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What should go in the Wiki?

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Steve Conner

Sat Sept 01 2007, 12:00PM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Hi all,

I notice that a lot of articles being added to the wiki are covering topics that are covered in detail elsewhere. For instance, the article on "Real Numbers"

is just a mini version of something that Wikipedia covers in much more detail.

If the wiki is to be "4hv The Book" then surely the bulk of effort should go into writing up knowledge that 4hv itself has created. For instance, compare the article on "Dual Resonant Solid-State Tesla Coil"

or any of the articles on coilgun simulation. These are all more or less based on original work by 4hv members.

Note, this is only IMO and intended to spark debate on the issue.

thedatastream

Sat Sept 01 2007, 04:48PM

Registered Member #505 Joined: Sun Nov 19 2006, 06:42PM
Location: Yorkshire!
Posts: 329

Size of wiki != quality of wiki

Bjørn

Sat Sept 01 2007, 06:38PM

Registered Member #27 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058

It is possible that there is no need for a Real number article, it might be better to include the relevant information in the floating-point article. If an article that contains basic information has only one link to it then it might be better to include the information in the article that links to it. The cut off point is going to be arbitrary and depend on the different people writing the articles and since it is unlikely that any category is going to get crowded there is no harm in it yet.

The long term plan is that the forum will automatically link to articles in the wiki and for the wiki to answer all the common beginners questions so they don't end up on the forum. So the wiki should contain articles that is useful for people reading a post about something they are learning about. The articles should not be in the form they are in wikipedia. The information should be accessible for people that are learning about the subject and skip information that is irrelevant in the context.

So in general there should be articles covering the categories from the most basic like charging a capacitor with a 9V battery to the most advanced Tesla coil theory. It would probably not work brilliantly in a book so I suggest creating a new category with a definition of what goes into the book. Then it is just a matter of adding the category tag to the end of the articles that should go in the book. This sort of thing is what a wiki is very good at.

Alessandro

Sat Sept 01 2007, 10:56PM

Registered Member #70 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:19AM
Location:
Posts: 43

I agree, there is no point including articles which are much better written elsewhere. We need to focus on the material that does not exist already. Information relevant to the forum, I can't recall anyone asking about Real numbers but people ask about High Voltage, Tesla Coils, Coilguns etc all the time. This is the material we should be focusing on.

The Wiki also needs to be more of an instruction book. Wikipedia itself is just a knowledge base, which is fine because its readers are in search of information. Whereas people come here to learn how to build things. Don't get me wrong, we need information, but we also need practical guides on using it. A newbie might get pointed to a wiki article but if it's all facts he/her will still post a question on how to something.

Just my $0.02

Chris Russell

Sun Sept 02 2007, 12:32AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

The real numbers article seems okay to me, though we might consider merging it into an article that describes all the major sets of numbers. It's a valid article, and it is a question that might arise for someone who is programming. I think it falls within the scope of the wiki. Don't forget, there's more to 4hv than Tesla coils and coil guns. Where do we draw the line? I'm not sure that we even should, yet. We are in no danger of overwhelming the wiki with too much information. As long as people use the topics covered by 4hv as a guide, I think we will be okay for now.

The Wiki also needs to be more of an instruction book. Wikipedia itself is just a knowledge base, which is fine because its readers are in search of information.

For right now, the wiki is a knowledge base, not a how to guide. There's a significant amount of knowledge that can be found here on 4hv and not on wikipedia. The DRSSTC article linked above is an excellent example; compare it with

. However, we may want to look at creating a "how to" category, which could then be populated with articles that spell out how to do things step-by-step. An article such as "how to wind a Tesla coil secondary" could answer a lot of newbie questions, and allow 4hv people to pool what must amount to thousands of man hours of experience in winding.

Would there be any interest in a "how to" category? It might prove very useful, if people are willing to craft some articles for it.

Alessandro

Sun Sept 02 2007, 02:26AM

Registered Member #70 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:19AM
Location:
Posts: 43

I would be very interested in a "How To" category. An idea I had is that if it would be possible to assign each article a Basic Intermediate or Advanced level depending on its content. Also the ability to show/hide articles based on their level. This would allow a newcomer, for example to choose to only view Basic articles while browsing; How to solder, Ohms law etc. While advanced members wouldn't have to wade through basic stuff. This is assuming the wiki becomes large enough to warrant this.

Another idea is creating a list of "Top Contributors" possibly based how much information each person adds to the Wiki. Bringing a sense of competition and being the "Highest Contributor" and named as so might encourage people to work on the Wiki more.

Just some random ideas.

thedatastream

Sun Sept 02 2007, 09:05AM

Registered Member #505 Joined: Sun Nov 19 2006, 06:42PM
Location: Yorkshire!
Posts: 329

"How To" sounds like a really good idea. Having "How To" as a category would also work. One possible problem arising from this is having a suitable disclaimer (unless we have one already). Making it clear that this is for information only and having a safety guide would also be good

There's nothing wrong with having entries on real numbers and the like but IMO the articles aim should be to

a) reference already well written articles on the subject
b) show how they can be applied to our areas of interest

Steve Conner

Sun Sept 02 2007, 11:04AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Yes, I also vote for a Howto category. Let's keep this thread going, IMO, it's asking questions that need to be asked

WaveRider

Sun Sept 02 2007, 11:49AM

Registered Member #29 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 09:00AM
Location: Hasselt, Belgium
Posts: 500

Yes, I think a specific HOWTO section is a great idea!

Also, I must apologise for my lack of activity on the Wiki. I kinda left all that mathematical stuff hanging.. My intention was (is) to cover aspects of electromagnetic modeling in an HV context which requires a certain mathematical background to tackle (hence the maths stuff). Uni students may find it interesting, but the general 4HV audience may find it tedious. What do you think? I will make an effort to fill the discussion out if you think it is appropriate and may be useful.

Since we all do this in our limited spare time, feedback is important to everyone to keep up the motivation to attempt to prepare quality material on sometimes involved topics.

My philosophy on the Wiki is to make advanced topics available to everyone who wishes to understand them while simultaneously providing the basic information needed for beginners to get a positive start in electronics, electrodynamics.

Chris Russell

Sun Sept 02 2007, 07:16PM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Great, sounds like there is more than enough support for a "how to" section, then. I think we'll just start with a single category, then expand it into subcategories if and when we need to.

I'm currently working on an upgrade for the wiki, along with a way to mesh the forum and wiki user databases together, thus eliminating the need for seperate signups. Anyone who is waiting to sign up and start on the wiki, please be patient, as I think the result will really streamline the process.

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