- On my Tana dashboard, I have sections for:#
- Projects (≥ Defer Date)#
- Tasks (≥ Defer Date)#
- Open Loops (≥ Defer Date)#
- In order to make these work as intended, I need to manually adjust the defer date in the query to TOMORROW's date each day (Defer date is less than @tomorrow).#
- I need to do this because:#
- There is no less than or equal to operator#
- There is no relative date option in queries: e.g. "TOMORROW" or "PARENT +1"#
- Either of those fixes would be adequate for this particular use-case, but I think Tana would really benefit from BOTH of these simple enhancements.#
- UPDATE: As I wrote this I realized a workaround solution:#
- I could make an OR function where:#
- OR#
- Defer Date = PARENT (Today)#
- Defer Date is less than PARENT (Today)#
- I think the point that both relative dates and less than or equal to would be useful, though this case has a workaround!#
- There's a feature in Tana called semantic function — it feels powerful, but it's also a bit of a mind-bender.#
- The intention is that you can develop "is a part of" relationships, that can assist in facilitating meaningful connections between nodes, and improved search results. #
- My hope is that the feature enables lighter data entry, and more inferred relationships. #
- If project is a part of goal which is a associated with an area, then I want to be able to infer that the project is associated with the area via that 2º relationship.#
- I'm struggling to put this into practice, but it feels possible. Almost certainly a knowledge-gap in my application of the concept/feature.#
- UPDATE: It works!! 🎉 #
- Putting links in Drummer Blog headlines breaks the link to the post.#
- What's the fix here? Just don't put links in the headlines? Put them in the body instead? Repeat the headline in the body?#
There's something about managing all of the structured data in Tana that feels more binding than working in Roam
#
- I first came across Dave Winer's work via a Twitter conversation about outliners during Summer '21. He knows a thing or two about outliners. Since then, I have been coming to know his suite of software programs and innovations that have shaped (and continue to shape) the web as we know it today. Truly spectacular stuff.#
- From RSS, to blogging and podcasting, Dave's impact has been substantial in the domain of web publishing.#
- What I really like about Dave's stuff is that these tools are real. This is the free and open internet as it was supposed to be. No BS. Less layers of abstraction and fog. In using these tools, I feel like I am connecting with what's really happening with the information. That feels powerful and wonderful.#
- My first experiment was getting a Little Outliner blog up and running on PagePark. This was ambitious. It was my first time trying to setup or operate a web server, and my first time accomplish something using the command line interface. Overall, though, it was a success! The experience opened up my eyes to a whole new world of web publishing. While it was overwhelming, and the learning curve was steep, I was strangely hooked. #
- It was around that time that Dave was working on releasing a new tool called Drummer that would effectively replace and improve upon the functionality of Little Outliner. There were things I was trying to accomplish in LO that were probably better suited for waiting until Drummer was released for testing.#
- Fast to the last few months, when the purchase of a new MBP prompted a revisiting of the command line, and with it, a return to the web publishing stuff. I set up the new machine without "Migration Assistant", made good use of Homebrew in installing apps and services, and then had to re-figure-out some of the server stuff in order to configure the new permissions and re-establish the setup I had on the old machine for publishing. This return inspired me to carry on from where I left off with Little Outliner, and led me to getting started with Drummer. #
- Thankfully, Dave has created a whole library of documentation for these tools, and over 20 years of blog archives. There is no shortage of interesting material to learn from. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned (and am continuing to learn) from Dave is to read the docs. They are there for a reason — to teach folks how things operate in clear and carefully selected language, in a navigable format to address FAQs and common challenges. #
- Another great lesson is to ask clear and specific questions, with the proper context. Or better yet — don't ask until you've genuinely tried your best to find the answer in the docs, forums, and through deep thought. This is a good one. Communities are stronger and more willing to offer assistance when there is a culture of respect and genuine effort (do your best and be considerate). #
- All that is easier said than done for a clueless newbie trying to navigate the unfamiliar terrain of software, code, and programming jargon. These tools and languages can be challenging! But putting in the effort has proven valuable thus far. Little my little I am starting to gain some confidence and familiarity. Thank you to Dave and to anyone who has guided me along the way — I truly appreciate it.#
- So where are we? Well — we're online! #
- The outline for the blog is created in Drummer and rendered by Old School to transform the OPML file into a stylized blog. It is served by PagePark on a personal domain. It also features a linksblog powered by Radio3, which give the ability to collect and publish interesting links in a rolling blog format. #
- The core structures of this setup are simple, and for anyone half-way technical this would be a walk-in-the park to do. You could even simplify it even further by omitting the PagePark aspect. Though, setting up the server was one of the coolest parts.#
- I'm really looking forward to deepening my familiarity with these tools and programs. And that through learning, I am enabled and inspired to create and share ideas. That's what this is all about, anyway.#
- Back to the docs.#
- I stumbled upon the NYT News Chatbot that Dave Winer posted on his blog. #
- Curious, I clicked on the service that was powering the Chatbot — spectacular! #
- Link: Chat Thing#
Added copyright notice to the bottom of the page.
