[thelist] FAQ/resources for oft-asked questions

[Dean Mah]

On 7/25/06, Max Schwanekamp <lists at neptunewebworks.com> wrote:
> > On 7/21/06, Christian Heilmann wrote:
> > > > > > > <faq author="foo" version="1" id="1">
> > > > > > >   <question>What's the best cheese then?</question>
> > > > > > >   <answer>Wensleydale, Gromit, Wensleydale</answer>
> > > > > > > </faq>
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > That would allow us to overwrite outdated versions
> > by setting a higher
> > > > > > > version count.
> >
> > I've been able to add a custom evolt.org mail scanner into the qmail
> > pipeline.  This means that tips will soon be parsed in real-time
> > (ya!).  Anyway, using the template above, you can send faqs to
> > spam at lists.evolt.org and they should be parsed and thrown into the
> > database.  Of course, there's nothing to view the faqs yet so you
> > won't know if it is working properly or not but it will be good
> > testing for me, which I promise to look at when I get back in a few
> > hours.  I'll also set up a simple viewing tool when I get back.
> > Dean
>
> As Tom mentioned, how do we know what value to use for the id attribute, or
> for that matter version?  How do we keep version in sequence?
>
> I'm thinking that both id and question would only be used when changing an
> existing faq item's question text.  Otherwise, just
> <faq author="me" id="123">
>   <answer>My updated answer</answer>
> </faq>
> ought to be sufficient to just update the answer and increment the version,
> or
> <faq author="me" id="123">
>   <question>Modified question text</question>
>   <answer>My updated answer</answer>
> </faq>
> Would update both the question and the text, and increment the version.
>
> My tuppenceworth...

Sorry for being a tease.  I had to run.  I was just happy that
progress was being made and had to brag^h^h^h^htell someone about it.
:)

You are correct that you only need id when changing the question
and/or answer.  You can change both question and answer or just one.
The version attribute isn't really required and is currently
discarded.  New FAQs will be assigned an ID automatically and if you
specify one for a new FAQ, it will likely be ignored.  Like tips, the
author attribute can be supplied or it will grab it from the e-mail
headers.  There's no need to maintain the original author, unless you
are submitting an FAQ for them, as all author information will be kept
as part of the history.

Dean