[TYPO3-hci] the bot-idea

[Andreas Balzer]

Hi!
Well, the idea came from me.. I like some bots, and some not.. As you 
might have seen when you went to m$.com and downloaded something, you'll 
notice, that most users don't want them too.

I would definitly prefer a bot for TYPO3. It should be integrated into 
the BE to help the users.

It would be perfect, if it would not only answer you something about TSC 
questions, but also normal stuff, like "How can i add an image to a 
page?" Even automatic tasks would be possible. ("Show me all contents 
that contain the word TYPO3")

I don't know whether IRC would be a good idea, because not every server 
has an irc server available (maybe we could code one..?!?)
If it's IRC, it should be included in the BE aswell (ajax could help here).

What i would not like is a bot, that is stupid.. There are bots that 
only look for keywords in your sentences, and bots you really can talk 
with. Something between would be perfect.

e.g. type your problem as keywords in the office bot, and then try it as 
  a complete sentence ("How can i do that?") The second way gives much 
more good answers.

With the help of aiml, which is a XML filetype, it would be even 
possible to have something like this:
Hi TYPO3, i have a big problem with my database.
 >Hi [currentlogedinuser]! What is your problem?
I have a missing entry in my database. The database shows it, but TYPO3 
doesn't.
 >Should i check for the entries?
Yes, please
 >Ok, i found the following:
	- A
	- B
	- C
What would you do?
 >There are 2 possibilities. I can guide you through the process, or i 
could do it for you. But i would need special authorize for that.
Is the process easy to do?
 >You probably need special database knoledge
Oh, please do it for me.
 >Your Loginname?
Andreas
 >Your authorize password?
Use ABCD
Process in progress.



You see, something like this *could* be possible with aiml. And as you 
see, i would prefer a security thingy. Not every user is feeling happy, 
when a computer does something automatic.

The bot should have 2 database sources. One for every TYPO3 
installation, saved at the current webserver and a second, on typo3 (for 
download or direct use) that is always up to date.

If we use aiml, we could even create an extension to integrate M$ 
agents, so that even speech recognition would be able.

Just my dreams.. ..and i know, they can be realized with the current 
technics.

Andreas


Andreas Rieser schrieb:
> Hello!
> 
> Well, when I read about the idea of a Typo3-Bot, I closed my eyes and
> started shaking my head... I don't like bot's, especially M$ bots make
> me angry. And I know why: because they are often written so bad, that
> you can't find the information you are looking for...
> 
> Anyway in case of Typo3 this idea seems to make sense.
> 
> The problem of working with Typo3 is everywhere the same: When you get
> started with it you can't find the information you need because you find
>  simply too much information. Later on you got the information and you
> keep some things in your mind. But when you go on, you can't keep
> everything in your mind and you start to do a small code snippet library
>  with problems you "solved"... isn't this true?
> 
> So what about putting some work together for a great bot, that will help
> us all?
> 
> When I think of the abilities of this bot, these ideas came to my mind:
> 
> - bot-network that offers the bot services based on a central database
> 
> - use of a light-weight protocol for that - perhaps IRC
> 
> - first view should offer one simple textfield for entering your search
> words
> 
> - second view could come up with categories (like TypoScript) and give
> information about specific semantics (to search in category TypoScript
> enter "=cat:TS", to do not search in things concerning tt_news enter
> -ext:tt_news)
> 
> - extension authors should be able to add something to the bot database
> 
> - when you e.g. have a look at an extension you should be able to ask
> the bot directly
> 
> - perhaps some functionality like "Answer not found in DB - should we
> ask the extension author?"
> 
> Well, what do you think about this? In my opinion removing features is
> not the right way to improve usability. The typo3 community did many
> efforts to give information about specific problems or extensions. There
> is so much information already. All we have to do is making the search
> easier...
> 
> -andreas