[sword-devel] frontend features, their applicability -- consistency?

[DM Smith]

On 04/14/2010 01:41 PM, Karl Kleinpaste wrote:
> Anyhow, I fear the discussion is reaching far afield from my original
> questions, which revolved around the question of consistent baseline
> user experience and what we ought to require (in some fuzzy sense) of
> Sword app teams' development.
>
> What does Joe Average expect from any app labeled "The Sword Project"?
>
>    
I guessed I missed this for all the talk of import/export between 
applications.

There are two wiki pages regarding SWORD application features:
http://crosswire.org/wiki/Frontends:FeatureList
http://crosswire.org/wiki/Choosing_a_SWORD_program
(Both of these have been mentioned in the thread)

The FeatureList is a bit of a hybrid outlining what a full-featured 
SWORD program should have (the minimal set of features) and what it 
could have. This page is not meant for end users. I was wanting it to 
remain a minimal set. In there it would have been appropriate to add 
image resizing. Yes, Xiphos is the only that does it, still.

The page "Choosing a SWORD program" was intended to help an end user 
pick an app based on what was important to them. I think has gotten a 
bit too detailed and a bit too techie. To me it also served a couple of 
other purposes: It serves as a way of encouraging other devs to improve 
their apps. And allow end users to be aware of the breadth of 
CrossWire's offering.

I think that baseline is constantly changing. As Xiphos gets image 
resizing, it sets the bar higher for the other apps. As JSword and 
BibleTime allow searching of cross-references, it sets the bar. Each 
change conditions end users to expect more. Is there anything on the 
Feature List page that should not be there? Anything missing?

I really don't know what end users want from a SWORD frontend, unless, 
as you pointed out, they speak up. Otherwise they get the whim of the 
developer.

BTW, if all the frontends had a consistent baseline of user experience, 
what would distinguish them?


In Him,
     DM