[A6] a6 wiki

[Susan Baird]

Well Joan/Chris, I just started writing an email regarding this subject 
when I saw your posts come in. Since you've opened the door I'll do 
this here which is probably better anyway.

My job has totally prevented me from getting the T&T done, not to 
mention music. It's been very frustrating. Now my life is about to take 
a 180 degree turn - I have a once in a lifetime opportunity to quit my 
job and do music professionally and I have to go there. I am simply not 
going to be able to continue with the T&T. I hate not being able to 
finish what I started but I guess that's life. My sincere apologies to 
all.

I initially set it up in Quark on a Mac, designed it to look like the 
home page, and Boele helped with some formatting. At the beginning I 
had a discussion with Boele - if I ever had to stop he would be able to 
take it over since he also uses Quark on a Mac. However, without asking 
him directly, I know that his job is equally consuming. It may be that 
if someone fed him the edited T&T posts from the Word document he would 
be able to put them into the Quark document and thus keep that document 
if that is what you want. Or possibly there is someone else with 
Quark/Mac/OSX who could do it. Otherwise, a wiki would be the way to 
go.

I do think that a group effort in some form or fashion is the only way 
to keep up with it all. It's really just too much with the last 4 years 
of catch up plus trying to keep current. I have also been thinking that 
HTML is the way to go as people can print that just as easily as they 
can print a pdf. So yes, I'm thinking a wiki is the way to go for all 
of those documents. I was concerned about the comment spam, duplicate 
posting, etc. but after just reading Chris' comments about back ups, I 
think wiki will work.

I have 2 months to help make the transition to whatever we need to do 
before I'll be moving. If we can please work something out I would 
really appreciate it and I'll do whatever I can to help make it happen. 
I will also be wrapping up my job and packing, etc. but I will do the 
best I can.

Here's where it stands. I've extracted all of the T&T from the archives 
from Jan. 1, 2001 (where Chad left off) to Jan 1, 2004. They are 
copied/pasted into a Word document and laid out clearly by date up to 
Jan. 1, 2004. I started editing/copy/pasting them into the new Quark 
document. I managed to get all of Jan, 2001 and half of 2002 done. The 
additions to Quark are in red and they are checked off in red in the 
Word document. So, it's pretty organized. At the same time I was 
working on the other documents - the FAQ, Start Guide, and Bugs/Wish 
list, adding to them as I went down through the Word document. All of 
them are in progress and won't be complete until we are caught up to 
the current postings. With a group effort and divided tasks it could 
all be pulled together fairly quickly I think.

I do work with HTML but have not used wiki before. I don't want to 
commit to anything else unless I know I can follow through but 
certainly I want to participate and help out as much as I can. I 
believe I can have the FAQ ready before I move so at least that can go 
online.

Regards,
Sioux



> You know, I want to post a followup to my own comment.  Basically, I
> vote for a wiki if it's something Sioux would use to help maintain the
> FAQ.
>
> I'd really like to see the FAQ online as a wiki effort.  That way it'll
> always be available for updates, Sioux can review all changes to it if
> she wants to take that responsibility, and we can all contribute as we
> learn new things.  Sioux, have you used a wiki before?  Would you feel
> comfortable in using one to help maintain the FAQ more easily?  They 
> are
> a real pleasure, especially if HTML feels foreign or difficult to you.
> (They tend to have simplified and intuitive systems for laying out
> text.)
>
> And we are fortunate to have access to free online hosting for such a
> service for an indefinite period of time.  Do note that if this goes
> away in the future (which I do not see on the horizon at all), we may
> have to secure another free hosting service capable of providing online
> database and perl/PHP scripting, or put together for donations from the
> list to maintain such a service.  I only say this in the interest of
> full disclosure; I don't know how far into the future y'all are 
> thinking
> about keeping the site going.
>
> Cheers,
> -Joan
>
> Thus spake Joan Sarah Touzet (joant at ieee.org):
>
>> Well, we've got the website, and someone else is already doing forum
>> posting.  Do we really need a third resource?
>>
>> If people want it, it'll get built.  So far I think there's only been 
>> 2
>> votes out of everyone on this list for a wiki.  Personally I am afraid
>> of dealing with all the comment spam, and the effort necessary to
>> maintain something very few people will use.
>>
>> -Joan
>>
>> Thus spake Chris Pickett (chris.pickett at mail.mcgill.ca):
>>
>>> So, how about an A6 wiki?
>>>
>>> MediaWiki used by Wikipedia would be great.
>>>
>>> I think it would be a good resource, and easy way for people to 
>>> upload
>>> patches, read about and discuss bugs, write tips, whatever...
>>>
>>> Chris
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