FreenetWiki: Thaw Indexes

Thaw Indexes

The backbone of this text was generated with Google Automatic Translation from the French Thaw Indexes page from the Freenet wiki,
available at http://doc-fr.freenetproject.org/Les_Indexes_Thaw.
The raw output from Google translate had to be manually edited to turn it into something comprehensible. Some paragraphs have been modified to make them even easier to understand, and some more screenshots have been added.

Thaw Basics

Basic Thaw information including downloads, licensing, author, a basic howto etc, is available at the Thaw page

Thaw Indexes

Principle

Thaw indexes are designed to provide a better way of referencing and thus find files within Freenet. Each index is linked to other indexes, creating a network where similar files tend to be grouped.

What is an index?

Thaw indexes include two parts: an indexes list and a files list.

The indexes list may be empty, and so can the files list. However, an index where both lists are empty at the same time would be kind of pointless.

In the indexes list, as the name suggests, you can save, well, indexes (unbelievable!)
It gets better: in the files list, you can save ... files! (yes, it's that well-designed).

The indexes list is used to refer to indexes that you like and that are most likely to be interesting for those who consult your index.

The files list is used to reference files that you like, and therefore are likely to be interesting for those who consult your index.

Meta-indexes

You have probably met the term meta-index (well, you just did ).
That is simply an index of indexes, i.e. an index containing a list of non-empty indexes

Public Indexes

An index is called 'public' if both its private and public keys of an index are known.
Anyone can edit public indexes, which are therefore very easy to spam.

The most interest interesting feature of public indexes is that they can easily gather a large number of indexes, usually meta-indexes.
An example of public index is the Publicly Writable Index that comes with Thaw by default and usually serves as a starting point for index referencing.

Index referencing

Let's try to explain this with an example: Imagine that I'm a big fan of holiday videos, that's my big passion, and I have inserted lots of them into Freenet.

Now I think that an index could be useful to keep track of all those videos: that would be more durable than simply announcing them on a board, and doesn't rely on some nice anonymous to set up a freesite for referencing my files.
Instead, I create an index, and to it I add the list of holiday videos that I have inserted into the Freenet network.

Yes, but how do people know about my index?
Sure, I can announce it on an FMS or Frost board.
But I can also add it to a meta-index.

Using meta-indexes to announce indexes

There is is one index specifically designed for that, where everyone can announce their indexes, and that's the Publicly Writable Index that comes with Thaw by default.

That's it, my beautiful index is now referenced.

You still feel a bit skeptical about the usefulness of Thaw indexes?
Let's see all the marvelous things that you can do with them.

Network of indexes

So, we have seen that the principle is to set up a system where similar files are very close, where "close" means that if I found a file of a certain type or category (e.g. holiday video) it won't be difficult for me to find similar ones.

Let's see how that we can use indexes to do that.
Resuming our example: imagine that someone else who also loves holiday videos, and also has built a Thaw index for his/her holiday videos. He or she will add your index to the indexes list of his/her index, which will somehow connect your index to his. Or hers.

Now, imagine that many people who know how to use indexes publish their own indexes and each of them links to similar indexes, creating a quantity of indexes that are kind of similar to each other but not identical.

As I look for holiday videos (yes, I am really hooked, I can't help it), I'll look in the publicly writable index (or elsewhere in freenet, but let's keep it simple for now) for indexes that refer to holiday videos.

There I'll probably find files, but I'll probably find other indexes too.
And as the person who created this index also likes holiday videos, it is likely that I will find holiday videos, among other things.

Most important, and here's where things get really interesting, there's also a good probability that while looking for holiday videos, I will also find other things that I'm interested in and that are somehow related to holidays, to camping, to traveling, etc., like for instance a documentary about how to set up a camping tent in five minutes or less, or a tourist guide to the most beautiful villages in south Périgord ( location in Dordogne, France), both would make me really happy.

In other words, as the person who added the holiday videos to that index has at least one interest in common with me, namely holiday videos, I'll probably find more stuff that I like in his or her index.

