Appstore Intelligent Search

[craigix]

The Pandora Appstore does not use a dumb search, rather it has various levels of preprogrammed tweaking.

I'm trying to get everything smooth for new users.

Some examples are:

Searching for MAME will tell you what it is, explain it does not come with ROMs and give you the latest version.

Looking for ~'PS2 emu' explains it isn't going to happen.

Looking for 'commodore' lists all of their computers and asks which one the user might be looking for.

What else could we add in for new users?

 

[Jaguar]

Craig I realize this is not the right topic for my question, but which linux os will be on the pandara? whenI first saw some info it mentioned ubuntu? thanks for your time.

 

[ndbsolar]

Craig I realize this is not the right topic for my question, but which linux os will be on the pandara? whenI first saw some info it mentioned ubuntu? thanks for your time.

If you realise this why post?

 

[Jaguar]

excuse me, I was asking Craig, so go back over to the other forum , and quit your hunting. sorry craig, i wont post here anymore, as the poor vultures follow around .

 

[jonlad1]

Seriously, you are taking the piss right?

 

[Paradox]

why isn't that guy banned yet

 

[gruso]

Funnily enough, Jaguar's instant off-topic post provided some on-topic ideas.

"Linux" or "Angstrom" should point to some basic information on the underlying OS, and firmware updates.

"Armstrong" should direct to Angstrom (seriously).

There should be keywords for other distros too - Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo etc, perhaps linking to external projects.

"Menu" or "Launcher" should point to info on desktop environment vs minimal, and the options.

"Desktop" should point to two options: the above Menu/Launcher results, as well as Wallpapers.

 

[Jaguar]

its to bad, i asked Craig a good question, so when he gets amoment, let's let him direct me to another topic some where that might help me. hey you birds arent ccontributing a thing to his topic. at least im trying to ask something legitmate about the pandara, you brids are just soundding off. he was asking about apps, and althoguh mine isnt about appts, its still afresh question.

 

[gruso]

Let's move on. Craig asked for the kind of info newbies might want, and Jaguar gave the perfect example. Jaguar, read this:

http://pandorapress....is-and-will-be/

It's a little outdated, we will now be using the XFCE desktop environment (powered by Angstrom). But it should paint the picture for you.

And now, back to searchy stuff...

 

[Jaguar]

Thanks Gruso, I appreciate the help.

 

[gruso]

Some more ideas.

Searching for "DOS", "PC", "Windows" should give a description of DOSBox and the "era" of games it can handle. You could even mention where to purchase games legally (eg. gog.com). Not sure if you'd want to do that, but it would send a good message (to trigger happy IP holders if no one else).

People interested in the UMPC side of things may search for common Windows brands such as word, excel, photoshop. You should point these to their Linux counterparts.

People will also search for Windows games like COD, Counterstrike, HalfLife, Halo, WoW, Starcraft. Obviously you can't cover every game that might get typed in, but there are maybe a dozen really obvious ones that could throw up results ranging from "Sorry, no" to "Try this Quake mod" to "Stratagus can run that."

 

[Prometheus]

I'm fairly sure this is already covered by the "PS2 emu" example, but just out of curiousity, does searching for "Windows" or "Windows CE" (and similar) currently bring up an explanation, too?

Also, perhaps daft, but perhaps searching for "ROMs" or "abandonware" ought to be covered as well. Those have come up a few times during my time here. Perhaps a response to such a search could point to legal resources for emulatable games? (There are plenty listed here, if that's of any help - there were a lot of good contributions made there.)

Gruso's already covered anything else I could think of, I think (though if anything else comes to mind I'll add it).

EDIT: Wow, Gruso, you must have been reading my mind while I was typing this. :lol:

 

[craigix]

Great suggestions guys, I'm getting them in now. I hope this will at least help with some of the more repetitive forum questions.

 

[clippa]

"roms" could explain the legality involved and point to a google search.

 

[mosschops]

The Pandora Appstore does not use a dumb search, rather it has various levels of preprogrammed tweaking.

I'm trying to get everything smooth for new users.

Some examples are:

Searching for MAME will tell you what it is, explain it does not come with ROMs and give you the latest version.

What else could we add in for new users?

How do i as a new user know to search for MAME?

Personally, i'd be looking to bolt onto the backend the dat files "we" use for rebuilding romsets (using CLRmamepro), pulling out the filename and presenting info from that allowing games to be searched for by name with the results showing the game name & emu name as a minimum. This way we can search for "outrun" and "pandora panic" from one search without having to worry about a two level search.

 

[craigix]

The Pandora Appstore does not use a dumb search, rather it has various levels of preprogrammed tweaking.

I'm trying to get everything smooth for new users.

Some examples are:

Searching for MAME will tell you what it is, explain it does not come with ROMs and give you the latest version.

What else could we add in for new users?

How do i as a new user know to search for MAME?

Because a lot of people get a gp2x/wiz/pandora because they know what it can do, but as we see constantly on this forum they don't know how to make it do it. They will often come in here utterly confused about how MAME works. They will have managed to download it, but then be stuck.

So if the appstore explains how to use it, we at least have a fighting chance of them understanding.

 

[kingoddball]

Why not link something like "Arcade" and other such variants to MAME as it is an odd term for a new user.

Arcade
Arcade Games
Arcade Emulator

etc.... ??

 

[Bosbeetle]

Maybe a strange one but I think it would be nice if there were a category of 'games created by forum members' and a search with certain user names that will list the games/ports they made. (also projects with multiple members should be mentioned) I will do a monthly mr.gonzo search for sure (not to mention pickle, zodttd, etc.)

Another option would be Indicating forum members that are knowledgeable on certain subjects say I search music and I get music players but also a lot of music making software made by topor. It would be very nice if the appstore would say to me after the search for music that 65% of the apps in my search were made/ported by topor and that he is a forum member.

these features could help in making the community even better than it already is.

 

[NLS]

Wine
Not possible

 

[Bosbeetle]

Wine
Not possible

I think if you search wine it should first ask red or white and then sweet or dry.