Pentax Wiki

I read in a comment again something about a wiki, I believe it was Prieni's.
It might be a good solution to many returning problem also since you can keep it up to date... you could see it as a PUF knowledge centre, clean info without the great conversation and fun talk to goes off topic most of the time
Don't get me wrong it makes the forum cosy and pleasant to spend some time here but it might be confusing for some newer members here.

I've some spare time so I could set up the basis for a wiki if there is an interest for this?
If so which wiki-farm would be the best?
I've searched a bit and Wikia might be the best, what do you think?
http://www.wikia.com/wiki/Wikia

I despise Wiki as a way to get original information into any form of usability.

I work with Knowledgebases and forums all the time and wikis are truly awful for information, especially for reliable categorisation of diverse information.

Bret

Bret

I think you are confusing Wikipedia with a wiki, which is a private collection of knowledge. in our case, the contributions would be from members of the forum.

I see the main problem as being some subjects that are not written in stone but have various points of view. The advantage of the forum is that these things can be thrashed out, enabling newer members to see all the issues involved.

There are plenty of info sources on thw web that purport to be factual, and some are good.

Yes like Steve says, we have it all in our own hands and we as members of this forum will pour information into it but like John says some things aren't black and white but guides and reviews should give people an idea to make there own judgement and/or help someone on the way.

Now the problem is if we write an review/guide about a product here on the forum it will get lost in all the other topics, threads and it gets cluttered with comments, a wiki will secure it for easy access without being cluttered.
Of course any debate about a subject or product can and should all be done here on this forum where you've the interaction you are missing on a wiki.

The underlining problem like Bret says is that we need to upkeep it properly or else it can get a maze of information that isn't useful.
To upkeep it that's up to us as well, like said I can (probably) make the basis for it but other members here should be prepared to put some time and effort in it as well.
If done properly it could be an addition to this forum.

... but part of that is also the forum software, which is some of the strangest I've used. Are there any Stickies? Yes, but not many. What about using those to contain a set of links to "useful" topics?
there's the "helpful" button. How often is it used?

We have a wiki over on one site I administer. The bottom line: "who is an authority and why?".
At work, it's pretty simple. You go and ask the person who wrote the software "is this true?". In photography, where there are many, many ways to string a cat, it's not so easy.

I also got rebuffed on wikipedia the other day. Problem is, it's original information. How do *they* know I'm a decent source? How do you? I understand who the person is and they give the strong impression that they understand what they are talking about and that they have "sources". Doesn't count for much.. but then, if that's discounted, then how does new information ever enter Wikipedia? It doesn't. Which means its value as an ever-growing encyclopedia is extremely limited and its reliability even worse.

If such a thing was to be done, then great. But please keep it written in a way that's usable for n00bs (or it won't get used) and also stick to non-controversial subjects - and someone, somewhere needs to be seen to be responsible.

Yes, I do have to do with this kind of thing professionally and I'm very aware of the issues of trying to get good, useful information out to users in a way they'll understand. It's difficult to do well.

Bret

Thank you for your comment Bret.

One thing I hope a wiki will do is decrease the amount of question that are asked a lot of times.
I'm here 1,5 years now and I believe that almost 10 times someone has explained how to use manual lenses on a DSLR.
A sticky will do but the problem with that is it gets cluttered and we lost the ability to edit a comment after an hour so we can keep it up to date.
Here is an example link, a very good sticky with pages full of information but the information is everywhere

If a wiki would come I ain't sure if it should be 100% open for everyone to edit... if a review area would come then that would be open but for real articles maybe first set it on the forum and let people here discus it first and then put it on the wiki.
Hopefully some members here want to moderate the wiki a bit...

Have a look over at ePHOTOzine, because a lot of what you're asking for might already be there.

It's more like 50 times. But even with such a frequently asked question as that, fresh information can come to light when the subject is discussed openly rather than being shut away on a special site or page.

It was only because I saw it mentioned in a forum recently that I realised that manual lenses can be used with Av and Movie modes on digital cameras for all apertures if the lens is not fully mounted (not rotated all the way).

I would have been ignorant of the above fact if it was only mentioned in a wiki because I rarely bother reading them. Forums are less boring despite the repetition.

In fact the repetition helps us to refine our answers to help people better. If you find a certain subject boring, just skip to the next one.

Indeed John but not Pentax orientated
You can probably find everything on the net, I'm pretty sure 90% of the question asked here have been asked earlier so you can even find them on the forum. Then comes the question why are the question asked again?

PUF also has a FAQ but that is heavily outdated link

I personally quite like the idea of a wiki, or at least a wiki-like thing (FAQ, man-pages, whatever) which can be used to outline the non-controversial stuff all in one place. I would prefer it to be part of this forum, however. Topics would be things like: how to use manual lenses on dSLRs, the different ranges of lenses (K, M, A etc.); the problems of using the on-board flash to fire slave flashes. In other words, purely factual information. Debates, such as RAW v. jpeg (Zzzz), Pentax full frame (Zzzzzzzz) or why Pentax is the best thing since sliced bread and the rest of the world are deluded, should definitely stay within the fora.

Best wishes, Kris.

I've mentioned this before when the idea's been mooted (but not for a while so I'll repeat myself):

I'm generally against the idea of a wiki (or similar) as it makes answers *too* easy to find and therefore discourages newcomers from asking questions and joining in. I believe that forums should be alive with discussion rather than reference pages - if we get the same question a hundred times over then so be it.

Quite often I've noticed User A joining the forum and asking XYZ, then a few weeks down the line User B will join, ask the same question, and User A will be the one who provides the answer. I rather like that!

Plus, as Pete mentions above, sometimes an old question is asked in a new way and little nuggets come to light that wouldn't have otherwise been considered.

Just my opinion anyway...

So am I correct to say that the overall feeling is negative to get a wiki up?

I think you'd find opinion is pretty equally divided on this one Stefan - there'll always be supporters and detractors so I don't know where you'd go from here.

Me neither Hefty.
It has his good and bad things like everything, some minor edits on the forum might do the trick like more stickies.
Who actually goes over what gets a sticky and what not and how do you get one?