Suggestions for the Bus Conversion Wiki

[HighTechRedneck]

We are starting to plan out the Bus Conversion Wiki.  I am starting this thread to get your suggestions on anything that will make it the best that it can be.  It may not be possible to incorporate every suggestion, but the more ideas go into it, the better it will be.

Some here are already familiar with Wikipedia or other Wiki type sites.  But for those who aren't, here is a brief introduction to what a Wiki is:

In its simplest form a Wiki is a collection of web pages that can be created and edited by anyone in the community.  Each page or series of pages focuses on one topic and the goal is to accumulate the most complete and detailed reference on that specific topic as possible.  Those topics are then organized into an intuitive structure and even more importantly are available through word searches.  Keywords within topics are also linked to related topics.  For example, a topic on House Electrical Systems, will likely have the word "Inverter" mentioned in it.  Assuming there would also be a topic on Inverters, each occurrence of the word would also be a hyperlink to the Inverters topic.

So let's hear your suggestions on how to make it a great new resource for all of us.

[JackConrad]

Mike,
   First, thanks for taking on this task and welcome.  I made this post a sticky so it will stay on the front page.  Jack
PS: Paula said to tell your mother HI.

[DrivingMissLazy]

Welcome aboard to our new moderator!!

Here is a link to several million abbreviations/acronyms that you and other board members may find useful. This would have been of help to the member who inquired today regarding what YMMV stands for:

http://www.acronymfinder.com/

Richard

[Hobie]

How about a vendor rating area w/ comments.  Just like Amazon and others that post customer reviews.   

Thanks for your work in this big project!

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for undertaking this task.

Let me know if I can help you in any way as I know nothing about Wiki....

Nick-

[H3Jim]

Some questions for Mike

where will access to the wiki be?  I guess from the board's main page?  Any ideas on how to start populating it?  Any way to take information from the exisiting board posts or will it all need to to be added fresh?

Restrict entries to signed in members?

Not having created one before, I'm not sure of the process, do they have a tutorial?

[HighTechRedneck]

Some questions for Mike

where will access to the wiki be?  I guess from the board's main page?  Any ideas on how to start populating it?  Any way to take information from the existing board posts or will it all need to to be added fresh?

Restrict entries to signed in members?

Not having created one before, I'm not sure of the process, do they have a tutorial?

While Phil and I haven't discussed it yet, I expect we'll be putting a button on the menu bar of the forum, similar to the Chat room button.  Like the forum, the wiki does not require a login to read it, but does require the member to be logged in to post information into it.  This is to help fight spam posts.  Like the chat room, the login will be tied to the forums membership and login.  So if you are a logged in on the forum and go to the wiki, you will already be logged in there.

The wiki is an independent software package with it's own look and feel.  More importantly, it has a structure more like an online encyclopedia, making it easier to find information on a specific topic.  I will be working to get it started harvesting as much as I can of the wealth of knowledge already contained in the forum and organizing it into the wiki format.  When I get that process worked out, some volunteers could help that phase progress faster  (hint, hint folks ).  Once we have it online, everyone can add new topics, add to existing topics and edit possible misinformation in existing topics.  All revisions are maintained in the topic's publicly viewable "history archive" so it is easy to recover if something is accidentally or erroneously changed. 

The ability of all users to edit existing topics is the part that can get touchy and relies on members practicing self control.  This forum is one of the friendliest and most responsibly behaving forums I have ever been involved in.  So I believe that together we will build the definitive knowledge base for bus conversion.

[H3Jim]

Let me know what you need me to do.

[HighTechRedneck]

Let me know what you need me to do.

Thanks Jim!  I keep you posted.

[Lee Bradley]

I was doing some searches on the board (didn't find what I was looking for but that's a different show) and came across some great discussions on various subjects that could be edited and posted. 'Switching ground/neutral', 'A/C Roof-top, Basement, Split ... forget it I'm opening the window', 'Why the back of your GM will fall off if you stand on the bumper or something'. There is a wealth of information slipping further and further back in the pages.

[DrivingMissLazy]

I was doing some searches on the board (didn't find what I was looking for but that's a different show) and came across some great discussions on various subjects that could be edited and posted. 'Switching ground/neutral', 'A/C Roof-top, Basement, Split ... forget it I'm opening the window', 'Why the back of your GM will fall off if you stand on the bumper or something'. There is a wealth of information slipping further and further back in the pages.

It is unfortunate that there is really no good way to search for all this information. Mostly due to the headings on the posts.

I tried for several months to save most of the good clickable links and other data in the Board Help section. Unfortunately it just got too cumbersome to try and keep sorted. Really need some type of software to accumulate and sort. Will the Wiki solve this problem?

Richard

[H3Jim]

Yes, DML a Wiki that's set up well and working right is much much easier to access information on all subjects.  And reference other related topics as well.

That was the reason for my Wiki challenge, as much of the stored knowledge of this board is difficult to access.

Check out wikipedia on almost any subject.

[HighTechRedneck]

Yup, like Jim stated, the Wiki will make it a lot easier once populated with the topics.  The easiest way to compare it is like this.  The forum is like a room full of transcripts from help desk chat sessions, in no particular order.  Lots of valuable information on them, but also a lot of wandering from the specific topic it started with.   A wiki is like an encyclopedia.  Each topic has a heading that is very specific to the topic.  The content isn't an interactive discussion, but rather a thorough explanation of the specific topic.

The most important factor in having a successful wiki is keeping each topic highly specific.  Related topics must have their own topic page and be linked to, rather than straying away from the topic stated in the heading.

The information can be found by:

• Browsing the alphabetical list of topic headings
• Following related keyword links within an article
• Using the search function, limiting it to keywords in topic headings
• Using the search function on all text content of the topics
• Using the search function on all content including attachments (i.e. photo names, content of text based pdf files, spreadsheets, etc.)

Or, similar to the forum, you can have the system notify you by email when a topic is updated or a new topic is created within a category.

[Dreamscape]

Thanks Mike,

I'm looking forward to using it as I sometimes get frustrated when doing a search. It will make it so much easier for all of us. You da man!

I would offer to help but it would probably set the project back several months.

Paul

[HighTechRedneck]

Seeking volunteers to help browse forum to find the wisdom buried in here.

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=9014.0