• Out of Character • Forum Guides and where to put them

[Vulpes]

Vote option 2, and I'm afraid I won't be able to help.

edit: I've been bullied into posting my explanation here lol

I think that the way guides are formatted right now just suits the forums more, with links and post structure.
I think if we change the way we design guides, yeah the wiki is better, but that would require even MORE work, that requires actual thoughts about design, and I think we're too understaffed for that.

[Pig Boy]

Heya guys, I'm still down for helping.

However I'm going to have to lean toward 2, as my work load on the site is already quite hefty. I'll still help, though, whatever is decided/voted upon.

[Pegasus]

Ok - so - in discussing this I'm trying to get a gauge of where we are in terms of

"In an ideal world" vs "Realistically...."

We are low on staff at the moment, and that means we're picking up stuff in lots of places.

So I'm going to throw in an Option 3. I literally just thought of it.

Option 3: We have a drop down menu of links to all guides (on the forum and on the wiki) on the top header bar. It could almost certainly replace the "Bookmarks" up there because that's in your UCP and is one click away from your subscriptions.

Those links automatically open in a new tab and could (I believe) be searchable (like our snazzy template selection now is). I believe (I believe) Tech Guy could do that.

This allows us to have a longer-term look at each guide - think about moving it / keeping it where it is / looking at the formatting and best placement for it. It gives us what we want (all guides in one place) and means we don't have to transfer things.

Thoughts?

(PS: You know I luffle ya, Vulpes <3 )

[Pig Boy]

That's a good idea, and puts the guides in a place that's even more visible than the wiki. I'd slide even further down to option 3 if I may.

[Pegasus]

Update!

Following this post in this thread (copied in the spoiler below in case you missed it) - we talked - there's a lot of good points being made.

I just added this:

Ok - so - in discussing this I'm trying to get a gauge of where we are in terms of

"In an ideal world" vs "Realistically...."

We are low on staff at the moment, and that means we're picking up stuff in lots of places.

So I'm going to throw in an Option 3. I literally just thought of it.

Option 3: We have a drop down menu of links to all guides (on the forum and on the wiki) on the top header bar. It could almost certainly replace the "Bookmarks" up there because that's in your UCP and is one click away from your subscriptions.

Those links automatically open in a new tab and could (I believe) be searchable (like our snazzy template selection now is). I believe (I believe) Tech Guy could do that.

This allows us to have a longer-term look at each guide - think about moving it / keeping it where it is / looking at the formatting and best placement for it. It gives us what we want (all guides in one place) and means we don't have to transfer things.

Pigs has changed his vote. I have to say, I'm doing the same. That would still require a bit of time - in that we'd have to identify all the guides we have - and how to format the list, etc.

Updated looks like this:


Peg - yes to helping - Option 3
Clara - no to helping - Option 2
Dan - no to helping - Option 2
Tech Guy - yes to helping - Option 1
Doran - no to helping - Option 2
Seira - yes to helping - Option 1
Avalon - yes to helping - undecided
Pig Boy - yes to helping - Option 3
Darius - yes to helping - Option 1
Rozkia - yes to helping - Option 1
Munchkin - yes to helping - Option 1
Q - yes to helping - Option 1
Fate - yes to helping - Option 1

Current Totals (Cos we're getting a list)

Option 1: 7 votes
Option 2: 3 votes
Option 3: 2 votes.
Undecided: 1 votes

If any of the people who posted Option 3 want to change your vote, feel free to post again.

I'd like to (if we can) hear from as many people as possible here - we all use the Guides (or, if we don't - we really should!!! )

Thankee!

Previous Message In Case It Gets Lost In Here!!

Heya everyone -

So - in the spirit of getting started, I just tried to put this - or the finished bits of it - on to the wiki. It's enormous, as a task - because the coding / formatting is different - because the wiki doesn't do BBCode and the board doesn't do html.

It took me over an hour to get the first first tab of the first post done - and to my mind that is far too long.

So - realistically, if we say "yes, we're going to move all guides to the Wiki" we are looking at hours - and hours - of work. I, personally, am not prepared to prioritise that for moving information which exists and is accessible already. As we say round my way, the juice is not worth the squeeze there.

Therefore, I'm going to propose that we do something else. Options as I see them are:

1. We get a team effort of maybe 10 people. First, they identify every guide we have and their location. Then, starting at the top of the list, each person creates a "wiki" version of specific guides (the wiki coding isn't hard, it' sjust not the same as bbcode. Very frustrating), then add the current wiki guides to the correct categories. Then, go to the first page of each place where the guides were and put in those links. To give an indication - I think that (think - guess - guesstimate) - if we had 10 people and everyone gave 1 hour a day till it was done (or equivalent) - it would probably take 2 weeks.

2. We have, maybe, a single "Guides" category on the wiki - with a list of all guides in existence (linked) and a central "guides" forum where all the forum-living guides live.

