Server down notification

[dvberkel]

When the server is down the client will happily follow links. Because no data is retrieved it will render an empty page with a page title.

It should be possible to provide an informative message to the user that the server is not responding.

[WardCunningham]

Agree. I've written a pattern that describes what I would consider proper behavior:

• http://ward.fed.wiki.org/view/patterns/view/predicted-results

Here is an interesting example: If A writes a page and B adds to it and I copy B's version, then, when I follow a link in my copy the search path" would look like this:

• origin => B => A

When I follow the link the following steps happen:

• check origin for referenced page, assume it's absent so continue search
• check B's server for referenced page, perhaps its down so we continue search
• check A's server for referenced page, if we find it, call it good.

Maybe the referenced page is only on B's server. And maybe B's gone for good. Then what? We're obligated to show in some meaningful way what's gone on as we poll the federation. And, I would think, we're not out of line offering a blank page upon which I can write.

Aside: in the past we would have asked the origin server to retrieve the remote page acting as a proxy. This creates the (unrealized) opportunity for the origin server to cache all remote pages viewed. With the recent work in this area I chose to go directly to the remote site.

[dvberkel]

Your example is clear and demonstrates an important point (for me) the central idea of a federated wiki, i.e. you own the data. In particular when you clone a page and the original goes away, you are still presented with a stub which can be expanded to reflect your idea.

But a notification what is going on, as described in the predicted results page would be welcome