Big Fat Upload Button

Dear reader: If you have a photo of a RepStrap you built, or STL files of a part you designed to be printed on a RepRap, please do post them on the wiki. It's really pretty easy. If you are looking for the Big Fat Upload Button, I am sorry to say it is not completely implemented -- so it's not *that* easy. The general process of posting stuff to the wiki is described at [FIXME: is there a page that describes the process in detail? Library and Help:Editing have some pointers.]

• If you have started to build a RepRap or RepStrap, feel free to use RepRap.org to host your build blog. Especially, please post any improvements you have made -- see Development.
• If you designed a part to be printed on a RepRap, please post the STL file to the RepRap.org wiki. You may also want to post a pretty picture to ItemsMade. A library gnome will eventually add your part to Available Files. [FIXME: detailed instructions?]
• If you want to post your electronics PCB design in a way that gives us maximum usability, see ElectronicsReleaseProcess.

This Big Fat Upload Button page is a place you can post ideas for making that process even easier.

Requirements

GUI description

We need a Big Fat Upload Button. In the upper left or upper right of every page.

Operation

The user clicks it.

Form

User enters things into a form, or at the very minimum, enters a page title and/or a file.stl

What Happens

The extension autopopulates a new wiki page with the file, a new render, etc. And checks it into our Holdings system.

Extract and Render

• If the .zip contains .stl or .dxf files, use povray to render and inlay them in the page. (php code for .stl to .png here: File:Stl2png.zip)
  • Is it possible for a user with a web browser to rotate a 3D file? Perhaps convert the .stl or .dxf file to a couple of the vector graphics markup language(s) alluded to in A community specification for an improvement to STL files. that are most supported on browsers, such as VRML? Perhaps a Java applet that renders the .stl file directly?
• If the .zip contains jpg or image files, inlay them in the page.

Software Requirements

Check the mediawiki, check mwusers,

Consequences

Increased Holdings

We may get a decent Post Mendel candidate up into the wiki without applied psychology (Nagging).

Actualized User-Developers

Part of the fun of Adrian's invention for RepRap is that everyone has the ability to become a RepRap developer and invent new things and make better RepRaps. It's the role of the Library Gnomes to make it easy for for our new fellow RepRap developers to upload.

Everyone is a RepRap Developer

If people start uploading Post Mendel candidates, they're then de facto RepRap developers if not de jure. And inasmuch as Other Spaces are hosting Post Mendel candidates, we need a Big Fat Upload Button to make things easy for them.

Mediawiki Extension

The code of an uploadbutton like described above can be found in the extension File:Upload3D.zip. It doesn't have all the required functionality, but you are free to improve the code.

Raw Notes

I am a little confused as to where to put all the kicad source files (schematic, net, stuff file, board files parts libraries etc) having had a rummage through the links, I was sort of expecting GIT or CVS or Source Forge or something.......

Likewise. The Library and the ... git? ... the Official Repository are currently siloed. Uploads to the mediawiki don't get entered into git, or vice versa. This doesn't matter to Adrian or to people who live and breath svn, git, etc., but it does present a massive barrier to entry to non-code-monkeys who want a Big Fat Upload Button

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This needs to be replaced with a careful analysis of requirements, and I need to trawl the http://www.mwusers.com website and then prepare a careful query.