#
- "category is a string of comma-separated slash-delimited category strings, in the format defined by the RSS 2.0 category element. To represent a "tag," the category string should contain no slashes. Examples: 1. category="/Boston/Weather". 2. category="/Harvard/Berkman,/Politics"." Link#
- When I add the urlSiteContents line to the config.json file in /PagePark/domains/brandontoner.ca the mirrors in the config file no longer redirect as expected, and other file in the domain folder are not accessible (e.g. brandontoner.ca/hello.md)#
- Could I workaround this with subdomains somehow? e.g. map the blog to blog.brandontoner.ca?#
Since Tana is an outliner PKM tool, it should interop, or at least export to OPML format.#
- Tana's development team has prioritized support for more structured data, through it's implementation of Fields and Supertags. #
- My thought is that the Fields could integrate with the OPML Headers. #
- Surely there are some challenges to creating an export or integration that would need to be sorted, but Dave seems keen to work with teams that are interested in building integrations.#
- Logseq has developed the ability to work with OPML format, even going as far as being able to publish a blog right from within Logseq, similar to what Drummer does.#
- A great first implementation of OPML in Tana could be an export format from the Tana Command Line: "Export as OPML"#
- Why this is important: #
- If Tana could export as OPML, I could draft writing in Tana, then export to Drummer for publishing on the blog! #
- Ability to work with other tools that support OPML format#
- More interoperability on the web is Good.#
- OPML is an established standard in Outline format and is a logical export format to support.#
- For Developers: OPML Developer Package#
- Short-Term#
- Improve keyboard navigation skills in Drummer editor#
- Improve the workflow efficiency of working with images for the blog.#
- Publish image/file to a hosted server.#
- Add image/file url to the clipboard for inclusion in published content.#
- Setup a River5 RSS Feed#
- Create an iconbar script that toggles the collapse status of a node.#
- Create a menubar script that toggles the list style of a node.#
- Normal → Bulleted#
- Normal → Numbered#
- Be able to host and render a standalone OPML file on my PagePark server #
- I'd like to be able to easily work with both static and live OPML files easily here.#
- Is "LittleOutliner2" any use to me here?#
- Be able to tweet standalone tweets and threads from Drummer#
- Create scheduler script to "download my files" as a backup.#
- Can I specify the directory?#
- Replace the default PagePark 404 page with something custom#
- Medium- to Long-Term#
- Be able to modify the style template of the Old School blog generated by Drummer such that it can integrate standalone pages.#
- Be able to create and render multiple Old School outliner blogs for various purposes (Main, Rotary, Pharmacy)#
- These are useful to be able to spin up for various purposes.#
- Create an improved brandontoner.ca index page that navigates to various domain assets in a more aesthetically-pleasing way.#
- Remove the RT icon from the blog template (I don't like the way it presents on Twitter)#
- Really like the layout of Kim Parker's Blog, particularly:#
- The menus#
- The commenting options#
- The template#
- Otherwise... maybe it's actually the same as the Drummer blogs? #
- Maybe menus can secretly be made in blogs built with Old School.#
- Maybe Kim Parker's Blog was built with Old School.#