What would you like to see in the Wiki?

[PartPricer]

One of the things that I like about this site is that it has a direction and focus. My interaction with Randy has given me indication that this site is to be more than just a discussion forum, but a public repositiory for information on the 914. As part of that direction, he has set up a wiki (http://www.roadglue.com/wiki).

Now, I have a ton of information that I am preparing for addition to the wiki. But, I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone would like to have included.

Do we need:
General information (production numbers, colors, etc.)
How to's (adjusting brakes, fixing rust, proper jackstand placement, etc.)
Famous 914s (racecars, celebrity owned, protoypes, etc.)


I'm sure there are many more. But, I thought that I would throw this out to start a discussion.

[John D.]

Hi Paul..!

I think the answer to your question is "yes" ;) While I'm not sure what a wiki, is (and I even had a 914 - but it was wikiless, I guess??), a reference area would be great!

I'm not sure - but I think a DIY section could be easier to implement.. Let me 'splain....

Let's say I make a post like : "How do I get the training arms off!!!?? and you come back with a step-by-step "how to"...

All that needs to happen is that the admins/mods COPY it into a "DIY Forum" (don't move it - it needs to be copied, and that Forum is not for "open posting" - just a DIY repository that can be searched, printed from, etc....) - and then your POST becomes part of a DIY Forum entitled "Removing Trailing Arms"

The nice part about making it part of the "Forums" rather than a wiki (??!) is that the DIYs can be searched, linked to, e-mailed to a friend, etc. - just like any post here...

Anyway - just my $0.00002 (and 1st post! ;) )

JD

[Randy]

The Wiki should/will be all encompassing, and I think that anything is possible.

I'll be setting up the posting guidelines and will be initially granting posting access to people that request it, vs. letting everyone dig right in. I'm not ready for the access requests yet, but I'll post a message as soon as I'm ready for them.

Thank you everyone!

[grantsfo]

Hate to ask an "uncool" question, but what the hell is a Wiki?:confused:

[Randy]

Definition:
http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+wiki&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

WikiPedia.com is the most popular usage of wiki software.

[Richard Casto]

Hate to ask an "uncool" question, but what the hell is a Wiki?:confused:

In Randy's post, he mentioned the excellent wiki Wikipedia. Here is an example of a Wikipedia article...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_914

If you are new to Wikis, the content for that entire page was put together by many people over a period of time. You can click on the "history" tab to see how many revisions it has gone through and the various people who have worked on it.

John mentioned in an earlier post about the forum thread method which is commonly used to solve the same problem (but with forum software). Someone will create a new post and asks a question. If you are luck, someone will answer the thread and will provide you with an answer. Or, you may get a pointer to an existing thread that answers your question. But the answer is probably mixed in with a bunch of other stuff as well, so you have figure out what is info you want and what is noise. Or, you get your answer, but it just doesn't have the level of detail you need. Worse case, the answer may already exist, but it was previously documented in a thread and nobody remembers that thread anymore and you don't get your answer because nobody posted to your thread.

With a wiki, you get the group discussion benefits, but with the end result of a single article instead of being spread across multiple threads! Someone could create a "How to Remove the Rear Suspension" wiki article with the basics of how it is done. Others could then edit the article to add additional content or correct errors. Over time, the quality of the article should improve as it is being edited and reviewed by the experts.

Richard

[davep]

I can contribute the VIN, chassis # and paint code info. After 30 years I think I may have 99% of it sorted out correctly.

[Dave_Darling]

In Randy's post, he mentioned the excellent wiki Wikipedia. Here is an example of a Wikipedia article...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_914


Heh. You'll notice that one Greg Treadway is a contributor to that. He was the one who added the blatant advertisements for AA and GT Performance (AKA Greg Treadway!) in a previous version. (And continues to add them back and/or make them more important with every revision.)

(Not that I'm bitter, or irritated, or annoyed in any way.... ;) )

--DD

[DanT]

Hi Dave....another place to congregate I see.:p

[ejm]

Over time, the quality of the article should improve as it is being edited and reviewed by the experts.

:agree: This is the advantage of a Wiki over a static technical article. One person can write a good article on the nuts and bolts of a particular job. Which is fine if your a repair shop. A group will eventually write a great article for the guy who makes a hobby of these cars. Alternate ways to do things, what to do while your in there. Forum threads can do the same thing but as was pointed out above the info can be spead out over pages.

Paul - some sort of a wheel identifier/tire fit page would be useful