[Javascript] Re: Wiki for the list

[Roger Roelofs]

Aaron,

On Nov 12, 2006, at 3:24 AM, Aaron Bassett wrote:

> Sorry I forgot to include the URL for the javascript wiki on  
> wetpaint: http://javascript.wetpaint.com/page/Home
>
> Incase you missed my last email this wiki has already been setup by  
> someone on wetpaint.com but it has been abandoned or they couldn't  
> raise any awareness for it (or both).
>
> Either way it is currently lying empty so we could adopt and use it?

I applaud your initiative, but I think we need more of a consensus  
before we start something.  One of the reasons the css-d wiki has  
worked well is because there is a sense of community ownership.  List  
members periodically add to it and update it, and frequently point  
people to it for answers to their questions.  Partly it is a 'self- 
defense'  mechanism to keep from having to answer the same question  
over and over again on a high volume list (when it's working).  I'm  
not sure this list has a high enough volume to trigger that kind of  
response.

There are a couple of general stumbling blocks to creating a good  
wiki.  1.  Finding enough qualified maintainers who are willing to  
spend the time up-front putting in/linking to starter content and  
willing to check on/update the content over time.  2.  Striking a  
balance between making it easy for people to add content but keep  
spammers out.  (Anyone tried to use the ruby wiki recently?)

Computer language wikis have another problem in that the kinds of  
tasks you could try to solve is almost limitless.  Keeping the wiki  
down to a manageable size means dealing with common cases and  
generalities.  Otherwise it ends up being yet another script site.   
It will need to be well organized so people can find what they are  
looking for, or they will give up and ask the list anyway.

I'm not at all saying we shouldn't create a wiki, but it will be far  
more work than we might estimate.  Therefore we need more than 1 or 2  
people to be involved to make it fly.

-- 
Roger Roelofs
Datacomp Appraisal Services

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