such changes involved in this feature, indicate them here. You can also link to upstream documentation if it satisfies this need. This information forms the basis of the release notes edited by the release team and shipped with the release.

  • not a release in normal sense

Comments and Discussion

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