What is WizardForge?

WizardForge is a platform that allows to use and create wizards in a dynamic fashion. The output of a wizard is a text (flat text or formatted text, e.g. xml). A contributor can write a wizard in a dedicated language and anyone can execute this contributed wizard. Typically a person skilled in a certain subject formalizes his/her knowledge of this subject to the benefit of the public.

A typical use case is the generation of configuration files. Software developers and system administrators are increasingly confronted with configuration files. Almost every framework or application requires one or multiple configuration files. Often one needs to edit only a limited number of parameters while the other parameters can keep their default values. For the present-day IT worker it becomes hard to stay a specialist in all the applications and frameworks s/he uses on a regular basis. So the goal is that the time-consuming RTFM is replaced by executing a wizard to generate a valid configuration file.

Other use cases are: generate letters based on a template, problem solvers, helpdesk guides, etc.

How to use WizardForge?

If you want to run a wizard, you can use the Wizard Browser at the left. First select the project (e.g. log4j), then select the type of file you want to generate (e.g. log4j.xml), then select one of the available wizards and a specific version of this wizard. By pressing the show button you obtain a description of this wizard and you are able to start the wizard.

It is also possible to press the show button without making a complete selection. This results in a list of wizard (versions) that comply with the partial selection criteria.

If there are multiple wizards available on a certain subject, it is good to read the descriptions of these wizards to determine which one fits best. Your selection might also be guided by usage numbers, ratings and forum messages of the available wizards.

As a non-registered user you can rate a wizard (version) after having executed it.

For more information you can consult the user's section of the faq.

Why registering?

There are a number of reasons why you would like to register at WizardForge:

• To contribute a wizard. If you are contributing to a software project and you want to shrink the number of (trivial-to-you) questions about configuration on your mailing list or you are a specialist in a certain project and you want to share your knowledge with others, you might consider to contribute a wizard. More information on how to do this is available in the section How to contribute.
• To subscribe to all kinds of events happening at the WizardForge website, e.g. new news, new wizards, new forum messages. It is possible to receive either daily, weekly or monthly summaries of these events. Newly registered users are automatically subscribed to a monthly news summary. If you don't like that, you can change your subscription settings.
• To participate in the forum discussions. Each wizard (version) has a forum associated. This forum is a good place to post a review, ask a question, etc... about a specific wizard (version).
• To contact a wizard contributor. If you would like to get in touch with the contributor of a wizard, it is possible to send him/her a private message (e.g. to suggest an enhancement, to discuss a potential bug, to propose some collaboration, etc...).
• To rate a wizard (version) without executing it. A wizard version can only be rated once by a registered user, a new rating will overwrite the earlier rating (a non-registered user can only rate at the end of a wizard execution).