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Wiki's and FAQ's #15781 06/06/08 02:59 PM
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Joel McCarty Offline OP
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Ready to test-drive a wiki for us?

Let's start with the Glossary, which ought to be fairly controversial.

http://tfwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page



We're using the same software the underlies Wikipedia, so it should be a familiar environment for most of you.

You are free to edit any entry, period.

You are not required to register, although we do track IPs, so if you misbehave we'll lock you out pretty quick, and reverse the offending edits.

The benefits of registering? Your edits will include your username, and your peers can e-mail you off-line. I recommend registration.

Ken Rower and I are the ultimate arbiters of content and behavior, but we expect to have no work to do.

The power of the collective knowledge and experience of our contributors will make this Glossary far more complete and valuable as a resource than it would ever be as the creation of just a few.

This advice from the MediaWiki site:

"Editing rules, editing conventions, and formatting

The number one rule of wiki editing, is to be bold. Dive in and make changes. Other people can correct mistakes later, so have confidence, and give it a try!

There can be all kinds of editing conventions, rules, and philosophy governing the editing of wiki pages, but the "be bold" rule overrides these!

In general try to write clearly and concisely and make sure you are always aiming to do something which improves the wiki contents. An edit might be to contribute whole paragraphs or pages full of information, or it could be as simple as fixing a typo/spelling mistakes.

When you need to use some type of formatting e.g. new headings or bold text, you do this using wiki syntax, see Help:Formatting for some of the common types of formatting used."

That's enough overhead for now.

Jump in; let's see how we do.

-Joel





Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: Joel McCarty] #15798 06/07/08 07:59 AM
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Ken Hume Offline
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Hi Joel,

I have now added a new glossary term (Wealden) to the TFwiki but struggled awhile to rember how to get there. Directly underneath the Forum link on the main page menus is the Glossary List (downloadable in pdf) link.

Do we need a direct menu link to the TFwiki Glossary ?

Regards

Ken Hume


Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: Ken Hume] #15800 06/07/08 01:40 PM
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Joel McCarty Offline OP
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Thanks K,

I had no idea there even was such a thing as a Wealden.

The Wiki link will go live from tfguild.org immediately after the next Scantlings goes out. Until then, please hack your way over there as a favored beta tester, with my gratitude!




Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: Joel McCarty] #15801 06/07/08 01:46 PM
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daiku Offline
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Joel: You also mentioned a FAQ in the title to this topic. Any thoughts on how to proceed on that front? Have you looked at Mo's prototype on Google Docs? I noticed that there is a FAQ link on the top of every page of the forum, but it relates to the mechanics of using the forum, not the content. Perhaps we could hijack that link? CB.


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Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: daiku] #15805 06/08/08 07:09 AM
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Ken Hume Offline
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Hi Joel,

I have now added some more glossary terms and have found that this can be quite addictive.

Is there a guide note that informs posters of the typical format to be employed when adding glossary items especially in respect of reference items.

There does not appear to be a navigation aid to return to glossary items A-G when editing in items H-Z.

Regards

Ken Hume


Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: Ken Hume] #15806 06/08/08 12:34 PM
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Housewright Offline
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Hi Joel;

I could use some guidance on how much we can stray from timber framing in the glossary. For example, roof pitch is fundimental, but should we go into the variety of historic roof pitches which have been given names such as pediment pitch and gothic pitch and "square roof"? This leads to the names which have been given to roof shapes such as mansard, monitor, hip, etc.

What about types of barns like swing beam, swisser, English, Yankee, etc.

Can I include lumbering terms such as cant, balk, deal, plank, batton, flitch, etc. Most terms from related trades are probably too far removed to be included here, though there are terms like wrought (past tense of work) which can apply to wood as well as metal.

Is it a goal to create a sophisticated reference which lists the word origins, dates of use, etc. or keep it simple, like the title "timber framing for beginners" implies.

If the goal is to keep it simple, I think it would be interesting if there could be an appendix for advanced users where dictionaries and glossaries of interest to building historians and related trades could be listed. These could number in the hundreds.

Is there a way to include drawings with the glossary? Illistrations often make graphic discriptions much easier to understand.

Ken is right, this could be addicting!

Jim


The closer you look the more you see.
"Heavy timber framing is not a lost art" Fred Hodgson, 1909
Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: Housewright] #15807 06/08/08 01:28 PM
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Joel McCarty Offline OP
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The goal is NOT to keep it simple, but to make it expansive, and ultimately, the definitive glossary of terms, maintained by our community.

Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: Joel McCarty] #15809 06/08/08 04:24 PM
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Ken Hume Offline
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Hi Jim,

I think that all of the names that you lised above are relevant, especially since some of them are new to me. I have discovered that, even if a person might struggle with trying to define short succinct terms of reference for a glossary word, the neat thing about the Wiki is that some bright spark can come along at a later date and add or refine the input so just entering a relevant glossary word alone is sufficient in the short term.

Put them in before you forget them !

Regards

Ken Hume


Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: Ken Hume] #15813 06/09/08 12:36 PM
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daiku Offline
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If it seems like you're adding too much information for a simple glasary entry, make a new article, and link to it from the glossary entry! Jim, you seem to want to write an article on roof pitches - so go for it. And another on Barn Styles. And another on lumbering terms. Don't worry if you feel like you don't have enough information for a whole article - just start one as a placeholder, and the rest of us will help you fill it in. CB.


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Re: Wiki's and FAQ's [Re: daiku] #15819 06/09/08 04:24 PM
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Housewright Offline
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The sky is the limit!

One of the best glossaries I know of is in R.W. Brunskill's Timber Building in Brittain. It can only be improved on by adding missing terms. Rather than copying each entry (a copyright issue) could we ask Mr Brunskill to add the entire glossary to this one?

How can we deal with illistrations? They are essential.

I'll try to add some terms tonight.

Jim



The closer you look the more you see.
"Heavy timber framing is not a lost art" Fred Hodgson, 1909
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