• Use of JavaScript to get good (compared with a server based system) response
• Note the resultant main wisdom.html file has currently some 3000 lines of JavaScript which could stress some systems.
• The information is assumed to lie on traditional filesystems and is NOT (like many NPAC projects) stored in a relational database. This decision is not obviously correct but has some obvious implementation advantages and disadvantages.
• The overall system information (what is stored where) is stored in "self-defining" Web Pages which use the header of each document to define what it is and any child documents it refers to. The technique used to "tell" WebWisdom what is going on is to call JavasScript functions stored in main page from each sub page.
• Note we have taken a phenomemological view of JavaScript and only aimed at Netscape3 so far. Many undefined issues in language -- what is timing of JavaScript and how do you get JavaScript windows to refer to each other etc. can only be determined by experimentation. We also spent quite a while persuading JavaScript to generate dynamic frame sizes and who knows how portable this is!!
• There is an extensive set of PERL scripts which process "legacy" information ( Persuasion, PowerPoint, Kodak PhotoSets) to both conventional HTML and the self defining JavaScript pages

Capabilities of WebWisdom

• Can handle a wide variety of Presentation formats (Persuasion, PowerPoint, Kodak PhotoSets, Screendumps and raw HTML) in general locations
• Can handle RealAudio for both recording (where it logs where presentation page changes) and playback
• Can handle (with Perl backend wwwfoil) general playlists where composite presentations are made up by selecting from base presentations.
• Can handle several different parameter sets (defining fonts, colors, applets etc used) which can be stored and read from server).
• Has options to allow Applets to display titles
• Logging feature supports assesment and other such post presentation review.
• Is badly documented and has marginal user interface to tools
• Needs much work on choice of Graphics and interface to real people.