Feature: Welcome to Squishdot! 
Squishdot 
Butch Landingin 
squishdot@yahoo.com 
1 
squishdot-does-what? 
<B><A href="http://squishdot.org">Squishdot</A></B> is a news publishing and discussion product for 
 <A href="http://www.zope.org"><B>Zope</B></A>. It creates a place in your website where people can post short  
 articles, news items, announcements, etc. as well as hold threaded discussions 
 about them. In other words, <B>Squishdot</B> is a <B><I>weblog</I></B> product. 
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<BR> 
<H3>Squishdot Features</H3> 
<P> 
Squishdot is a Zope Product, i.e. it works as a plug-in module for the Zope Application Server.  
 It provides you with a news publishing and discussion site with a minimal amount of configuration and  
 day-to-day administration. It is also easy to customize and can satisfy a wide range  
 of news publishing needs.  
</P> 
<P> 
Like Zope, it is being released under an <A href="http://www.opensource.org">OpenSource</A> license.  
 You can use, modify, and redistribute the source code for both commercial and non-commercial purposes following  
 the terms imposed by the license. 
</P> 
<P> 
Squishdot was inspired by <A href="http://slashdot.org"><B>Slashdot</B></A>, a news 
 publishing and  discussion website (i.e. a weblog website) focusing on technology and 
 the open source   movement. While I credit Slashdot with many of the ideas I have used 
 (e.g. navigational structure, mode of interaction, look-and-feel), 
 I must make it clear that Slashdot is <B>NOT</B> in any way affiliated with, nor does 
 it endorse or support Squishdot. <B>DO NOT</B> request any support or submit bugs, 
 enhancement requests, questions etc. to Slashdot regarding Squishdot. Instead, send all 
 email regarding Squishdot to <A href="mailto:squishdot@yahoo.com">squishdot@yahoo.com</A>. 
</P> 
<P> 
I have used the look and feel of Slashdot to serve as a starting point, a showcase, 
 of what can be done with Squishdot. As I get more suggestions and ideas for improving 
 the application, I hope to develop its own look and feel and make it more  effective 
 in its goal of disseminating information and fostering discussion. </P> 

<P>
In terms of the actual source code, Squishdot has been derived from   
 <B><A href="http://www.zope.org/Products/Confera">Confera</A></B>, a threaded discussion  
 Zope Product and it retains or extends many of the features included in Confera. 
 These include :  
 <UL>   
 <LI>moderation options : both articles and comments moderated; only articles 
     moderated, or no moderation at all  
 <LI>search by author, topic, title or words in the 
     article/comment body  
 <LI>automatic article expiration (articles automatically deleted X amount 
     of days after posting)  
 <LI>attach files to articles and comments.  
 </UL>  
 In addition, several features have been added:  
 <UL>  
 <LI> subject topics -- you can create subject categories to group together related 
      articles
 <LI> subject topic images -- you can optionally associate subject topics to images 
 <LI> additional fields have also been added : a department field and a summary text field 
 <LI> preview postings button/panel <b><font color=#ff0000 size=+2>*</font></b> 
 <LI> RSS/RDF channel page included (for content syndication)
      <b><font color=#ff0000 size=+2>*</font></b>
	  <BR>If you wish to find out more about RDF/RSS and content syndication, 
	  visit the <a href="http://my.netscape.com/publish/">My Netscape Network</a> page.  
 </UL> 
 <P><b><font color=#ff0000 size=+2>*</font></b> New for version 0.3.0 
 <P><B>IMPORTANT NOTICE:</B> SQUISHDOT Versions 0.3.0 and up will not work with 
  Zope version 1.x.x --   they will work only with Zope 2.0.x and higher. 
  <B>YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED</B>. </P> 

