Talk:Administration Questions

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Policy / content questions

• What items should be in the 'navigation' section on the left side of this page
• Where should we start with 'Policies', 'Governance', etc., for the wiki?

[Tutorial_(Using)] However, you must have a registered username and log in order to edit or create articles on the wiki. Suggestion: change "log" to "login"

Comments on the Tutorial Content

Re: "Another is the ability to move or rename a page." Will the link to “move or rename a page” tell me what the benefit of doing this is in the first place? The page tells me it’s a benefit but I don’t know why. The next sentence in brackets doesn’t help me without having any context for what it means to move a page in the first place. What is edit history and what does it have to do with moving pages?

"To register, click the Sign in link at the top right corner of any page" It doesn’t actually say Sign in on this page. It says Log in / create account. I suggest making the instructions consistent with the link.

“Your account has been created. Don't forget to change your STS Roundtable preferences.” It would be helpful to tell me here HOW to do this.

After I created my account, I had to go back to the main page and start the tutorial all over again. Is it possible to get the site to remember that I was in the process of doing the tutorial when I had to exit and register, then bring me back to the next part of the tutorial?

"Go to the Sandbox and click the "edit" link. This will open an edit window with the wikicode (text) for that page. Add something fun and interesting or "Hello world!" then save it and see what you have done! (Note: not on this page)" What do you mean “Note: not on this page”? I don’t see an editing link to access here anyway.

Suggestion: The Formatting and links parts of the tutorial should come before the Show Preview part. Otherwise, I end up in the Sandbox with no idea of what the formatting buttons do. For example, when I used the Sandbox page for the first time, I discovered that I could create an internal link to another section using the AB button. But then I wondered: How do I go about a) connecting the word I’ve underlined to an existing section on the Wiki and b) creating a new section on the Wiki about the underlined topic?

Help! How do I get back to the tutorial after going to the Sandbox? There should be instructions on this in the tutorial BEFORE encouraging people to enter the Sandbox, as well as a link to the tutorial from the Sandbox. I suggest that the links to the Sandbox open in a new page instead of navigating away from the tutorial.

The Help page should contain a link to the tutorial.

The Show Preview section of the tutorial says a benefit of the preview is to avoid cluttering up the page history. Why should I care? Why is this important to tell a new user?

I like the idea of the formatting Cheatsheet. Please put a link to the Cheatsheet on the Sandbox. There are lots of formatting codes in the tutorial and it would be handy to practice using them in the Sandbox with the “how to” codes on one page – in a separate window or tab for easy reference.

The tutorial section on Categories is confusing. I don’t know what a category is in a Wiki. And where would I get a list of what categories exist? That would help me decide whether or not I should link an article to a category and decide which one to link to (what you call “correct categories”.)

It would be helpful to have a table of contents at the beginning of the Tutorial to give me a sense from the start of what content will be covered – and also to skip to a particular section for a refresher if I’ve already done the tutorial before and only need to relearn how to do something.

Footnotes section - What is a Wiki GUI? - Give an example of what a footnote would look like

As I make my way through the tutorial, I'm thinking to myself (a Wiki newbie): "This is getting too complicated, and I feel like it’s too much work to post anything!" I think there should be an easy “Get Started – it’s as easy as 1-2-3!” kind of tutorial for teaching the basics in 5 minutes or less, and then another tutorial for more advanced learning of the technical stuff on coding links, footnotes, etc. I’m overwhelmed and feel incompetent as the more techie stuff presented in the tutorial increases. How much more is there to learn? Argh! It would be helpful to make a distinction between “need to know” and “nice to know” stuff. Perhaps the first page of the tutorial could say something like: "In this tutorial, we'll show you how to register, add content to the website, and find your way around. There's lots to learn when you add new content to make it easy for users like you to read pages. We're going to show you how to format text, add in links to footnotes, link to categories, make links to other pages in this Wiki and to outside sources, (etc. etc.) If you want to review a section, return to the table of contents by clicking here. We've also provided a space where you can practice what you're learning as you go along. It's called the Sandbox. Now, Let's begin!"

Example discussion of talk page: change “to” to “too” You guys take green elephants to seriously. i like spiders more

Technical questions

• The STS_Roundtable.Copyrights on the bottom of the screen should state 'All original articles are available under the Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license or any later'.
• When a user signs up, the email comes from guru@bearstar.net - we should make this be an stsroundtable.com email address.
  • Why don't we just set up an account called Admin@stsroundtable.com'? Or we could set up several admin accounts (e.g. Admin1@stsroundtable.com, Admin2@stsroundtable.com, etc.). Alternativly, I like Guru1@stsroudtable.com and Guru2@stsroundtble.com for James and Daniel!
• Should we move the userid@stsroundtable.com email to use Gmail so that we can easily self manage this?
• We need to make sure that people understand the implications of user names vs. real names when they create an account. I would not have chosen to have my userid (pamposey) show every time I add something to the wiki. I thought my real name would show instead. Can we somehow tell folks to select a userid that they want to have show when they add to or edit in the wiki? Part of the challenge is that it can't be easily changed once it is selected.
  • • I suggest that the username policy be determined (and included) as this was a bit confusing. I might not have used Diane Marie, for example. I do agree with real names, though. Perhaps surnames should be required.
• Also, let's force the issue of using real names on the wiki! When the account is created, there is an optional box for real names. Can we make that mandatory?
  • I'm not sure we can do this, but even if we could, I don't know that it goes along with the spirit of a wiki. I think it should be one of the things for the wiki ``policy makers`` to deal with tho. Kazbah 02:47, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
    • I've done some more research on this item. The real name field on the sign-up screen is largely unused in the software, so I have disabled this field entirely. I have added further instructions on the signup screen and the login page that provide better instructions. If these could be clarified further, let me know. Kazbah 16:31, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
• Is there a way to create a "play space" for people who have never used a wiki before? A place where one could practice without having the practice session(s) appear online?
  • The Sandbox, as mentioned in the tutorial, is for that Kazbah 02:47, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
    • This was the only place that I panicked! I hit "click here to reset the sandbox" wiping the page clean. Luckily, the warning box let me know that I was about to wipe it clean. So, I had an opportunity to reverse it. I feel comfortable that the sandbox serves its purpose as a trial and error page. If the instructions about clearing the page could be more explicit...something like, "click here to clear your practice/play page."
• Regarding linked pages, I notice there is no content yet. Username policy (discussed above), watchlist, move or rename page, wikipedia intro/tutorial, how to edit a page and cheatsheet.