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Welcome to the SignPuddle Information Network. This website contains the original work of Stephen E Slevinski Jr.

SignPuddle helps SignWriting work

1 SignPuddle Markup Language
2 SignWriting Image Server
3 Other Downloads
4 Read Online
5 View the Demos
6 Plan for 2010
7 Visitor Messages

SignPuddle Markup Language

The first draft of SPML is ready for review. SPML is used for data interchange.

View the SPML DTD
Review the SignPuddle 2 data
Learn to use convert_sp2.php to create XML snapshots of the latest data

SignWriting Image Server

Announcing the release of Version 1.2.2 for the SignWriting Image Server on July 26th, 2010.

SWIS for Web Servers

Requires a web server with PHP 5 and the GD Graphics Library
Unzip to the public document folder

SWIS for Windows

Includes preconfigured web server
Unzip to any folder, even a USB drive
Start the Server_Start.bat file
Open http://localhost in browser to view

SWIS for Mac

Includes preconfigured web server
Unzip to MAMP folder and move to Applications
Start the MAMP.app application in the MAMP folder
Open http://localhost:8888 in browser to view

Other Downloads

Read Online

View the Demos

Plan for 2010

SignPuddle 2

My own software running on SignBank.org needs an update. The main change will be a conversion to Binary SignWriting data, rather than CSV and XML. The greatest change will be the new SignMaker and SignText from SWIS. Otherwise, the user interface will not change much. Backup and recovery will be quick and easy.

PersonalPuddle 2

The PersonalPuddle will use the latest SignPuddle 2 code. The PersonalPuddle 2 will integrate with SignPuddle Online. Mac and Windows installation. Linux directions. Includes the new SignWriting MediaWiki Incubator.

SignWriting MediaWiki Plugin (SWMP)

The SWMP will use the viewer sections of SWIS. I will remove the editors (maybe the ISWA documentation) and refactor the code according the MediaWiki coding conventions. I will use the MediaWiki SVN repository and submit the viewer. After a code review and a security review, I hope WikiMedia will host the plugin on the Incubator and the English Wikipedia. We will be using the full SWIS and SignPuddle 2 to generate the content for the viewer.

Near the middle or end of 2010 I will revisit the SWMP to add localization and work on CSS integration with SignWriting.

SignWriting MediaWiki Incubator

Do you want a Wikipedia or Wiktionary in SignWriting? It will take a tribe to do it. Only a well organized group from a particular language who successfully adds 300 articles to a MediaWiki installation will get to go to the next level. Administration of a MediaWiki installation can be complicated and time consuming. The SignWriting MediaWiki Plugin is incomplete, but functional. Specifically, we'll need a group to run the installation, we'll need a group to add the articles, we'll need a group of architects who know MediaWiki and SignWriting to improve the plugin.

For all of these groups to work together, they need a working server installation. I am discusssing the possibility of installing the SignWriting MediaWiki Plugin on the official WikiMedia Incubator. Any eligible sign language project may be able to start on the WikiMedia Incubator and then transition to the live production server after they have final approval.

Besides the WikiMedia Incubator, a SignWriting MediaWiki Incubator can be created with open source tools: Apache 2, PHP, GD2, MediaWiki, SWMP. Configuration and support can be tricky with a working server installation. The SignBank.org site will host several MediaWiki installations for the various sign languages.

As a fundraiser for the non-profit Center for Sutton Movement Writing, we will offer the official SignWriting MediaWiki Inclubator for Windows and Mac as a preconfigured web server already running MediaWiki with SignWriting support. The official SignWriting MediaWiki Incubator will be available for download, on CD/DVD, or USB. Linux install directions will be available.

ColumnMaker

Publishing books quickly is the goal. ColumnMaker helps move this along with column images. A revamp of ColumnMaker is planned with heavy input from Valerie Sutton.

SignMail

SignMail currently works by sending emails of embedded images from a clunky interface. It was never updated to SignPuddle 1.5. I think the easiest solution might be to just use UTF-8 in an existing email application. I will consider a plugin for Thunderbird along with updating the current embedded images method.

Web Browser Extension

Instead of making custom extensions for every Internet application, it may be easier to write an extension for FireFox that can convert UTF-8 into SignWriting using CSS rules. I may be able to adapt the current HTML and JavaScript very quickly.

Desktop Font Rendering

To get SignWriting to the desktop, we need a desktop based font rendering engine. The most promising is Graphite. While there is interest, there is little funding. It may be possible to approach Apple or Microsoft to help with the desktop.

Scalar Vector Graphics

Currently the ISWA 2008 is bitmap only. It has the uncommon quality of a 2 color font. There is a line and there is a fill. The fill matters when symbols overlap. A fill will cover the line of the symbol underneath, but not change its sort sequence. The following BSW data examples show 3 signs with 2 common fill overlaps and 1 uncommon intertwine. The 3 signs would be sorted the same based on the sort sequence data contained in the BSW.

In this example, one can overlap the other