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Really Simple Publication (part one)

by Rob Friesel

When we last saw our hero, he was pondering the question: “How do I teach web publication to a scientist and/or university professor? Someone who is obviously smart but also technologically UN-savvy?”

It is a tough question.

As we previously discussed, the question is not just “how do I most easily make an HTML document?” but also: “How do I publish it so that it is accessible by my audience?”

Let’s use this “part one” of the series to make a couple of ground rules and assumptions:

  1. “Really Simple Publication” is aimed at answering the above question and assumes an audience that is NOT interested in become particularly web-savvy. Our audience is about as push-button as we can get.
  2. Given #1, we want to use as few applications to create, edit, and publish our content as possible. We’ll set 2 applications as our absolute maximum. In fact, if we can’t do complete this assignment with only one application, we only get partial credit.
  3. Given #3, web-based blogging/CMS utilities (e.g., our dear WordPress), while not out of the question, are given secondary status because:
    1. We must assume the most bare-bones of server environments (e.g., no server-side scripting, no database access, etc.), and
    2. For the sanity of our subject (i.e., consistency of user experience, etc.) we want to keep this on the desktop
  4. This solution should apply regardless of platform (assume our subject will be flipping back and forth between a Windows-based PC and a Mac)

    CAVEAT: Linux will not be under consideration here because it is fair to assume that a Linux user is already out-classing our subject in the “tech savvy” realm.

  5. Our solution must be flexible and user-friendly enough to easily accommodate posting a variety of media (e.g., video content, images, PowerPoint presentations)

Alrighty… Let’s get out thinking caps on and … begin!

About Rob Friesel

Software engineer by day. Science fiction writer by night. Weekend homebrewer, beer educator at Black Flannel, and Certified Cicerone. Author of The PhantomJS Cookbook and a short story in Please Do Not Remove. View all posts by Rob Friesel →

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