<H3>Squishdot versions</H3> 
<P> 
Squishdot version numbers have a three part numeric format separated by a dot (x.y.z) 
 where x is the major release number, y is the minor release number and z is a maintenance  
 release number. This <A href="http://squishdot.org/Download">current release</A> is currently 0.3.0.  
 As bugs are found and fixed 
 we will be releasing versions 0.3.1, 0.3.2 and so forth. The second number is reserved 
 for minor additional features or architectural revisions. 
</P> 
<P> 
Because Squishdot is currently alpha software, I do not suggest using this product for high volume, 
 high performance, or mission-critical applications. As of this time, I have not tested it 
 for stability nor optimized it for performance. I cannot even promise, at this point, interface stability  
 (i.e. in terms of the interface methods). While in time this will change and  
 become more stable and scalable, don't come crying to us if you use it for something 
 on which your job or career depends on, and it suddenly borks on you. You will only have  
 yourself to blame if you do this <B>&lt;*grin*&gt;</B>. 
<P> 
 This cannot be emphasized strongly enough: Squishdot is <B>ALPHA</B> software...don't get mad at me 
 if it doesn't work for you -- ask _*politely*_ for help in either the Squishdot mailing list, the Zope  
 mailing list or mail me directly -- I can't promise you an immediate answer but you'll get always  
 get one (including my ignoring you <b><font size=-1>;^)</font></b>). 
</P> 
<P> 
On the other hand, if you really do like Squishdot and would like to have the quick response to 
 enhancement suggestions, customizations and technical support that one would expect from a  
 professional consultant, and <b>would be willing to pay for that level of service</b>, 
 I am available for that, too.(in fact, I would love it!!).  Email me at  
 <a href="mailto:butchland@yahoo.com">butchland@yahoo.com</a> 
<H3>Attribution request</H3>
<P>
While not a requirement, if you are installing Squishdot (especially on a publicly accessible
 Internet website), I am requesting that some attribution be given to Squishdot 
 in any manner possible, in the same way that Zope requests it in its license;
 for the same reason that Zope also requests attribution -- as one way to promote 
 its growth.
<P>
 I've created a <a href="http://squishdot.org/Images/squishlogo">Squishdot logo</a> and  modified the DTML 
 code so that both the Zope and Squishdot logos are displayed at the bottom of the page 
 by default. The squishdot logo also includes a url to Squishdot (http://squishdot.org). 
<P>
If for some reason you would rather not use a logo (e.g. it clashes with your 
 website's theme), then just some text mentioning (on the main Squishdot page) that you 
 are using Squishdot along with a url pointing to the Squishdot site (squishdot.org) 
 would also satisfy my request.

<H3>Miscellaneous items</H3> 
<P> 
I welcome product improvement suggestions, code, questions, praise, <font size=-1>money</font>,  
 <font size=-1>beer</font>, <font size=-1>beer money :^)</font>, bug reports as well as criticism.  
 You can send all of them to the trash, er, my secret bank account, er,  
 <A href="mailto:squishdot@yahoo.com">squishdot@yahoo.com</A>. 
 Please prefix the subject line with a bracketed category name, for example [BUG REPORT] so that 
 I can easily classify the messages. You can also sign up for a couple of  
 <A href="http://squishdot.org/Subscribe">mailing lists</A> that have been 
 setup if you want to get the latest news on Squishdot. 
</P> 
<P> 
If you wish to find out more, the other articles provide information on the configuration, 
 future direction and other stuff regarding Squishdot and Zope. 
</P> 
<P> 
Also a comment about the default topics and images I used: I hope <A href="http://www.digicool.com">Digital Creations</A>  
 and Zope.org can pardon the liberties I have taken with their logos.  
 Feel free to throw them out the moment you see them (except that one image used for Zope Dopes). 
</P> 
<P> 
I wish to thank the guinea pigs who tried using, as well as debugging and patching the earliest versions of  
 the application -- they know who they are -- thanks for your patience. 
 I also wish to thank <a href="mailto:jeremypena@yahoo.com">Jeremy</a>  
 and <a href="mailto:johndelapaz@yahoo.com">John</a> for helping me out with the 0.1.0 version 
 of Squishdot with some of the graphics as well as the debugging.  
<P> 
Lastly, I'd like to make special mention of Bruce Perens, whose generosity has given Squishdot 
 the resources to have a nicer home on the web, but also contributed to making the  
 product better. Maraming Salamat. 
<P ALIGN="RIGHT"> 
-- <A href="mailto:squishdot@yahoo.com">Butch Landingin</A> (Squishdot maintainer) 
</P> 
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