[Fwd: Re: [Mailman-Users] Upgrade script for old databases?]

[Christian tismer is having problems migrating a bunch of maillists to the new version, specifically because of the skew in customized (and even non-customized!) list web page templates. It brings up what i think is a substantial question about the template mechanism. I want to put the issue out there, see what the prevailing wisdom is. Details below...]
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Mailman-Users] Upgrade script for old databases? Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 10:19:46 -0500 From: Ken Manheimer <klm@digicool.com> Organization: Digital Creations, Inc. To: Christian Tismer <tismer@appliedbiometrics.com> CC: bwarsaw@python.org, klm@digicool.com
Christian wrote:
Ah - the customized-per-list listinfo template, for instance. I'm afraid you're right - the way that mailman provides for customization is not at all amenable to reconciling with new site templates. It's doubly bad because each list gets its own copy of the site templates when the list is created, so it gets locked in even when the list administrator doesn't tailor their templates from the site standard. Fixing this latter would not be hard, but it still wouldn't address the issue of tracking refinements in the site standard when the list has a divergent version. I imagine the solution there is to allow list managers only parameterized customization of their templates - something that dtml would make easier - but that, itself, is a tricky track. Sigh.
Sorry - i certainly haven't thought of a general solution, so i hadn't implemented anything...
Sorry - i agree that it's a problem. In fact, my inclination is to think that the freedom that list-customizable templates offers is not worth the migration issues that it presents. (I do know that some customizability is important - for instance, someone using mailman at cnri needed to simplify the listinfo page to basically just be a subscription page, without the archive and roster links, so offering parameters to turn off sections would probably be the right way to head.
Something that worries me about this is that we've already established the current setup as the precedent, but i'm wondering whether it's worth rethinking. Christian, i'd like to bring the mailman cabal in on the issue - would it be ok if i forwarded this message to them?
Ken
participants (1)
-
Ken Manheimer