Hi,
Wikipedia is a great system to organize a set of articles, and it has a large help system as well. But newcomers and mid-termers alike would have lots of similar questions about the system, specific guidelines, or techniques of writing articles.
StackExchange http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StackExchange, a free Question and Answer network of websites would start a website dedicated to Wikipedia and Wiki questions if the community only supports the project by voting for it. This website would have a very unique set of features that cannot compare with the way Wikipedia handles questions, simply because it is different. In Wikipedia questions are added to pages, much like a forum. In StackExchange, questions are added to a database that is searchable where each question can be voted for by the community.
* Database of questions, listings by vote, or by newest/oldest * User accounts with ranking system per user based on helpfulness * Answers are voted for by users, and best answers show on top * Tagging and searching for questions by tag (eg. 'syntax', 'images', 'audio')
I'm writing here to call for the support of Wikipedians around the world, simply for our own benefit. If we can vote for this site and visit it regularly to answer questions then Wikipedia could grow so much faster since newcomers would have an intelligent and easy-to-use platform for their questions and troubles.
1. Please start on this proposal page http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/13716/wikipedia-and-wikis. 2. You'll need to login (link on the top) 3. Then you have to click the "Follow" button (or "Commit", if available) 4. When the site begins you will get a link to it on the same page.
Thank you!
Tomjenkins52 http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tomjenkins52
On 24/01/2011 18:47, Tom Jenkins wrote:
<snip>
StackExchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StackExchange, a free Question and Answer network of websites would start a website dedicated to Wikipedia and Wiki questions if the community only supports the project by voting for it.
I'm familiar with the StackExchange version at http://mathoverflow.net/, and that has proved very successful. Points from my experience there:
(1) You really need a good and tight spec of what the site is for and not (MathOverflow manages that); even so, you will get people making off-topic posts because people never read instructions. These can be "closed" but not apparently "deleted". A deletionist attitude to Q&A seems to make the end product (mature site) much more attractive. (2) You really also need wikignome-type people. There the technology seems not to work quite so smoothly.
On (1) it is inevitable that you would get a lot of trolling, particularly from "the usual suspects" (guys, you know who you are), who are vociferous in any forum where they can discuss WP. So moderation would not be trivial.
That said, a good forum on WP would be well worth having.
One more point. How do you propose to stop people using "Wiki" as the abbreviation of "Wikipedia", though, leading to massive confusion, if this is about all wikis as well as Wiki[wild card] sites? This is just the sort of thing to which (2) applies: questions need to be edited as they are posted to clarify.
<snip>
I'm writing here to call for the support of Wikipedians around the world, simply for our own benefit. If we can vote for this site and visit it regularly to answer questions then Wikipedia could grow so much faster since newcomers would have an intelligent and easy-to-use platform for their questions and troubles.
1. Please start on this proposal page <http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/13716/wikipedia-and-wikis>. 2. You'll need to login (link on the top) 3. Then you have to click the "Follow" button (or "Commit", if available) 4. When the site begins you will get a link to it on the same page.
OK, less confusing than it sounds (maybe).
Charles
On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 5:47 AM, Tom Jenkins tomjenkins52@gmail.com wrote:
StackExchange http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StackExchange, a free Question and Answer network of websites would start a website dedicated to Wikipedia and Wiki questions if the community only supports the project by voting for it. This website would have a very unique set of
IMHO this is a pretty good idea. OpenStreetMap did the same thing, and it's worked out pretty well:
http://help.openstreetmap.org/
It's not the ideal forum for everyone (mailing lists are better for in-depth discussions and explorations of ideas) but it serves a purpose.
Steve
On 26/01/2011 14:15, Steve Bennett wrote:
On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 5:47 AM, Tom Jenkinstomjenkins52@gmail.com wrote:
StackExchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StackExchange, a free Question and Answer network of websites would start a website dedicated to Wikipedia and Wiki questions if the community only supports the project by voting for it. This website would have a very unique set of
IMHO this is a pretty good idea. OpenStreetMap did the same thing, and it's worked out pretty well:
http://help.openstreetmap.org/
It's not the ideal forum for everyone (mailing lists are better for in-depth discussions and explorations of ideas) but it serves a purpose.
Right, the structure is (intentionally, I believe) not designed to encourage threaded discussion, but to elicit replies that actually address the question. Which can be counted as a plus.
Charles
Hi Steve,
You could help by logging into Area51 and pressing "Follow".
Thanks, Tom
On 26-Jan-11 7:45 PM, Steve Bennett wrote:
On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 5:47 AM, Tom Jenkinstomjenkins52@gmail.com wrote:
StackExchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StackExchange, a free Question and Answer network of websites would start a website dedicated to Wikipedia and Wiki questions if the community only supports the project by voting for it. This website would have a very unique set of
IMHO this is a pretty good idea. OpenStreetMap did the same thing, and it's worked out pretty well:
http://help.openstreetmap.org/
It's not the ideal forum for everyone (mailing lists are better for in-depth discussions and explorations of ideas) but it serves a purpose.
Steve
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
Tom - Great idea.
I believe what we want to end up with is OSQA, like what OSM has set up, not a (proprietary) StackOverflow site. OSQA is a great tool for collaborative knowledge-sharing.
http://meta.osqa.net/questions/127/osqa-vs-stackoverflow-performance-and-fea...
SJ
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:42 AM, Tom Jenkins tomjenkins52@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Steve,
You could help by logging into Area51 and pressing "Follow".
Thanks, Tom
On 26-Jan-11 7:45 PM, Steve Bennett wrote:
On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 5:47 AM, Tom Jenkinstomjenkins52@gmail.com wrote:
StackExchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StackExchange, a free Question and Answer network of websites would start a website dedicated to Wikipedia and Wiki questions if the community only supports the project by voting for it. This website would have a very unique set of
IMHO this is a pretty good idea. OpenStreetMap did the same thing, and it's worked out pretty well:
http://help.openstreetmap.org/
It's not the ideal forum for everyone (mailing lists are better for in-depth discussions and explorations of ideas) but it serves a purpose.
Steve
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
On 06/02/2011 13:53, Samuel Klein wrote:
Tom - Great idea.
I believe what we want to end up with is OSQA, like what OSM has set up, not a (proprietary) StackOverflow site. OSQA is a great tool for collaborative knowledge-sharing.
http://meta.osqa.net/questions/127/osqa-vs-stackoverflow-performance-and-fea...
This has to be either-or?
Charles
On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 9:22 AM, Charles Matthews charles.r.matthews@ntlworld.com wrote:
On 06/02/2011 13:53, Samuel Klein wrote:
Tom - Great idea.
I believe what we want to end up with is OSQA, like what OSM has set up, not a (proprietary) StackOverflow site. OSQA is a great tool for collaborative knowledge-sharing.
http://meta.osqa.net/questions/127/osqa-vs-stackoverflow-performance-and-fea...
This has to be either-or?
It isn't either-or, and I started following the SO test-site. In the short-term, people have already started sharing questions there. In the medium-term, I hope we end up pointing people to a free and open Q&A site, if any. Supporting the development of OSQA will benefit knowledge-sharing in the world beyond this particular use of it.
SJ