[Mediawiki-l] What Wiki are we each working on?

[Fred Bauder]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Monahon, Peter B. [mailto:Peter.Monahon at USPTO.GOV]
>Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 08:41 AM
>To: mediawiki-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>Subject: [Mediawiki-l] What Wiki are we each working on?
>
>.
>May I suggest that we share what Wiki we each are working on?  Include a
>link if your Wiki is public, and include a description, especially if
>your Wiki is private.  I'll go first:
>
>Peter Blaise's Wiki: Our (US Trademark Office) challenge is how to
>publish laws and rules (which are now in HTML, PDF, and DOC on the web),
>AND seek community critiques and suggestions that are shared with each
>other in full view (Wiki, right?), BUT leave the "statute as it is now"
>intact as an uneditable master reference above all suggested
>replacements.  We want more than discussions on the separate
>"discussion" page.  We want people to actually rewrite the laws and
>rules as they would prefer it, and then edit each other's preference on
>how they want the statute to read, word for word.  Supporting
>discussions are important and informative, but we've noted that
>word-for-word replacement suggestions quickly get lost in discussion
>pages.  We want the community-suggested exact replacements, even a
>series of alternative exact replacements - version B, version C, and so
>on - right there on the article page below the current statute in force.
>
>
>I think this idea has great potential for opening up the law world wide,
>but off-the-shelf MediaWiki is a tad immature.  Wish me luck.  Ideas?
>
>So, what's everyone else working on?  Can we see?
>
>- Peter Blaise

What a wonderful project. First thoughts: doc and pdf texts are a real pain in the ass, converting them to a plain text version that is usable is extremely valuable. You will want to "protect" the text of the existing statutes and regulations with a link at the top to editable pages where the community's work can go on. I would suggest several of these to allow allow development of coherent alternatives. On the editable pages place the current text at the top with a direction to not change it. Should it be changed, anyone can go to your protected page, get the source and restore the text. The edit history of the article will show any changes to the original text. As you suggest, you could also use protected sections, should an extension exist and be usable.

I had no idea you were doing such an admirable and useful project. I'll do everything I can to get you up and running, although I'm a newbie myself. Now that you've "come out", perhaps some the real experts will also offer substantial help.

I initiated and do the software on Wikinfo, a fork of Wikipedia: http://wikinfo.org Wikinfo offers alternatives for editors who feel constricted by Wikipedia conventions.

We had a good programmer, but he kept forking the software (and throwing his weight around). I finally gave up on him and went back to the standard version, but am having quite a bit of trouble, as I am being forced to learn way too much.

Fred