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27 Jan 2006
MicroContent Client Checklist v0.8
I realised that I need to have a checklist for evaluating MicroContent Clients. In fact I already work with such a checklist for my MicroContent Client article, but it was a bit hard to use. So I have here a first go at such a checklist. By the way, the checklist is geared towards clients running MacOSX, but I assume that it can be readily translated to other platforms.
I divided the checklist in several categories. And each category might be divided into subcategories. Each category is defined by a question. This should allow to quickly check a client. For an extended explication of each Check, see my MicroContent Client article.
- MicroContent (10) - to what degree does the client support MicroContent Items?
- Structure - does an Item contain structure, i.e. multiple fields?
- Multiplicity - are multiple structures supported?
- Flexibility - can the user extend the structure?
- MicroWeb - can links be made to other (external) Items?
- Merged - does an item consist of user and externally supplied information?
- Pick-list Fields - does an Item have pick-list Fields?
- Title - does a MicroContent Item have a title?
- Description - does a MicroContent Item contain a description?
- Tags - does a MicroContent Item contain tags?
- Rating - are ratings supported?
- Interface (10) - does the client have the characteristic layout?
- View-pane - is there a View-pane?
- View-pane styles - are multiple styles and/or templates for the View-pane supported?
- View-pane Window - can one see an Item in a separate (full screen) window?
- Items-pane - is there an Items-pane?
- Items-pane Views - does the Items-pane support multiple views (tabular, thumbs, calendar)?
- Items-pane Sorting - does the Items-pane support sorting on specific fields?
- Items-pane Fields - can one set the mapping between columns and fields of the Items-pane?
- Lists-pane - is there a Lists-pane?
- Browser-pane - is there a Browser-pane?
- Pane layout change - can the interface be set in multiple pane layouts?
- Item functions (8) - functions for managing individual Items.
- View - can the item be viewed?
- Create - can one create a new Item?
- Edit - can a user edit fields of an Item
- Mark - Can an Item be marked?
- Search - Is there structured search?
- Persistence - can one set the persistence of an Item?
- Delete - can an Item be deleted?
- Download - can one specify the downloading (enclosures) of an Item?
- List functions (15)
- Local - are there Lists where the Items are stored locally?
- Connected - are there Lists where the Items are stored on connected Devices?
- Shared - are there shared Lists where the Items are stored on the local network?
- Remote - are there Remote Lists, where the Items are found on Internet?
- Handpicked - are there Handpicked Lists?
- Smart - are there Smart Lists?
- Recommendations - are there Lists whose Items depend on logic defined by the Client?
- List Metadata - is their metadata for each List?
- Directories - Are there Item directories?
- Add - can the user add a List?
- Edit - can the user edit a List?
- Show - can the show the Items on the List in a continuous format?
- Refresh - can a user refresh a Remote List?
- Remove - can a user delete an Item from the List?
- Delete - can the user delete a List?
- Local - are local Groups supported?
- Connected - are connected Groups supported?
- Shared - are shared Groups supported?
- Remote - are Remote Groups supported?
- Directories - are Directories supported?
- Add - can the user add a Group?
- Edit - can a user edit a Group?
- Delete - can a user delete a Group?
- Classic - can one import from tab-delimited or csv files?
- Standard - does the client support standards for importing?
- Proprietary - is there a proprietary format for importing?
- Application - can one import from other applications that contain the same MicroContent type?
- Bookmarklet - does the Client come with a bookmarklet?
- Drag&drop - is drag&drop importing supported?
- Classic - can one export to tab-delimited or csv files?
- Standard - can one export to a standard (if available) file format?
- Proprietary - is there a proprietary format for exporting?
- HTML - can one export to HTML files?
- Print - can one print an Item?
- Feed - can one publish in a feed-format?
- Local - can one export locally?
- Connected - can one export to connected devices such as the iPod?
- Shared - can one publish the library on the local network?
- Remote: .Mac - can one publish to .Mac?
- Remote: FTP - can one publish to FTP-sites?
- Remote: RPC - can one publish through a RPC interface?
- Drag&drop - is drag&drop local exporting supported?
- Look&Feel - does the application has a standard (Cocoa-like) look&feel?
- Menu - does the application support the standard Menu?
- Toolbar - does the client support a Toolbar?
- Alt-click - does the client support the various clicks in the interface?
- Ctrl-click - does the client support ctrl-click for context sensitive menu's?
- Drag&drop - does the client support drag&drop in the interface?
- Services - does the client offer a function in the Services menu?
- Dock - does the client support application specific (non-standard) dock functions?
- Spotlight - does the application support Spotlight searching?
- Dashboard - does the client have an accompanying widget?
- AppleScript - does the client support AppleScript?
Note that this list can also be used as a rating system. Each subcategory scores 1 point. Thus a Client may get 81 points.