Simple Metaphor

Thanks for the thought, aexl. Unfortunately, it's not quite on target, as once the panels are attached to the groups, they become essentially independent of one another. It is probably closer than my current naming system, though - however, I'm actually nearly done with COMPLETELY rewriting this module, and included in that rewrite is a shift in the naming. Now, instead of 'Collections' and 'Pre-Configured Panels,' they're going to be referred to as 'Bundles' and 'Blueprints,' respectively. Hopefully it's a step in the right direction.

Then i think the right way (tm) to call it would be: og panel templates.
People know this concept from office applications.

In fact, 'templates' was the phrase I went with when I first wrote the module. The problem there is an internal drupal one - 'template' is a namespace in drupal that's been occupied for a long, long time by the theming system. Whatever clarity might arise from using 'template' is more than offset by the confusion of namespace conflicts with theming, unfortunately.

That said, I'm actually happier with blueprints than I ever was with templates for two reasons:

1. Blueprints is closer to the actual mechanism exercised by this module. 'Templates' tend to refer to a skeletal structure or outline which is to be filled in later, especially in office applications. Although this module certainly could function in that way, it is capable (depending on how you configure your groups) of creating a polished, finished product. In that sense, it really IS like a blueprint. 'Cookie-cutter' houses are a great analogy - the exact same design is used, with minor variations, hundreds of times over and whole communities of houses that are virtually structurally identical get built up overnight. Difference is, of course, that the people who live in OUR houses get all the same tools as the construction team to make changes to their own home.

2. There are significant structural semantic advantages, as well. No other combination of words that I found, 'template' included, was able to capture the idea in only a single word, and only two syllables at that. With the number of times the word must necessarily appear in the documentation for the module, having it as short as possible simplifies the sentences and makes them that much easier to grok. Furthermore, things like 'pre-configured panels' or even 'panel templates' are compound words. Compounding words is great when the definition of each is sufficiently clear, but it's quite bad when there's ambiguity in either, and downright horrible when one or both of the words tends to actually make people think of the WRONG thing. Templates, as I've pointed out above, doesn't elicit the full scope of what these blueprints are capable of doing. Worse still, there's an inherent ambiguity in the drupal meaning for the term 'panels' itself that most folks don't even really have a way of being aware of.

The alliteration is an added bonus, as is the fact that 'a bundle of blueprints' is an incredibly easy concept to visualize. The terms aren't perfect, of course, but with all the other terminology (and ESPECIALLY compound terminology) that drupal has, I think we ought to be more careful in general to avoid compounding other drupal terms together unless those two terms together REALLY, unequivocally are the best way of characterizing the thing.

i think you are "right"!

moving this over to the blueprints queue

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for two weeks with no activity.