I was browsing through the Internet one night and stumbled upon this page (http://maddash.org/cgi-bin/k4.cgi). It's a wiki for Kuro5hin (http://www.kuro5hin.org/). It got me to thinking: Wouldn't it be great if there was a wiki for SciForums? With SciForums's long history, many notable members, and memorable events, I really think there's enough information about SciForums worth writing about on a wiki.

Of course, we could and should all contribute to it and help it grow into a viable source of information about this community. It would be especially important for all the older members to do so, since they hold knowledge that's slowly dying along with all the notable oldbies.

We could make a free wiki at Wikia (http://www.wikia.com/wiki/Wikia). It's very similar in look and functionality to Wikipedia. For reference, here are several (http://straightdope.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) examples (http://clockcrew.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) of wikis (http://gaia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Gaiapedia) being (http://furry.wikia.com/wiki/WikiFur_Furry_Central) maintained (http://familyguy.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) at Wikia (http://www.wikiality.com/Main_Page).

What are your thoughts on this?

I really think we should try it.

Well, sure it could be taken into consideration! Thanks for the info! :)

You're welcome.

Any further thoughts from people?

A good way to advertise.

A good way to advertise.

Now you're thinking. :m:

It'd be virtually useless. What the Hell would we put there?

It'd be virtually useless. What the Hell would we put there?

Like I said in the OP, our history, memorable events therein, and information on notable members. That's not all either.

We have stuff.

EDIT: For example, PJ: Do you know anything of the Wes collective?

Sure, note the notable's who have participated here, give the highlights and disasters, note the traffic flow, and just pump up the ol' site.

Sure, note the notable's who have participated here, give the highlights and disasters, note the traffic flow, and just pump up the ol' site.

We can write about trolls who have given us trouble, about the time when we had that funds drive back when Porf was here and could barely pay for our server space, about the time our server was acting up, about the time SciForums crashed altogether and we created a sanctuary which is still alive, about the Wes collective, about the slumps we regularly have, about feuds between members, *continues until he runs out of breath*...

This forum has been active since 1999. It has a history, and its notable members, and its culture. It has lots of stuff that ought to be preserved in a wiki.

We can have articles describing each of our subforums, what sort of content usually ends up there, and who moderates them. We can have an FAQ article. We can have SciForums's rules. We can have guides for newbies. We can have articles for our fads, our inside jokes, our lingo, and so on.

We can have articles describing each of our subforums, what sort of content usually ends up there, and who moderates them. We can have an FAQ article. We can have SciForums's rules. We can have guides for newbies. We can have articles for our fads, our inside jokes, our lingo, and so on.

Maybe we should first have a sciforums history subforum here, and have people contribute their memories before attempting a wiki.

I think there wouldn't be more than maybe 10 articles in this proposed wiki. There just isn't enough information. You can keep listing potential topics, but I don't really think there is enough actual content to make any sort of wiki. If anyone has an extra computer laying around, they could download the MediaWiki software and host it themselves.

Maybe we should first have a sciforums history subforum here, and have people contribute their memories before attempting a wiki.

I had the idea of having "workshop" threads where we discuss a given article topic — for example, the Science Forum (http://thescienceforum.com/) — and gather as much information as we want to include about the topic and how it relates to SciForums. Then we could draft articles.

This would have the added benefit of making our regulars well aware of the wiki, and would encourage them to contribute. Of course, your idea does too. It's good to make a dedicated subforum for our proposed wiki and see where it goes.

"SciForums: Where Diversity Counts"

"SciForums: Where Diversity Counts"

SciForums: Masturbation for the mind.

This reminds me of a thread I posted in once upon a time! We were thinking of a good slogan. It was sometime in my early days. :D

It would be especially important for all the older members to do so, since they hold knowledge that's slowly dying along with all the notable oldbies.


What are your thoughts on this?

I really think we should try it.
something to get you started:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://sciforums.com

Good job leo.

Duuuuude... That's awesome.

But when I try to click on a thread that shows up on an archived index page, it doesn't take me to the archived thread. Likewise when I click on a subforum link.

But... Duuuuude... That's totally awesome.

athel
this it the first link and free thoughts:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070131172556/http://www.sciforums.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=19

edit
this is "are you lonely" thread from the above link
http://web.archive.org/web/20070131172755/http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=23140

It turns out the links work on and off. Weird.

Guys! We have a CaféPress store (http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=sciforums)! :eek: I'm gonna make a thread about this.

I wouldnt be seen dead in this.

http://images.cafepress.com/product/1335091_240x240_Front.jpg

I want to see Donald Trump modeling one of the T-shirts, oh the horror.

