Help

[sausagemaker]

Hi All

Does anyone know of a publicly accessible web server where I can place the sausage recipe scans so they are accessible to all on the forum.
This would speed up the process some what.

Regards
sausagemaker

[Oddley]

Can you not use the free web space ISP's give you. Sling up any old index page then upload your docs and refer to them.

Example:

http://www.some-isp.com/sausage.doc

I can find a public ftp but these are unreliable and don't last long.

[Franco]

When I get some time in the new year I intend to list all the recipes submitted s on the site, I have toyed with the idea of putting them all in PDF format and actually started it with around 100 done so far. If anyone knows of a better system for listing all the recipes and anymore that are likely to be added let me know.

Franco

ps

and if anyone wants to get involved in the compiing etc. I can't offer any money but would happily supply sausage making gear etc....

[Oddley]

I will happily help especially for some sausage making gear I have acrobat 6 pro so can make .pdf files easily. But after new year as a bit hectic at the moment. PM me if you are interested I won't be upset if not.

[sausagemaker]

Thanks Guys

I'll look into that.

Franco I would be glad to help with the compiling of recipes when you're
ready send me details

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Parson Snows]

Franco

I would certainly be prepared to offer my services for this project. Just let me know.

kind regards

Parson Snows

[Franco]

Oddley, Parson,

I have spoke to my web guy and so far he has converted around 100 recipes to PDF, I can pass these on to you and we can start from there.

I think that once all the recipes are online they should be available on site in alphabetical order, by origin ie English, Italian etc. by ingredient beef, pork lamb etc. and by type ie fresh, dried, smoked etc.

The database should be searchable and easy to use. I think with a little thought and effort there is no reason why we can't have the best sausage and cured meat database on the web


Franco

[Oddley]

OK Franco I'll contact you after new year to find out exactly what you want and how we are going to accomplish it.

[Will England]

I'll do what I can to help. I have some time to use in this persuit.....
Just ask and I'll do my best....


Will England,
Decatur, Alabama

[Parson Snows]

PDF sausage recipes

Just off the top of my head
To eliminate problems all abbreviations, notations etc. should be standardised ie.

1 Tblspn and not 1 T, or 1 Tspn?
1 tspn and not 1 t, or ts?

SI units already have accepted designations and should be adhered to.
Conversion factors should also be standardised and adhered to.

Plate sizes (coarse, medium fine) should be standardized and adhered to.

Metric Units first and Imperial units second or Imperial Units first Metric units second ? The site is British but where do most of the forum members come from, who are you trying to appeal to, who are your main customers?

I would recommend that there be one recipe done first, and then this is agreed (format wise etc.) by Franco, the moderators etc. and then used as a �Master� to produce the rest of the recipes. Otherwise there will be no continuity. Just me thinking out loud.

Kind regards

Parson Snows

[Franco]

I think that each recipe should have:

1. Brief description
2. Origin, country, region, age if known etc.
3. ease of use ie, absolute beginner, beginner, keen amateur, experienced sausage maker etc. from the simplest pork sausage to a complicated salami.
4.Weights in metric and imperial.
5.Percentage of each ingredient, this makes it easier to scale up or down.
6.If possible a photo of the finished product.

The database itself should be searchable by type of meat, ie, beef , pork , venison sausage etc. and by type of product, fresh or cured.
and also be listed alphabetically.

Any more points to consider?


Franco

[Will England]

Happy day after Christmas----Boxing Day in Canada, and I believe England as well

I read what Parson and Franco had to offer and I agree with most. I would like to offer some other ideas.

Standards I believe that there should be some and that most should be adhered to. If I say grind/mince coarsly I could always add, "I use a 3/4 inch plate or a 15 milimeter". Fine-Medium- Coarse would be great as a start. This idea can always be modified. Let's not make it difficult for folks to contribute.

As far as me deciding what the capabilities of a fellow sausagemaker I don't think that I have that ability. If you write a recipe and someone has difficulty interpreting all they have to do is contact you personally for clearification. That way no one will know that someone has had a problem or not. If the author receives quite a few questions about the same "problem" maybe they'll consider resubmiting. It's a learning process for all concerned.

I don't know if there is difficulty removing a post or editing it after it has been posted. Maybe an updated recipe is posted and one of the site managers is asked to remove the "uncorrected version" I think that this can be worked out as well.

I like pictures, If there are some tricks that would take two pictures to explain or three pages of text to do the same, I'll go with the picture. I have a feeling that measurements will be the greatest problem. If someone says x mls of water. I'll just look at my table of measurements and make the interpretation. There does not have to be a problem there.

I think abbreviations should be standard. If your not sure of the abreviation write it out. If you are copying someones recipe and they write out Tablespoons and you use TBS. Then use it.

I have a feeling that there are hundreds of thousands of recipes for Polish Kielbasa. If you have an interest in Polish Kielbasa you'll read the new recipe and if you are really interested you'll make your own determinations. If you are not interested in Polish Kielbasa you'll scroll right by.

I think this recipe publication is a good idea.
Maybe we should not consider trying to correct someones spelling or grammar. If you reply to the post use the correct grammar or spelling.
My American English is not exactly like the Queen's English. As long as we convey our ideas to someone else, does the spelling really make a difference?

Thanks,

Will England,
Decatur, Alabama

[Oddley]

Franco with respect of the standardization of the recipes I bow to the superior knowledge of parson him being an author.

I understand what you said in your last post but what I don't understand is the method you want to us to apply to display these recipes ie:

You say your web guy has put them in .pdf format so what exactly do you want us to do with them.

You keep banging on about a database. A database is just a collection of data. What I don't understand is what form you want this to take.

1 Simplest a downloadable .pdf file with all the recipes in.

2: A collection of html pages with links to pdf files that if the user has acrobat installed will open in the browser.

3:A full blown SQL or Access database integrated with php.

I am trying to find out first the answer to all these questions before we start anything because it will affect the way we work.

I am accomplished in I.T but my main area of expertise is in visual basic programming. I am also fairly familiar with html but if you want a full blown SQL or Access database it would take a month or two to learn and to be proficient enough to use them.

The basic infrastructure has to be thought about and decided upon so we have a framework to work within.

[Franco]

As you're proabaly aware IT isn't my Forte, I am open to suggestions as to how this project should be approached, do you think it would be better to just a have a list of recipes or is it feasable to have a searchable one?


I know I go on about Len Poli's site but the way he has his recipes listed seems to work well, is this done simply or is there a lot of programming done to achieve this format? His database is relatively small and focuses mainly on American themed recipes, we have an opportunity to make ours larger and more comprhensive and have it become the web's premier site for sausage recipes.

Franco

[Oddley]

Franco my advise would be the simpler the better and go with option two.

With html pages in the colours of the forum with a good and understandable structure linking first of all to particular categories of sausage etc then to the sausage pdf.

I will also look into the use of javascript to use web based search engines to search those pages for a particular recipe. From a box on the start page.

It can be made like Lens or in my opinion even better with a bit of thought and work. we will see. After new year I will start to work on it. but see if Parson has any ideas or if he wants to take it on.