WereWiki

[Chriz]

I'm pleased to announce that werewolf.com now has its own wiki (http://www.werewolf.com/werewiki/).

Right now, anonymous editing is possible, although we may disable that before too long. When we do, you'll need an account on the wiki in order to make changes. You can use the same username (and, I suppose, password) as your werewolf.com account -- and I encourage that -- but they're not bridged databases. That is, they're not literally the same accounts.

The focus of the wiki is to expand on largely any topic that is eligible for discussion on the website itself. However, personal bio pages of users will be deleted (but feel free to create pages for public figures, if they're relevant to the overall werewolf.com theme).

Also, keep opinions out of the articles. If you want to write up a page on, say, American Werewolf in London, stick to the facts about the movie. Don't make it a review (that's what the Movies and TV forum here is for).

I see this largely as a repository for mythology, entertainment info (werewolf movie trivia, for example), history, and maybe some science and other similar news/info. But let's see if it grows into something unique.

Edit: It occurred to me that the wiki would be a great place to put all the various forum rules and info, such as LARP or Weregame rules.

Edit 2: For those who are unfamiliar with how a wiki works, it's really pretty simple. If you have an idea for an article, go to the site and search for it. If the article exists, then see if it needs editing. If the article doesn't exist, there will be a link that will allow you to create it.

Remember that you DO NOT own the articles you create. The point of a wiki is that everyone can edit it. So don't get into trivial edit-wars with other users. If someone is altering your article to the point of distorting information, let me or one of the admins know.

[Klark]

You are either a man of large heart or large balls.

But I like the idea and look forward to contributing. Will this thread be used to make sure two people don't do a write up on the same thing? I mean, can someone claim to begin a write up on a subject and others let them do it or will it be first come, first served?

[Chriz]

You are either a man of large heart or large balls.

But I like the idea and look forward to contributing. Will this thread be used to make sure two people don't do a write up on the same thing? I mean, can someone claim to begin a write up on a subject and others let them do it or will it be first come, first served?

First come, first served. All you have to do is search for the topic in question on the wiki. If someone's created it, it'll be there and you can edit it if need be. If not, it's yours to create (but not own).

And yeah, this could go insane, which means we'll probably have to disable anonymous editing at some point.

[Shining Wolf]

And yeah, this could go insane, which means we'll probably have to disable anonymous editing at some point.

You might just want to save yourself the hastle of changing BS pages and turn off the anonymous editing right now.

[Chriz]

You might just want to save yourself the hastle of changing BS pages and turn off the anonymous editing right now.

I'm sure it won't be long.

[MorganaFang]

I have some random sites to suggest as inspiration for developing articles.

Godchecker (http://www.godchecker.com/)

and

Obakemono Project (http://www.obakemono.com)

Both these sites are really cool in that they develop their own articles written in "their own words" with citation of their sources (which vary from books to other online sites). Another thing I dig especially about Obakemono is that they create their own art for the articles.

[DarkWolf]

You mention it'd be a great place to put forum rules but if anyone can edit, or any registered user can edit, it would not serve well as a place for rules. But having a specific page rather than a thread for forum rules would be fantastic. Is there a way for a moderator to "lock" a Wiki page to mods/admins only?

ADDENDUM:

I do like the wiki thing. It can really help build the site into a community beyond just a message board. :)

:whee:

And I love that frolicking emoticon. :p

[Chriz]

Is there a way for a moderator to "lock" a Wiki page to mods/admins only?

Yes, admins can mark specific pages as "protected."

[DarkWolf]

Yes, admins can mark specific pages as "protected."
That's decent. Hmm, I wonder what I could wiki... >_>

[Chriz]

It's funny how intimidating that blank page is.

[MorganaFang]

It's funny how intimidating that blank page is.

Yes. It's so weird but I'm starting out writing in word and getting my sources together. Plus because I'm really rusty at writing anything coherent, I keep looking up howto's which is also adding to the lack of getting anything down. :P

http://www.copyblogger.com/write-article-fast/

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-Articles

http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/etc/writing-style.html

[Chriz]

Here's my personal favorite. (http://www.bartleby.com/141/)

How can you not love this?

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."

Added:

Some wiki help.
Starting a New Page (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page)
Editing Pages (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing_pages)
Formatting (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting)
Managing Files (including uploading images) (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Managing_files)
Managing Images (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images)
Links (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links)

[Klark]

I like the elements of style. As a journalist, we're taught from that book.

