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@squishdot.org">squishdot@squishdot.org</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 

<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> 
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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