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Columns

Formal columns are the core content type of AlienCommons. They are suitable for complete technical writing intended for long-term reading.

Basic Content

A column contains:

  • A title
  • Body content
  • A cover image
  • A summary
  • One or more authors
  • Free-form tags entered by authors

Whether the summary may be empty is still undecided. Categories and original-language metadata are not currently planned.

Body Capabilities

The body may include:

  • Images
  • Code blocks
  • Mathematical formulas
  • External links
  • Video link cards for platforms such as YouTube and Bilibili

Videos are not directly embedded or uploaded in the body. Video content is displayed only as link cards.

Displayed Information

A column page displays:

  • Publication time
  • Last modification time
  • View count
  • Like count
  • Dislike count
  • Bookmark count

Work States

The basic publishing flow is:

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Draft
    Draft --> UnderReview: Author submits
    UnderReview --> Draft: Author withdraws
    UnderReview --> Published: Editor approves
    UnderReview --> Draft: Editor rejects with feedback

Confirmed rules:

  • Editors may leave revision feedback but cannot modify the text directly.
  • A rejected work returns to the draft state.
  • A work can be deleted only while it is a draft.
  • Published works may be revised, but new versions must be reviewed again.
  • While a new version is under review, the previous version remains public.
  • The new version replaces the public version only after approval.
  • A work unpublished by an editor is not deleted.

The state entered after unpublishing and whether an Archived state should be added are still undecided. See Open Questions.

Collections

Authors may create collections to organize related works into a series.

Collection rules:

  • A name is required.
  • A description and cover image are optional.
  • A work may belong to at most one collection.
  • The collection creator must be one of the work's authors.
  • The collection creator may manually reorder works.
  • A collection page displays its creation time, update time, and bookmark count.
  • Users may bookmark collections.
  • Collections do not have comment sections.

Management permissions for multi-author works in collections are still undecided.