channel messages (was: I think I'm done now...)

[Sam Ruby]

Jeff Waugh wrote:
> <quote who="Sam Ruby">
> 
>>added an optional (and, by default, off) feature for identifying feeds
>>that haven't been updating
> 
> I quite like this feature having turned it on for Planet GNOME [1]. However,
> there ought to be some distinction between error states and normal messages,
> so that frontends/templates can report them differently. I figure this will
> come in handy down the track, too.
> 
> What do you think about having both channel 'message' and channel 'error'?
> 
> If anyone has other ideas about how to do this neatly, let me know. I'm most
> interested in making the interface kind/useful/flexible for frontend and
> template authors... One of the coolest things about Planet is its ease of
> adaptation. :-)

I'm concerned that index.html.tmpl will become an unmaintainable morass
of <TMPL_UNLESS>es.

A less flexible, but perhaps easier to deal with, alternative might be
to add a msgclass variable, which templates can use simply by saying:

  class="<TMPL_VAR msgclass>"

msgclass could be things like http-status, inactive-feed, etc...

- Sam Ruby