Introducing Edmund - Wikidot explorer

Introducing Edmund - Wikidot explorer

Explore your Wikidot site like never before.

Today, I would like to introduce to you my very first Wikidot app - Edmund.

I have long wanted to understand JavaScript and jQuery, for they are languages of the web that are ubiquitous, and they are not about to go away. I've always looked on at those who understood this gobbledy-gook with much jealousy. Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and dive right in, and what better way to teach myself than to set a challenge - a Wikidot site explorer web application. Which brings us to Edmund…

The premise is simple - one place to see and manage your entire Wikidot site with a simple, structured interface and quick, easy editing. Implementing it wasn't quite as simple. I nearly gave up half way through when things weren't working the way I wanted to, but I persevered and I'm glad I did.

The challenge is not over yet, however - while I'm release Edmund today, he is far from complete and perhaps even a little rough around the edges. Currently there is only basic functionality - importing pages, changing titles, parents or renaming, and exporting (editing tags is not currently available), as well as viewing children & tags. There is lots missing, but I plan to add more features over the coming weeks. For the time being, you can report bugs and/or wishes in the comments below, and if there is enough interest I'll create a feedback/support site for Edmund.

If you're brave, you can check out the source code - but I warn you, it's probably far from perfect and it may cause you to cringe.

I have tested him in Chrome, Firefox and Safari. He uses HTML5 and lots of CSS3, so I'm a little afraid to open him in Internet Explorer (and frankly IE compatibility is low on my list of wishes).

And now, without further ado, I give you Edmund. Go forth and explore your Wikidot sites. I hope you will enjoy using Edmund as much as I enjoyed building him.

(Wondering why he's called Edmund? You'll have to visit his site to find out.)

Edmund screenshot

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Discussion - 17 comments

tsangk avatar

Anonymoustsangk 07 Jul 2011 07:01

Awesome Bryce! I love the design and layout of Edmund! :)

Now for a wish list:

  • "delete" function for pages (I.e. Rename to deleted category)
  • checkboxes or selectable list of pages to mass perform actions on such as delete, tagging or parenting.

The code looks good, but you should change the script sources so they also use the HTTPS protocol.

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bcammo avatar

Anonymousbcammo 07 Jul 2011 07:15

Thanks for the tip, Ken.

A delete button is already on my todo list. Checkboxes & mass actions scare me, but I'll give it shot :)

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leiger avatar

Anonymousleiger 07 Jul 2011 09:05

Nice!

Are watching notifications being sent when pages are edited? If so, I can see myself using this quite a bit.

Cheers,
Shane

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GoVegan avatar

AnonymousGoVegan 07 Jul 2011 11:01

Wow! This is awesome!

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Timothy Foster avatar

AnonymousTimothy Foster 07 Jul 2011 12:58

Boy, I really need to learn Javascript more than I have currently. My knowledge and practice is much too cursory to be able to do something like this.

Nice job!

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bcammo avatar

Anonymousbcammo 08 Jul 2011 03:28

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
I've just updated Edmund to v0.6.1, which adds:

  • a delete page button, accessible via the page options link (next to save button).
  • ability to edit tags (and tags are no longer merged into one when you export).
  • option to send watching notifications (in the settings panel). Your choice is updated immediately, so there's no need to reload the page. Your choice will also be saved in a cookie.

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Franknarf avatar

AnonymousFranknarf 08 Jul 2011 17:20

Cool page manager!

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tsangk avatar

Anonymoustsangk 09 Jul 2011 05:01

Bryce, are you releasing Edmund with a license?

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bcammo avatar

Anonymousbcammo 11 Jul 2011 07:01

I hadn't really thought about it until now. If anyone's interested I could go open source and make Edmund grow even faster.

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tsangk avatar

Anonymoustsangk 11 Jul 2011 07:20

Yes! Yes please :D

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bcammo avatar

Anonymousbcammo 11 Jul 2011 08:13

Righto, open source it is. I just need to work out how to use Github first :)

In the meantime, I've just finished the feedback site for Edmund so you can now report bugs and request new features - check it out at http://edmund.wikidot.com.

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leiger avatar

Anonymousleiger 12 Jul 2011 04:23

Which open-source license? xD

There are several different types. A few of the more common ones are GPL and BSD, for example. Each differs slightly with how the code can be re-used and what conditions (if any) are placed on derivative works.

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Arotaritei Vlad avatar

AnonymousArotaritei Vlad 13 Jul 2011 07:57

Bryce you're a genius!

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Arotaritei Vlad avatar

AnonymousArotaritei Vlad 15 Jul 2011 10:08

Just tested Edmund on Explorer…. Yea, i can't use Edmund on Explorer because nothing works…

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Matt Gentile avatar

AnonymousMatt Gentile 16 Jul 2011 04:49

Nice Bryce, well done! I didn't get a chance to use it yet, but as soon as I find some time, I will test it out. Great job!

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Anonymous avatar

AnonymousAnonymous 17 Oct 2013 07:39

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d_vdlinden avatar

DannyAnonymousd_vdlinden 26 Apr 2018 12:07

Nice tool this Edmund Explorer. Just started with a new wiki, and had to rename a lot of (=/- 3500) pages, for which Edmund saved me a lot of time. Done the job in (on/off) 3hrs.

Now I would really see the option to export pages from my wiki to my local HDD working as I need to to edit these 3500 pages also, which is easier done locally.
Naturally importing back into the wiki of the offline edited pages should also be an option in Edmund.

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