Search Feature sucks. How about a wiki??

[joshoisasleep]

Let's face it, although we'd all like to be able to search for what we want, forum search features take ages to use and some of us it seems almost never find what we're looking for. I think the main problem is that it seems to search in people's signatures without any apparent way to turn that off... if I search for "3b turbo" it just turns up every thread with posts by someone with that in their sig.

How about a wiki? There's so much general knowledge on here that is hard to find... why not have an ih8mud landcruiser manual wiki? I mean, usually wikis kind of annoy me for some reason, but in this case I think it's a perfect use.

Anyone?

 

[woody]

been discussed a few times (search for 'wiki' - lol) but haven't yet had time to implement it...

MAY work on that next week tho, actually home and have some time....

 

[joshoisasleep]

I think I set up a simple wiki once... vaguely remember it being a bit fiddly. Can lend a hand if you like.

 

[woody]

Main Page - 'Mud Wiki

EARLY EARLY stages.....integrates with forum usernames tho.....other issues to work out, but we'll see what happens

 

[joshoisasleep]

Hey cool!
hmmm how about separating the categories into body/chassis and engines categories.... or something. For instance each engine should have it's own little section/page? If there was a 'section' for each, then each engine (and separately each body/chassis) could have a page/article for all of it's specifications... frequently asked "how tos" could be an article... or each have their own?

For instance an article on "DIY turbo for 3b" would be in the 3b category under engines. An article on "FJ60 highway wandering" would be in the FJ60 category under body/chassis, and could go through all the possible causes (with links to how-to articles for the various fixes)

Sorry hope that makes sense. Just my thoughts.

The great thing is all the info has already been written, debated, and asked for over again again on Mud, so maybe every time someone says "use the search feature", someone can then copy it over to the wiki... and anyone who cares to can organize it better!

Also you left out all the diesel trucks

 

[woody]

I left out a LOT...but, ANYONE should be able to edit and add to it.... (I think...still working on settings....)

 

[joshoisasleep]

Yep just realized that... went ahead and fiddled with it... will see if I can make it do what I'm talking about. Apologies if I mess anything up... feel free to undo my changes

 

[woody]

no worries....gonna be a LONG-term work in progress...but should be fun!

Hope to find time over the next months to include the info from the CruiserFAQ in there...engine specs and such...

 

[joshoisasleep]

is it possible to organize the category listings on the main page? It would be way more usable as a list if we had one list for truck models, one list for engines, and another list for other information... for instance in the third list you might have categories for turbo charging, diesel engines, bodywork... basically the way the forum categories are laid out I think would work well

 

[woody]

that should be doable....content is first for now tho, and I'm still researching the best way to organize the whole deal....

 

[joshoisasleep]

so it would look something like this...

Main Page

From IH8MUD Wiki
Landcruisers: FJ25 | FJ40 | FJ45 | FJ55 | FJ60 | FJ62 | BJ42 | BJ60 | HZJ75 | FJ80 | FZJ80 | GSJ15
Engines: 1GR-FE | 22R | 22RE | F | 2F | 3F | 3F-E | B | 2B | 3B | 13-BT | H | 2H | 12-HT | 1HD-T | 1HZ
General Tech: Diesel Engines | Alternative fuels | Expedition | Paint and body

WELCOME to the new IH8MUD Wiki project!

 

[woody]

very possible.....

 

[joshoisasleep]

Whatever way it's organized, I think basic might be the key as the contributors will be mudders and not crazy wikipedia enthusiasts (although I'm sure there are a few here). A few basic organization additions like the above would at least make it easy for people to see what they're doing, thus allowing content to begin to show up...

 

[joshoisasleep]

...would at least make it easy for people to see what they're doing...

Actually I think one problem was that the default skin seemed to be "classic" for my user at least... I set it to the ih8mud one and everything makes a little more sense now...

 

[woody]

yeah, the ih8mud skin became default after a bit...wasn't the case originally, so anyone that logged in during the first hours may have a different default

 

[woody]

I'm learning....

 

[joshoisasleep]

Nice. I like the addition of production years for quick identification...

 

[joshoisasleep]

uh oh... now there's both category's AND article pages for each thing in the main index... I liked the idea of having each main item as a category... is it going to get confusing to have categories with the same name as article pages...??

 

[woody]

they link to the same place....still figgering out what to put where....

don't wanna overwhelm myself in one day....haha

 

[woody]

'need' to form a 'template' for each re: tech sections.....on the list....with lots of other things....