While I will contribute by writing, I want to let it be known that I can help with editing, reading for misspellings and punctuation. As a newspaper reporter, it's part of my job and it's something I love to do. Anyone wanting editing assistance can PM so we can work together!

[Chriz]

Blueeyes has given us our first real entry: Silver (http://www.werewolf.com/werewiki/index.php?title=Silver). I see that Klark has provided some editing and I've heavily reformatted the page a bit, myself.

I'm pointing this out because formatting a new page, including placing internal and external links, can be a bit intimidating at first. If you click on the little edit buttons, you can see how a lot of it's done.

Just a reminder, to italicize, you need to wrap a word in two apostrophes, or single quotes. It looks like a double quote, but it's not. So it's ''italic'' instead of "italic". Bolding is three single quotes, and bold-italic is five.

''italic''
'''bold'''
'''''bold italic'''''

[Klark]

Chriz, might I ask that you please write the wiki on the different versions of this forum board. I've been here since around the end of 1998, but it's interesting to note that the domain was originally purchased for Werewolf the game, wasn't it? I don't know, that's why you should write it. :D

[Chriz]

I've been here since around the end of 1998, but it's interesting to note that the domain was originally purchased for Werewolf the game, wasn't it? I don't know, that's why you should write it. :D

Not exactly. I happened to be playing the game at the time, but that wasn't the specific reason.

My full recollection of the history of the site is probably no more detailed than anyone else's, but I could probably get a skeleton article set up.

[Golden Howl]

Also, keep opinions out of the articles. If you want to write up a page on, say, American Werewolf in London, stick to the facts about the movie. Don't make it a review (that's what the Movies and TV forum here is for).

I've been wanting to share a research paper of mine based on wolf communication and human-wolf interactions. It's about 10 pages long (Double spaced that is with 1 inch margins), and 2 of those pages are Works Cited. The conclusion (about a paragraph long) might include a few opinions, but all of it is written in 3rd person. Would this be the proper place to share it?

[Chriz]

I've been wanting to share a research paper of mine based on wolf communication and human-wolf interactions. It's about 10 pages long (Double spaced that is with 1 inch margins), and 2 of those pages are Works Cited. The conclusion (about a paragraph long) might include a few opinions, but all of it is written in 3rd person. Would this be the proper place to share it?

It'd be ok if you labeled them as opinions, but don't be shocked if something you write gets rewritten, too.

Remember, you can't own it once you put it up. Someone else can edit or modify it. If that's worrisome for you, perhaps another idea might be to host your paper somewhere where no one can alter it and use it as a cited work for a wiki article about the same topic?

[WareW-Believer]

Is this wiki supposed to be based around the site's discussions and/or theme, or is anything acceptible?

[Chriz]

Is this wiki supposed to be based around the site's discussions and/or theme, or is anything acceptible?

Try to keep it at least tangentially related to the site, for now.

If it would be an appropriate topic to post about on the boards, it should be an appropriate topic to create a wiki page about.

[LV426]

Here's my personal favorite. (http://www.bartleby.com/141/)

How can you not love this?

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."


So how come when you take something apart and put it back together again you always end up with extra parts?

[Chriz]

So how come when you take something apart and put it back together again you always end up with extra parts?

I machine should have no unnecessary parts. Doesn't mean all machines do.

[MorganaFang]

So I noticed adding images was disabled, will this change after we have more "meat" in there and the registration is locked up?

[Chriz]

I didn't realize it was disabled. It's enabled now.

[Golden Howl]

It'd be ok if you labeled them as opinions, but don't be shocked if something you write gets rewritten, too.

Remember, you can't own it once you put it up. Someone else can edit or modify it. If that's worrisome for you, perhaps another idea might be to host your paper somewhere where no one can alter it and use it as a cited work for a wiki article about the same topic?


I believe I'll post it here, just to be safe. How would you suggest I create the thread to where others can parcipate? And how should I display my paper? As an attachment or otherwise?

[Chriz]

I believe I'll post it here, just to be safe. How would you suggest I create the thread to where others can parcipate? And how should I display my paper? As an attachment or otherwise?

You can attach Word docs and PDFs, just like you attach images. Perhaps start a thread in the appropriate forum and attach it as one of those kinds of formats?