Mar 27, 2000, 7:09 PM
Veteran / Moderator (6956 posts)
Mar 27, 2000, 7:09 PM
Post #5 of 5
Views: 1985
Alex,
For clarity, the issue is a bit more subtle. What if you have one "installation" of links, but you modify it to use several "links" databases?
Such that you only have one copy of the scripts, but you've modified them to operate on a site with the structure:
Main Links Page -
-- sub links site 1
-- sub links site 2
-- sub links site 3
Where each of the sub-links sites uses a separate links database, but the same copy of the program code?
An example would be (using the one above) a Yahoo type directory, that wanted to regionalize, and keep databases by country or language. This way, the "main" page would be a composite of several databases, but each of the links off that page would trigger a passed parameter that defined the database -- similar to Page.cgi but static.
I would actually like to see this feature built into links, so that each subcategory could have it's own database/links structure.
Right now, that's a little vague in terms of licensing, and there are even ways that "domain" licensing can be abused (check the WWWThreads forum for the licensing discussion).
But, if each sub category could use a diffent links database, and set of templates, but share a common top-level, then you could really easily integrate several features into Links, such that Links becomes a "community" program, not just a links program. One category could be "links" another could be "classifieds" another could be "shopping" (something I'm working on now), etc.
The central logic for all of these is the same -- database access and generation of a categorical output page -- but the data required by each is different.
If the links off the main categories were of a page.cgi?parameters variety, and the navigation bars also contained "dynamic" linking, then the templates could be static, and tailored to each different subcategory, but you'd "jump" or "cgi" out of that category to the new area.
Dynamic generation would not be affected much, since you'd just be passing another paramter to mark which database you are using, not only the template set and location.
Coupled with user registration and some of the things Alex has hinted he's been working on, you then have a complete community builder program, that is one step away from "home pages" communities, but very close to a "my page" like on Yahoo.