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

[Pyrre Ej'qy]

I, too, think 3 is the best option! Linking to a relevant guide in the initial/mod/staff post makes the most sense to me.

I, personally, don't think it's worth investing the time in getting the info up and into the wiki if it isn't linked, so I am not for 1. I have been on sites where this was the case and it was assumed everyone would find the info on their own on the wiki/faq but it definitely created the sort of environment where any newbie (or even veterans) became hesitant to ask for directions to said info because they'd be treated as stupid (not that this would happen here!)

As for 2 - that, again, feels like extra work and extra clicking around. If someone is on a forum page where they need more info on how to proceed, having access from that thread would be ideal.

<3

[Dandelion]

I think 3, with pages linked in the relevant places. What if you put a reverse link (from wiki to forum) on the wiki guide saying "here is how the code looks on the forum", and left the examples up?

[Pegasus]

I think 3, with pages linked in the relevant places. What if you put a reverse link (from wiki to forum) on the wiki guide saying "here is how the code looks on the forum", and left the examples up?

I like this idea - because seeing how things work is a big deal - especially for people who are visual learners. I think maybe this is the way to go. Thank you!!

[Pegasus]

I, too, think 3 is the best option! Linking to a relevant guide in the initial/mod/staff post makes the most sense to me.

I, personally, don't think it's worth investing the time in getting the info up and into the wiki if it isn't linked, so I am not for 1. I have been on sites where this was the case and it was assumed everyone would find the info on their own on the wiki/faq but it definitely created the sort of environment where any newbie (or even veterans) became hesitant to ask for directions to said info because they'd be treated as stupid (not that this would happen here!)

As for 2 - that, again, feels like extra work and extra clicking around. If someone is on a forum page where they need more info on how to proceed, having access from that thread would be ideal.

<3

Those are really good points - I think we've got a strong argument here, for 3. And the issue I'm hearing is that - very much - consistency and ease of use is important. I like it!

[Seira Shiryu]

My vote is for 3 as well. With 1, as others have mentioned, just because it is on the wiki doesn't mean I will be able to find it. The links are very important to me.

[Pegasus]

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!

[Pig Boy]

I'd vote for option 2. I was not leaning either way and so didn't weigh in on this conversation to begin with, other than to start it. But seeing the amount of work to copy over the guides, it'd be not really worth it imo. It's not as simple as copy pasting as Peg said.

As for needing help, I'm available to help so I'd choose a if we end up leaning toward 1. But only if we get people to help.

[Clara Preston]

Hello

a) I can't promise any time from my part, so I'm sorry but I don't think I can help.
b) Option 2 sounds like the easier thing to do and I don't think it would be an issue with players

[Darius Baer]

I'd be happy to commit some time. Goodness knows, I don't do enough around the place to help out. And frankly, Peg, I think we tend to take you for granted. I've posted this on the forum, so that's canon!

How much time I can commit is difficult to gauge, however. Newborn life is all-encompassing, on top of my other commitments! An hour a day is just not realistic for me right now, but I can probably do half that. (Either half an hour a day or an hour every second day - weekends excluded.)

I'd like to see more people stepping up to the plate and taking some ownership of ST and 'giving back', as it were.

That being said, your second option seems like a solid fallback position. If there is a wiki page that links to all guides, (on the wiki and on the forum), then in my view, that's "all guides on the wiki", because there's one place to go to find all of the information you need. It also sounds approximately 117% easier than what you've just spent an hour doing!

[Dandelion]

If there is a wiki page that links to all guides, (on the wiki and on the forum), then in my view, that's "all guides on the wiki", because there's one place to go to find all of the information you need. It also sounds approximately 117% easier than what you've just spend an hour doing!

I fully agree with Darius.


a. I'd like to be able to commit some time to it, but life has me stretched to my limits most weeks as it is (manure, windmill, ongoing situation), so in practical terms that's probably a no
b. As above, option 2 works for me