Mar

19

Wanted: Enthusiastic Contributors

Filed Under Bento Basics, Bento Examples, Bento Tips, Editorial, Site Notes, Tutorials 

Hey, at his very moment I’m running BentoUsers all by my own lonely self. I know, I know, it seems I have this huge supporting staff behind the scenes. But that’s just a rumor. All I have is some people I can ask questions if I’m totally desperate. But I’m the only one publishing things and coming up with the ideas. That has to change! After all, the site’s main motto is:
Written By Bento Users For Bento Users. I clearly detect the plural form here and it wouldn’t sound very good to change it to the singular form…

I’m calling out to any other user, starting with my friends Dan and Barb, you know yourselves, how wonderful you are! I do appreciate the templates users have contributed. Keep them coming! But now I’m also looking for (regular?!) contributors. It could be a weekly column, the occasional tip or trick, special usage ideas, workarounds… pretty much anything. Even just someone who scours through the posts and leaves some comments on a regular basis. Point out the errors of my ways, make suggestions!

I hope I gave you some starting thoughts how to help out. Come out of the woodworks, get famous and help change the (Bento) world!

Thanks for listening…

Yours Truly, Lonesome Florian.

Comments

13 Responses to “Wanted: Enthusiastic Contributors”

  1. Max on March 19th, 2009 5:50 pm

    LOL I always follow everything that’s written here but don’t input myself and that’s really because I’m new to Bento.

    Yes I had v1 but I couldn’t find much of a use for it. Now I have v2 and it seems better than the list of differences would suggest – on that score I’d recommend the upgrade to others – and I now have some small uses for it which I’m trying to develop. So you have a keen follower here but not someone with much experience or expertise to offer.

    Your articles ARE appreciated, I wanted you to know that.

  2. amigo97 on March 20th, 2009 12:26 pm

    I just started using Bento 2 and would like to know if anyone has figured out how two or more persons can use the same database.

  3. amigo97 on March 20th, 2009 12:28 pm

    Also, are there any add-ons for Bento 2 besides templates?

  4. mir4ge on March 22nd, 2009 11:25 am

    Hi, I hope you’ll find some people to help you with this site. Now, I’m just a beginner with Bento so till I could help, I’ll need some time.

    Good luck with the site and thanks for all your effort!

  5. Gareth Molineux on March 23rd, 2009 4:02 am

    Hi Flo,

    I Would Love to help! I have been thinking of things to help me pass my time. as you know i am still very new to bento but am very enthusistic ,

    I work as an IT Consultant in the U.K, Providing Server Support and Networking support for windows users (yet i use a mac lol). I am A CCNA (CISCO CERTIFIED NETWORK ASSOCIATE).

    I was Thinking of a “Weekly Challenge” a user gives a scenario and we or i write a database and submit it to the templates along with a Q & A among other things.

    Let me know what you think!

    Regards Gareth

  6. Jwood on March 23rd, 2009 8:30 am

    I’m game. I’m just beginning the process of trying to learn Bento in order to set up an all-ecompassing database for my high school classes. Grades, attendance, work completion, parental contact, emails to support staff and principals. Are you interested in an ongoing set of posts describing my frustrations/elations?

  7. Florian on March 30th, 2009 3:40 am

    To all:
    There was a problem with the server and I only got to read all your recent comments today. Sorry about that.

    I appreciate all your nice comments and help regarding the contributor issues. I am still in Austria and I only have Internet access for minutes at a time. So please be patient for another week before I can answer more specifically.

    See you in a week!

  8. Florian on April 12th, 2009 2:06 pm

    Max,
    thank you very much for your encouragement. If you ever need specific help, please let me know. Also check out the Bento forum if you haven’t already done so. The link is in the sidebar.

  9. Florian on April 12th, 2009 2:13 pm

    Amigo,
    Bento is a single user database, so only one person at a time can use it.

    The other add-ons for Bento are the themes. Filemaker made a theme bundle available during the holidays, and I posted a tutorial about creating your own themes.

    Besides that you can import and export any library data as well. Templates never include the data.

    Hope that helps.

  10. James on May 8th, 2009 8:21 am

    Jwood:

    I’d be very interested in working with you on your class database, as that’s what I’m doing myself, albeit for college. The concept is pretty universal, though, and I think a lot of people could gain from us doing something amazing! Let me know what you think!

    - J.

  11. Florian on May 8th, 2009 12:33 pm

    James, Jwood:

    … and I hope you will tell me about the process and your experiences. I would even create a new category for the site: Bento Stories, for example.

  12. Russell Martin on May 31st, 2009 9:25 am

    @amigo97,
    I haven’t tried this, so therefore I cannot vouch for it, but someone has posted instructions for sharing Bento databases on a blog at this address:
    http://buhboo.com/2008/02/09/share-your-bento-database-between-users-and-or-computers/

    You will need to use the Terminal to accomplish what the author is describing. So, if you’re Terminal phobic, it might be a bit intimidating. If asked nicely, I could probably come up with a better set of directions and actually test.

    Also, I’m thinking that this technique will probably only let one person have the Bento database file open at a time. Again, I haven’t tried so I don’t actually know.

  13. Florian on May 31st, 2009 11:21 am

    I expect Bento 3 to add database sharing, since the developers are listening pretty well. Just be patient.

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