All About ClarionMag's New FAQ Site

by Dave Harms

Published 2009-10-23    Printer-friendly version

As you may have already heard, ClarionMag has launched a new Clarion FAQ (frequently asked questions) site at faq.clarionmag.com. And as much as we'd like to take credit for the site itself, we can't. You might know that a while back the good folks over at Fog Creek (makers of FogBugz) came up with a FAQ site for programmers of all stripes. That site is called StackOverflow, and it's been a huge success. In fact, it's been such a success that lots of people have asked Fog Creek if they can have their own StackOverflow for their own communities, many of which are not even programming-related.

Fog Creek responded to this demand by creating StackExchange, a service that provides hosted StackOverflow-like sites. And that's what ClarionFAQ is - a hosted site, paid for and administered by Clarion Magazine and tailored to Clarion programming, but otherwise created and run by Fog Creek.

Why another FAQ system for Clarion?

Yes, there have been other FAQ systems for Clarion. Why is this one better? Because it's built on the proven model of StackOverflow, and it has the support of Clarion Magazine. We believe that in time, just as Clarion Magazine has become the web's number one resource for quality Clarion programming information, so will ClarionFAQ become the number one resource for Clarion questions and answers.

Will ClarionFAQ always be free?

ClarionFAQ will remain a free site. Yes, there are costs, which are being paid by Clarion Magazine. We intend to recoup those costs, of course, so you'll forgive us for splashing a few ClarionMag ads about the place. And perhaps other ads, in time.

How can I keep tabs on what's happening at ClarionFAQ?

If you want to be automatically notified whenever new questions are posted to the FAQ, get an RSS reader (many email and news readers offer this functionality) and add the ClarionFAQ recent questions RSS feed.

At some future point we'll also add the RSS feed to the ClarionMag home page, but that probably won't happen until after we go live with our new site.

Does this diminish Clarion Magazine in any way?

Not in our opinion. If anything, we see the relationship between ClarionFAQ and ClarionMag as mutually beneficial. ClarionMag's role has always been to provide detailed, well-written, peer reviewed, professionally edited material. That need will always be there, and ClarionFAQ will provide important feedback about the kinds of issues that are important to Clarion developers.

Is this a part of the "new site" you keep talking about?

Although ClarionFAQ is an important new development, it's not actually part of the major upgrade coming to the Clarion Magazine site. You'll have to wait a little longer....

If you have any other questions about ClarionFAQ, please post them... at ClarionFAQ!

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David Harms is an independent software developer and the editor and publisher of Clarion Magazine. He is also co-author with Ross Santos of Developing Clarion for Windows Applications, published by SAMS (1995), and has written or co-written several Java books. David is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA).

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