FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

[Ian]

Some of you may have noticed that the Knowledge link on Four Thirds User's nav bar doesn't work. This is because the Four Thirds (including Micro Four Thirds) wiki that it linked to had fallen into disrepair so disconnected and disabled it. In fact it was being abused by spammers quite badly.

I think this is a shame as there is good information in the wiki. But it does need regular TLC and at the moment, for it to continue I need some help.

My plan is to update the mediawiki software to the latest more secure version and bring it back online, however, there is no point in doing this unless it is regularly checked and cosseted. I don't think I can do this by myself.

So - if you are interested in being part of a team of volunteers to get the wiki back up and running, please get in touch.

Thanks!

Ian

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

The new wiki is installed but not live. The old one is so full of spam it's beyond saving so it will be replaced with the new one shortly after the good pages from the old wiki have been transferred.

Ian

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

I'm getting quite excited in anticipation of relaunching the FTU wiki My dream is that it will become the English language wikipedia of all things Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds. I understand there is already a very good German language one.

I have several offers of help to keep an eye on the new wiki but I'm sure we can do with more.

And don't forget that for a wiki to succeed it needs input in the form of edits and articles contributed by, well, you...

Ian

[peak4]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

I'll willingly look in when I can, as I'm on line for a while most evenings, but I don't claim to be any king of an expert at Wikis (or photography for that matter )

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

Thanks Bill, wiki basics are very simple once you get to know them.

Basically, anyone can create pages and edit existing ones. Any changes can be 'reverted' so any unwanted changes (spam, incorrect information, etc.) can be corrected with just a few mouse clicks. But to start with I am mainly appealing for pairs of eyes so that when corrections are required we can respond as soon as possible.

Some volunteers will graduate to moderator level and this will enable them to block users who are messing about and to delete undesirable pages.

It's how Wikipedia works! We use much the same software as they do.

Ian

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

OK, although it's still very much work in progress (actually all wikis are! ) you can have a sneak preview of the new FTU wikii here:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2

There are lots of unfinished pages and pages that can be radically improved.

The wiki is active - so you can start making changes yourself and you are most welcome to.

I hope that we will be able to allow anonymous editing but for now you will need to create an account and login to enable editing access.

The old wiki is still online - I believe all the useful pages from the old wiki have been transferred, but if I have missed anything please let me know. The old wiki is here:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki

If you have any questions or comments, please post them here or on the similar thread over on FTU here:

http://www.fourthirds-user.com/forum/showthread.php?p=89990#post89990

Ian

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

I see we have a few more people signing up at:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2

I have now seeded the wiki with short pages for most Panasonic and Olympus Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds camera models - you can see the pages created here:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2/index.php/Special:AllPages

Over time I am looking forward to seeing these pages being built on by others (including you) as well as me - but I won't be able to do this all by myself.

I am currently working on the lenses page:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2/index.php/Four_Thirds_and_Micro_Four_Thirds_Lenses

Once this has been brought up to the necessary state of completeness I will make the new wiki live from the Knowledge site nav bar buttons, finally replacing the old defunct FTU wiki.

Ian

[David M]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

When we get the computer back online I'll keep my eye on it and contribute anything I can.

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

There are now well on the way to a hundred pages in the new wiki, see:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2/index.php/Special:AllPages

..and we haven't yet started individual pages for most lenses and key accessories.

Most of these pages are in a simple 'starter' form, with an introductory sentence or paragraph or two. So if anyone feels like fleshing some of these pages out, please be my guest

If there are any other topics that don't yet have their own pages, please do nominate them and we'll get them started.

You can start your own choice of new pages easily too (although you do need to have registered an account first). For help on starting new pages see:

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page

If you need any help or advice just ask

Ian

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

I have now installed the necessary templates and CSS formatting for camera info boxes and the first one is on the Olympus E-1 page here:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2/index.php/Olympus_E-1

You can simply copy the info box code from the page above and paste it in to another camera page and then edit the details.

For additional fields see the template at:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2/index.php/Template:Infobox_camera

The templates are based on those used in Wikipedia but with some minor changes.

We may need to expand the camere infobox template to add new fields - suggestions welcome!

Ian

[Ian]

Re: FTU Knowledge wiki - looking for volunteers...

We now have about 100 pages - you can see them listed here:

http://fourthirds-user.com/wiki2/index.php/Special:AllPages

Please bear in mind that most of these pages will improve as people refine and add content over time.

Ian