Documentation for flatpages and static_files should refer to each other

[Jonathan Fine]

These two packages do similar but different things. Someone suggested flatpages to solve my problem, I read the documentation, and found that I wanted the functionality of static_files. But flatpages did not tell me about that.

BTW, a secure version of static_files might be a useful tool for migrating a site to Django. And thank you for Django.

[James Bennett]

What do you mean by "static_files"?

[Jonathan Fine <jfine@…>]

The two pages I am referring to are ​http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/flatpages/ and ​http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/static_files/.

And by the way, ​http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/add_ons/ does not link to static_files.

In fact, a google search for "static files" on site:www.djangoproject.com produces ​http://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2005/nov/, and little else of interest.

And digging a bit deeper, ​http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/add_ons/ has form_tools out of alphabetic order. And it is missing sessions and webdesign.

Aha - static_files is implemented in django.views.static. Perhaps contrib might have been a better home.

Hope this help - I know it's hard keeping documentation and code in sync, and moving forward at the same time.

[Jonathan Fine <jfine@…>]

This was posted today to django-users.

Missing Documentation cross-reference to shortcuts ?

A lookup on google shows that the page ​http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/shortcuts/
isn't linked from anywhere on the documentation (and the site), and I
had to search it to find it.

[James Bennett]

The "static_files" documentation is linked on the main documentation page. I'm not sure how it's really related to the flatpages app, because they're two completely different things; if you have existing HTML files which you need to serve directly, that's not part of Django's job, and is instead a matter of web server configuration.

[Jonathan Fine <jfine@…>]

Thank you. On the Django IRC I described by problem, and someone suggested flatpages, which did not solve my problem. So in the mind of that developer, at least, flatpages and static_files were confused with each other. Someone who is thinking of using static_files should be told about flatpages. And, I think, vice versa. (See your first comment, when you asked: What do you mean by "static_files"?)

Please also note that I've added a linking to the shortcuts documentation issue to this page.

[Malcolm Tredinnick]

Please open the shortcuts issue as separate ticket, as was originally suggested. It's completely unrelated to this ticket and we have one ticket per issue so that we can review (and close) them separately.

[Jonathan Fine <jfine@…>]

I'm confused: ubernostrum closed this ticket, setting the resolution to invalid. In other words, there's not an issue to resolve.

I reverse the closure, and mtredinnick says that I should open a second ticket. In other words, there's two issues to resolve.

I don't need this documentation issue resolved to get on with my work, so I'm intending to drop it. If either of you want to open a new ticket, or pursue this one, please do.

By the way, I do like Django, and appreciate its user and developer community.

[Malcolm Tredinnick]

I wanted a new ticket open if you thought the second thing, whatever it was, was an issue. Then I could reclose this. The original ticket isn't an issue, since it's clear from reading the docs what flatpages and static server do. They're unrelated and shouldn't be linked in the documentation except via the front page (which already contains both).

[Jonathan Fine <jfine@…>]

I don't agree with you, that flatpages and static_files are unrelated. But I'm not responsible for that decision.

I've opened two new tickets so that you can deal with the unresolved issues in the above.