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17 Fev 2006
This is Checklist Version 1.4. In this version I added characteristics on Duplicate Control, Statistics and Language.
A MicroContent Client allows a user to manage MicroContent Items. These Items might be music tracks, images, recipes, blogs, etc. These Items seem to be very different in nature. However MicroContent Clients do share characteristics in interface layout, function, etc. I have gathered the most common characteristics in this list of 90 points.
The checklist in several categories. Each category is divided into a set of characteristics. Each characteristic is defined by a question. For an extended explication of each Check, see my MicroContent Client article.
This checklist can be used by application developers to check the completeness of their application. I use this checklist in order to get a better grasp of MicroContent and MicroContent Clients. I use this list as the basis for a rating system. Thus each subcategory will scores 1 point. In total a Client can get 90 points. By the way, the checklist is geared towards clients running MacOSX, but I assume that it can be readily translated to other platforms. I tried to separate the MacOSX part from the generic characteristics.
- 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 (10) - 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?
- Access Control - can the user set the access level for an Item?
- Duplicate Control - can the user prevent or locate duplicate Items?
- Delete - can an Item be deleted?
- Download - can one specify the downloading (enclosures) of an Item?
- List functions (17)
- 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?
- Statistics - does the client offers some sort of statistics for a 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?
- Backup/revert - can the user backup the library and revert to the backup?
- 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?
- Groups (8) does the Client support Groups?
- Unlimited Depth - Can the user create a folder like structure with more than one folder?
- 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?
- Import (6) - does the Client allow for importing Items?
- 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?
- Export (14) - does the client allow for exporting Items?
- 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?
- Application - can one call other applications from the Client?
- MacOSX (15) - is the client a good MacOSX application?
- 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 client support Spotlight searching?
- Dashboard - does the client have an accompanying widget?
- AppleScript - does the client support AppleScript?
- Framework - does the client have a corresponding Objective-C Framework?
- Menu-bar - does the client have a persistent menu-bar item?
- Plug-ins - Is it possible to extend the Client through plug-ins?
- Language - does the client come in more than one language?