For example, PJ: Do you know anything of the Wes collective?

ah, the good ole days of wesdom. fun times indeed.

ah, the good ole days of wesdom. fun times indeed.

Wesdom! That was exactly the word I was looking for! I knew it was called something special...

Thanks.

I still hate that I came here after wesdom and couldn't be part of the fun. :(

well we should probably write about me in the wiki

Athelwulf:

Yes, I am aware of that.

Or \777

If someone wants to give a brief factual description about what Sciforum is, its purposes, what it represents, its accomplishments, etc., then I'll post it on Wikipedia.

What is Sciforum? Give your definition of Sciforum. When was it established? For what original purpose? Where has it gone from there? How has it evolved, grown or changed? I suggest you start a new thread on this or ask the forum founders.

Sciforum has been sited five times on Wikipedia as a direct reference source, including two times as a reference for two world renowned physicists.

--------------------------------------------------

Go to new thread and let this one sink

I'm not letting this one sink, because I still like my idea and still back it. Besides, CommHam made a SciForums article, and it was deleted.

Well yes, but the new thread is what you want, no? A wiki for SciForums.

Well yes, but the new thread is what you want, no? A wiki for SciForums.

You're talking about an article. It is not a wiki for SciForums because Wikipedia doesn't belong to us. A wiki at Wikia would be a wiki for SciForums.

I'm not against your idea. But I feel I must note that it's distinctly different from my idea.

A wiki is a wiki. An article at a wiki is an article.

Sciforum has been sited five times on Wikipedia as a direct reference source, including two times as a reference for two world renowned physicists.

Oh?
Sounds interesting.
Share.

I've been compiling a list of stuff we could possibly make articles for. I started with a list of members I thought were notable, and I was surprised at how many there are, even if you trim out the ones who are only minimally notable in the community.

Just now, I started thinking about SciForums-related topics, both general and specific, about any interesting or important events, and about any facts or quirks about the forum and the community.

The list of members is a bit long and I don't like to take up so much space, but I'll share a quick list of ideas I came up with that could become articles:

:- SciForums (since Wikipedia has an article about itself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia), I don't see why not)
:- wesdom
:- SciVillage
:- Great server crash of 2005
:- The Science Forum
:- The Picture Thread
:- Memorable threads (continuing on the idea of the Picture Thread)
:- SciForums memes, fads, and inside jokes (such as Dear Denmark, goat-fucking avatars, "Banned" snotwuhs, WWAD, Bacardi Breezers, etc.)
:- SciForums culture
:- SciForums slang
:- Poison

We can certainly also include non-article content:

:- Newbie's guide to SciForums
:- FAQs
:- Directories and lists (of important members, notable banned members, first-pagers, members with over 10,000 posts, etc.)

And there's more. This is just all I can think of right now, now that I've stayed up until sunrise.

Guys, I really think we could do it. If Wikipedia can make a decent article on the word "the (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The)", we can manage our own wiki. And no one says we have to emulate Wikipedia in any respects, including content. It's ours. We can do what we want with it.

Let's try.

If you want to do it, then do it already. It's free, right?

If you want to do it, then do it already. It's free, right?

Yeah, yeah, alright. I'll talk to the Illuminati about it and then get right on it. ;)

Sounds like a great idea. How would you integrate it?

Sounds like a great idea. How would you integrate it?

Well, I've consulted some people, and as of now this is my idea: The admins install the MediaWiki software onto the forum's server and make a subdomain, thereby sidestepping Wikia. Then we make a dedicated subforum for "workshop" threads, threads for drafting content, which would serve to focus our efforts.

What I will do to achieve this is: I will draft a mission statement, description, and other stuff the wiki needs at the very beginning, and submit it for the approval of everyone here; at the same time, I'll make a poll surveying what people think about the idea of a new forum.

Everything from here on should fall into place.

I assumed this is what you were planning but do you know how to construct the wiki template and links? And have you received any feedback on the administrators yet? Sounds great but you'd have to have the computer savy to do it and their cooperation.

I assumed this is what you were planning but do you know how to construct the wiki template and links?

Templates: Create a page with "Template" in the title for easy identification, include such code as:

<includeonly>[insert table code and/or whatever shit here]</includeonly>
<noinclude>Other shit that's not gonna be displayed.</noinclude>

Links: [[Like this]]. And [[Piped Links|like this]].

And have you received any feedback on the administrators yet? Sounds great but you'd have to have the computer savy to do it and their cooperation.

No feedback from the admins yet, unfortunately. But I'm hoping to get that soon.