I like the idea of a metawiki, but I think the name should be "metapedia" because it's more a matter of being meta-content about the Wikipedia (and, I would guess, encyclopediae in general) than being about wikis. (See my "faculty lounge" comment below.)
I especially like the case Larry makes about [[Recent Pages]]. I hadn't noticed, but I see that they ''are'' getting to cluttered with meta-discussions.
Larry wrote:
Moreover, with a separate namespace, it'd be slightly too convenient for my comfort to interlink the encyclopedia and the discussion section.
Agreed, but I do hope there's an InterWiki way to link ''from'' the metapedia ''to'' Wikipedia so we can hyperlink concepts and discuss articles as examples. For that matter, I'd like to see the [http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterWiki InterWiki] concept implemented. (It doesn't work on Wikipedia.) I wouldn't complain about having to use single-braces syntax to link ''to'' the metapedia, though.
... what should we put on the commentary wiki ...?
... Basically, I think the policy, procedure, and propaganda pages (PPP!) are important to have right there at our fingertips, particularly for new people.
Agreed. They are akin to front matter in a book. Since [[Wikipedia is not paper]], it makes sense they would be part of the same wiki database.
...Well, as I see it, it's a matter of officialness.
Yes! The metapedia is the place to chat about the project, build community, etc. It's the "faculty lounge" for Wikipedians. Then the Wikipedia can be focused on encyclopedia content, which includes official front matter.
Third, so how would we create this?
I see an opportunity here to get us all accustomed to Magnus' new software. Why not make metapedia a PHP wiki before we migrate the Wikipedia? If that gives people chills, then I hope metapedia is just a plain old UseModWiki. In that case, I hope the PHP Wikipedia doesn't diverge from UseModWiki's markup language.
<>< [[tbc]]
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find a job, post your resume. http://careers.yahoo.com