Criteria/Features

List the spring '09 core group created to help us discern what software would provide the best online work-space for this project.

Essential

1. multiple people can write & edit documents over time
2. Be able to include links & images
3. Be able to group documents in nonexclusive ways
4. Docs can have structure (e.g. patterns can have template)
5. Be able to specify relationships among patterns (some may be directional) - as a navigation tool
6. Basically working from one template, with flexibility (can edit template as we go)
7. Reasonably accessible interface for writing
8. data portable - it's in a form we can carry elsewhere
9. 'Graceful' Searchability (both full text searching, and ability to
10. Discussion/commenting - be able to talk over editing, themes, and so on (asynchronous)
11. Social networking - likely to want some way of nourishing relationships among people involved with the site
12. User profile/registration to see who is writing (later favoriting, commenting upon)
13. Revisions - rollbacks
14. re: evolvable template - people can put additional sections in an "Other" field

Desirable

a. Include graphically organized structure -- e.g. Mindmap (including editing through graphical interface?, i.e., adding relationships between patterns)
b. Graphical output, ideally graphical input
c. Editable through a graphical interface
d.ability to cluster and connect cards on a wall
e. easily get from any card to its related cards
f. can zoom out for summary/simpler view, or zoom in for more detail, on any object
g. Strong ease of use for users
h. work on docs in real time
i. Live discussion and commenting
j. less involved participants can specify relationships differently than how main authors see them?
k. balancing priority of presentation ease and input/creation ease?
l. Eventually add a level to connect to tools/methods (or is that being done externally and just link to it)
m. (no big barriers to:) Linking patterns to processes
n. free/open source (preferably, or proprietary but developers are open in spirit at least, perhaps even willing to go free/open)
o. EASY!
p. support for face-to-face meetings; work with less techie people (printability, ??); both ways -- F2F--> software-->edit-->print-->new F2F group or meeting
q. Sharability - easy to share a specific pattern with any audience (URL for each, anyone can view it without login)
r. Different levels of privs (a few admins that can lock down a page)