Little by little the network of files and indexes becomes organized by affinity and the files of the same types are brought close to each other.

Creating an index

Now that we know what indexes are for and how to use them, let's see how to create our own indexes.

First off, check that indexes are activated in Thaw.
Go to the menu file => options
That will pop up the Configuration interface.
Click on the Plugins tab, the third one from the left

Click on the plugins tab ( View full-size image)

Make sure that the Index Browser checkbox is checked.
Then click OK to save changes and close the Configuration interface.

Enable Index Browser ( View full-size image )

Next, back in the main Thaw interface click on the index tab; its icon looks like a small notebook with a pencil.

Click on the Index tab ( View full-size image )

Now you can see see a create-new-index icon that looks like a blank sheet with a yellow light in the upper right corner. Click that.

Click on the Create Index icon ( View full-sive image )

In the box that pops up when you click the New Index icon, type the name of your index. Let's call that 'Test Index 1'.

Name your index ( View full-size image )

Click OK to confirm. This will close the Index Name window and pop up an Index Settings window.
Here you can choose to include the private key with the index. If you do, your index will be publicly writable (i.e. spammable).
Checking the second checkbox, will allow comments to your index, which means users can add comment to the index and so can spammers.

Leave unchecked if you want to be the only one to write on your index ( View full-size image )

By allowing comments, users can comment on the index, but also the spammer (leaving plenty of comments). The choice is yours! You can also specify the category of the index, which is quite useful since it automatically align in the list of indexes of the user during the first repatriation of the index (provided the user that activated t option).

Click OK To save. Now you can start to add files to your index.
To add a link to your index, right click on it, choose links => Add a link.

Use this interface to add files to your index ( View full-size image )

Adding files

Now let's see how to add files to our new index.
We have a number of options:

1 - the file has already been inserted and we don't want to reinsert it
2 - we want to insert a file or the file file has already been inserted and we do want to reinsert it
3 - we know the file's key and we simply want to add it to our index.

Let's see how to do those things

1 - the file has already been inserted and we DON'T want to reinsert it

To simply list a file without inserting or reinserting, right-click on the index then go to File => Add file(s).

This will pop up a file browser that you can use to select the file that you want to add to your index (hold down Ctrl for multiple selections)

The file that you choose are not going to be inserted, therefore it it must have been inserted previously (with the same file name).

2 - we want to insert or reinsert a file

To list and (re) insert file(s), right click on the index, then File -> Insert and Add File(s).
This will pop up a file browser that you can use to select the file that you want to insert and add to your index (hold down Ctrl for multiple selections).

3 - adding a known key to an index

To add a key, right-click on the index, then File-> Add specific keys.
This will pop up a box where you can paste the key(s) that you want to add to your index. One key per line.

In all cases, the key and file name are both added to the index.
The first and third methods are similar (both refer to previously inserted files, the difference is that you specify the file name in option -1- and the key in option -3-)

The third method is useful in case you don't have a local copy of the file you want to add to your index. In this case you will need the key to the previously inserted file.

Inserting your index

When you're done adding files, you're ready to insert your index and make it available to other Freenet users: This is done by right clicking on your index and choosing index -> [re] insert this index on Freenet.

Well, that's it.
We have seen how to create a new index, and that most of the options are accessed from a right click on the index you created.

Announcing your index

Announcing your index on a Frost or FMS board (both have Thaw boards) is generally a good idea. You can also announce it on a meta-index, an index of indexes.
Searching a little bit you will probably find a meta-index that fits your index, otherwise, as a last resort, there's always the publicly writable index, available on Thaw by default, but keep in mind that the publicly writable index is easily spammable, so you don't want to use it as your only announcing channel.

Thaw Screenshots

Because images say often more than words

Current version

http://downloads.freenetproject.org/alpha/Thaw
Thaw.jar is always the latest stable version.
Thaw-testing.jar is always the latest development version (aka "make your backups first").

Subversion

svn co https://emu.freenetproject.org/svn/trunk/apps/Thaw

License

Thaw is licensed under the GPL v3 or later