3. Something I haven't thought of. Anyone got any suggestions?

I understand entirely that the best option is to have everything on the wiki - but tis a biiig job. So - if folks want that (and it'd be great!) - can you give some time? Please let us know by posting in here. If we get enough people - we can have 1 as an option. But if not, it currently isn't one.

Please reply with two things.
a) Whether you would be prepared to give some time (maybe an hour ish a day ish over a 2 week period) to get all guides on the wiki.
b) If we can't get enough folks to volunteer - what you think of option 2 / suggestions for option 3.

Thanks all!

[Dandelion]

I'd like to slide my vote to option 3 please

[Seira Shiryu]

I would also like to change my vote to option 3 please.

[Darius Baer]

At the risk of being mistaken for Woe operating a revolving door, (), I'd like to change my vote again - this time to option 3. Regardless of the workload involved, this sounds like the best outcome. The workload is, of course, a huge bonus. Having the menu on both sites is just brilliant design.

Then, over time, and without any mad urgency, we can shift guides to wherever they seem most suited and update the links in the menu. It's kinda perfect.

[Squirrel]

Option 3 sounds fantastic, honestly.

[Pegasus]

Update!

Following this post in this thread (copied in the spoiler below in case you missed it) - we talked - there's a lot of good points being made.

I just added this:

Ok - so - in discussing this I'm trying to get a gauge of where we are in terms of

"In an ideal world" vs "Realistically...."

We are low on staff at the moment, and that means we're picking up stuff in lots of places.

So I'm going to throw in an Option 3. I literally just thought of it.

Option 3: We have a drop down menu of links to all guides (on the forum and on the wiki) on the top header bar. It could almost certainly replace the "Bookmarks" up there because that's in your UCP and is one click away from your subscriptions.

Those links automatically open in a new tab and could (I believe) be searchable (like our snazzy template selection now is). I believe (I believe) Tech Guy could do that.

This allows us to have a longer-term look at each guide - think about moving it / keeping it where it is / looking at the formatting and best placement for it. It gives us what we want (all guides in one place) and means we don't have to transfer things.

Pigs has changed his vote. I have to say, I'm doing the same. That would still require a bit of time - in that we'd have to identify all the guides we have - and how to format the list, etc.

Updated looks like this:


Peg - yes to helping - Option 3
Clara - no to helping - Option 2
Dan - no to helping - Option 3
Tech Guy - yes to helping - Option 1
Doran - no to helping - Option 2
Seira - yes to helping - Option 3
Avalon - yes to helping - undecided
Pig Boy - yes to helping - Option 3
Darius - yes to helping - Option 3
Rozkia - yes to helping - Option 1
Munchkin - yes to helping - Option 1
Q - yes to helping - Option 1
Fate - yes to helping - Option 1
Squirrel - yes to helping - Option 3

Current Totals (Cos we're getting a list)

Option 1: 5 votes
Option 2: 3 votes
Option 3: 6 votes.
Undecided: 1 votes

If any of the people who posted before Option 3 want to change your vote, feel free to post again.

I'd like to (if we can) hear from as many people as possible here - we all use the Guides (or, if we don't - we really should!!! )

Thankee!

Previous Message In Case It Gets Lost In Here!!

Heya everyone -

So - in the spirit of getting started, I just tried to put this - or the finished bits of it - on to the wiki. It's enormous, as a task - because the coding / formatting is different - because the wiki doesn't do BBCode and the board doesn't do html.

It took me over an hour to get the first first tab of the first post done - and to my mind that is far too long.

So - realistically, if we say "yes, we're going to move all guides to the Wiki" we are looking at hours - and hours - of work. I, personally, am not prepared to prioritise that for moving information which exists and is accessible already. As we say round my way, the juice is not worth the squeeze there.

Therefore, I'm going to propose that we do something else. Options as I see them are:

1. We get a team effort of maybe 10 people. First, they identify every guide we have and their location. Then, starting at the top of the list, each person creates a "wiki" version of specific guides (the wiki coding isn't hard, it' sjust not the same as bbcode. Very frustrating), then add the current wiki guides to the correct categories. Then, go to the first page of each place where the guides were and put in those links. To give an indication - I think that (think - guess - guesstimate) - if we had 10 people and everyone gave 1 hour a day till it was done (or equivalent) - it would probably take 2 weeks.

2. We have, maybe, a single "Guides" category on the wiki - with a list of all guides in existence (linked) and a central "guides" forum where all the forum-living guides live.

3. Something I haven't thought of. Anyone got any suggestions?

I understand entirely that the best option is to have everything on the wiki - but tis a biiig job. So - if folks want that (and it'd be great!) - can you give some time? Please let us know by posting in here. If we get enough people - we can have 1 as an option. But if not, it currently isn't one.

Please reply with two things.
a) Whether you would be prepared to give some time (maybe an hour ish a day ish over a 2 week period) to get all guides on the wiki.
b) If we can't get enough folks to volunteer - what you think of option 2 / suggestions for option 3.

Thanks all!

[/quote]