Laser Forum FAQ - Database of Information etc.

Discussion in 'Laser Talk' started by Colinkites2000, Apr 30, 2007.

  1. Merrily

    Merrily Administrator Staff Member

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  2. Ross B

    Ross B Guest

    man, wish I knew the answer to that! I have such a hard time sleeping...

    "There can even be a section for Ross to post book reviews, so as to let us know which ones are worth spending money on. "

    seeeexy


    still think it would be a good idea to just have different sections

    one for hull repair, one for spars, rigging, upwind, downwind, etc, stuff like that
     
  3. SailNC

    SailNC New Member

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    Actually the "All Pages" page is built in to mediawiki. There are a lot of cool things that can be done to make the wiki easier to navigate. Search is really not the way to go (especially since the built-in search for mediawiki is really quite weak).

    If you want a common header on category pages you can setup a template for the category, which includes the category tag ([[Category:Category Name]]). You then include the template for the category by putting either {{template:Category Name}} or {{Category Name}} at the top of the page. Now you not only have a common header, but you have an automatically created index for the category.

    If you really want to get fancy, you can create subcategories by putting the [[Category:Category Name]] tag for the parent category in a category description page.

    I.e.: [[Category:Rigging]] tag on the Category:Boomvang page makes Boomvang a subcategory of rigging.

    If people want to charge ahead with this we should probably create a Wiki editing page to set out categories and templates.

    Rob
     
  4. Merrily

    Merrily Administrator Staff Member

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    Most of what you said made my head spin. I did get the part about charging ahead with and editing page with categories and templates. Sounds very useful for getting started.
     
  5. SailNC

    SailNC New Member

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    Well, the next step then would be to take the 27 existing pages and try to build categories around them.

    For example the pages Bailer Install and Bailer Repair could be in the category Bailer, which could be a subcategory of the top level category Maintenance or Boat. You could also have it as a subcategory of both...
    1. Bailer install
    2. Bailer repair
     
  6. Ross B

    Ross B Guest

    I mean like have different forums for different things, like On Sailing Anarchy they have a dinghy forum, and a big boat forum, a general, AC cup, etc...
    we should have one for Masts, one for sails, one for rigging, one for hull repair, one for new ideas, one for class rules, maybe one for Radial, one for Fulls, one for 4.7

    give evrything its own place, all nice and sorted
     
  7. Merrily

    Merrily Administrator Staff Member

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    That would be up to the owner of this forum. Let's create the thing and then see where it takes us. All in good time.
     
  8. Scott B

    Scott B Member

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    Why don't we try to re-create Shevy's drLaser site?

    Searching wikis is fine, if you know what you are searching for. The great thing about drLaser was you could browse around and stumble onto info you didn't realize you needed!

    I understand there are copyrite issues, and if we can't get in touch with Shevy, we would have to re-create from scratch. But we could follow the general idea/format.

    I assume there is way to append this to LaserForum, right? Bradley?
     
  9. SailNC

    SailNC New Member

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    The wiki that Bradley already setup can provide all the browsability of a normal site. It's just a matter of categorizing articles and linking the top level categories from the main page. Cross linking articles and categories is also ridiculously easy. The other advantage of a wiki is that everyone can contribute.
     
  10. Bradley

    Bradley Administrator Staff Member

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    I am excited we are finally going to get this resource going! I am working on the wiki right now: I am currently fixing the template and a few rough edges and then I am going to create some base pages and categories for you to come back and fill in. I will provide more updates shortly!
     
  11. GeoffS

    GeoffS Member

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  12. Bradley

    Bradley Administrator Staff Member

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    Ok, I have gone through and put everything inside a category! Now its time to start filling in more information.

    Also, I have updated the Mediawiki installation and bought some software to better integrate the forum with the wiki --notice the style integration. Also, you must be a Registered User Promoted to edit pages on the wiki. To be a promoted user use must have made 5 or more posts that were not considered spam. This is all automatic and is a part of the spam fighting technology installed on TLF!

    So what categories do we want to start with? I think we should have a core group of articles like Sail Number, Hull Number, Gel Coat Repair, etc. that are categorized appropriately but also as FAQ. I have implemented this on the Sail and Hull number articles.
     
  13. SailNC

    SailNC New Member

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    Sweet. Thanks Bradley, this should be a great resource!

    I went ahead and added text to the three category pages that were still showing up as edit instead of article.

    One easy way to do your FAQ is to simply list all the questions with a link to the answer page immediately after it.

    I.e. How do I sail fast? [[Sailing Fast]]

    Later you can divide the FAQ into sections and use the # tag for auto-numbering.

    Another great wiki trick is the use of sections on long articles. By using the section tag (=1st level Text=, ==2nd Level Text==, etc.) the wiki will autocreate table of contents for you. At some point you may want some standard top level sections (i.e. summary, links, citations).

    As an example, I added sections to http://www.laserforum.org/know/index.php?title=Assessing_a_Laser%E2%80%99s_Condition--Buying_a_Used_Boat


    Rob
     
  14. Bradley

    Bradley Administrator Staff Member

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    SailNC,
    Everything you have suggested is great, now we just need to work on getting more information in there.

    @Everyone-- It's time to start writing! The software is ready now its your turn! ;)
     
  15. gouvernail

    gouvernail Active Member

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  16. Ross B

    Ross B Guest

    thats not what I ment in any way!

    everything can be filed under something, and pertains to something

    it all has a place
     
  17. gouvernail

    gouvernail Active Member

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  18. Merrily

    Merrily Administrator Staff Member

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    Ever since Bradley started categorizing things at the wiki, I can't open it. Does anyone else have that problem?
     
  19. Merrily

    Merrily Administrator Staff Member

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    Oh, my bad. It was me.
     
  20. alienzero

    alienzero New Member

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    Sounds like a great idea. I've been meaning to teach myself the mediawiki syntax, so this is the perfect excuse.
     

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