[TYPO3-hci] the bot-idea

[Andreas Rieser]

Andreas Balzer schrieb:
> 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.
> 
+1 =P


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

+1

> 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")
+1
It should offer every kind of information that makes sense - and those
getting started things are important. It should know about
administration things, too...

> 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).

Well, IRC came to my mind because I know some bots that were created for
that. This concept would only make sense if we could create a small
network offering this service - like the debian package or TER 2.0 idea.
   IRC offers this infrastructure already. And creating a bot seems to
be an easy task in that environment. Plus you have a fast and up-to-date
bot. And putting up two or three servers for that shouldn't be the
problem - if a sponsor is needed, I will provide one.

> 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.

I like the idea a lot - but I think it's a difficult task. This would be
 another +1 for the IRC based solution, because the bot can be developed
further while it's already in use.

> 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.

Sorry, don't know aiml yet... link?
But I think this should be possible with a database driven architecture,
too.

Your example is pretty cool =)


> 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.

I prefer the always-up-to-date-without-update-solution - but anyway...

> 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

Well, the M$ thing isn't so important for me - but I would like to have
solution that offers high flexibility. Think of the WebDAV future and so
 on...

greetz,
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