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Japanopedia explained - post #2: Featured projects, featured websites, and some highlights from feedback
On February 11, 2008 in Japanopedia, Uncategorized
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Some background in case you are new:Japanopedia is a project on wikia.com (from the creators of wikipedia). Here are some previous posts about it, more explanation to come. |
Hi All.
I should really be on post four or five by now given all the great (and quick) feedback you have given. I need to learn to type in my sleep 
I have to thank Shane, Nick and Chris for all of their suggestions (and support). I will try to address everything they have brought up. But that will take some work so let’s take it a step at a time.
#1
Shane mentioned highlighting a certain task or a way that people can contribute. An excellent idea. So I started a project to help JapanSoc and made it the “featured project” of the month for Japanopedia.
#2
Nick said:
I appreciate you setting up the JapanSoc project on Japanopedia, but the project that really needs work is Japanopedia itself. We talked before about changing the template/theme/skin, but what about the content? If you click the “Random page†link, you almost always get empty pages…What you need on the front page is some examples of the better, fuller, pages that exist on Japanopedia
So I decided to put a “featured sites” block on the main page with logo style images to a few of the well made pages currently on the site. If you want your page on that block you can go ahead (as long as your page is filled) and add it yourself or ask me and I will add it.
Chris asked for a better logo of Japanopedia that he could use as a button on his site. I am horrible at graphic design so I don’t know how much help I can be with that. What do you think of the small logo at the top of this post? I know the quality isn’t that great.
Slowly but surely, bit by bit Japanopedia ought to build up. It is a project done on a completely voluntary unpaid basis (just like wikipedia) so don’t expect miracles overnight 
But keep dreaming up ideas and giving feedback anyway. They should all get attention in the long run.
Tori;
I found a cool site that you might be interested in interviewing or possible approaching to work on a Kimono Page for Japanopedia.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/auberginefleur/
I have to say that setting up a page in Japanopdiea is still a bit confusing for me. It even took me a while to figure out to get to the JapanSoc page even though it was ‘featured’ on the front page. I now know that I need to click the little box with the arrow to get to the page itself and if I click on the image it just enlarges the image. Also, both that page and Jamaipanese are just providing information with a hope that it will generate more traffic. (not necessarily a bad thing).
I applaud you for starting this project and maybe I missed something - what is the goal? Who is it geared toward? Is it meant to be a ‘click-through’ resource pointing to more detailed information or the source of the information itself?
I am having a hard time figuring out how little ‘ol me can support the project?
I honestly think it should be scrapped and re-started from scratch.
What are the limitations as far as a new template goes. Can the framework be imported into something more attractive?
I worry that once it gets going it still wont be user friendly and then it may have a short life?
But hey, my blog is a mess so I shouldn’t talk. But..
@Shane, it took me a while to figure it out, too, and I still don’t know most of the basics.It beats me why wiki editors have to be so different from everything else. I’m also unsure about the goal. Originally, I thought it was a wiki for Japan, but then “Chemist” added a bunch of websites, so I added mine. If you ask me, it’s more like a directory… and not a very pretty one.
@Chris, I tend to agree. Sometimes you’ve got to cut your losses and move on. You can’t just set up a site and expect everyone to contribute. A) We don’t really know what we’re supposed to be adding to Japanopedia, and B) We don’t know why we should… and “Chemist” is rarely around to tell us.
@Chemist, If it’s a directory, then start again with a directory script. If it’s an “anything goes” site about Japan… can’t we just search and add to Wikipedia itself? Your heart is in the right place, but do you have the time and resources to make a go of it? You’re rarely around to comment on your own blog, let alone build an encyclopedia (which will need hundreds of pages before people take it seriously and start contributing).
“Slowly but surely, bit by bit Japanopedia ought to build up. It is a project done on a completely voluntary unpaid basis (just like wikipedia) so don’t expect miracles overnight”
Wikipedia didn’t grow slowly. It was a miracle! It started in 2001, and had 100 articles up in its first month. By April that year, it hit 1,000 articles and by October it already had 10,000 English articles alone. Look for yourself: Wikipedia Milestones
I don’t mean to discourage you, I’m just kind of sad that Japanopedia hasn’t yet been given the start it needs.
Hi Shane,
Thanks for that link!
You are right about the Japanopedia. I completely forgot to explain the most important things:
“what is the goal? Who is it geared toward? Is it meant to be a ‘click-through’ resource pointing to more detailed information or the source of the information itself?”
And the biggest mistake is that I have not made tutorials to explain editing. Editing a wiki is no easy task either. I have banged my head against plenty of walls figuring it out too, so don’t feel bad.
I have learnt the ropes a bit now and I need to share that information with any potential contributors. Also I need to communicate with the main wikia people and see what help I can receive from them (I might be able to find a expert to be our mentor)
When I first attempted to launch this wiki Angela Beesley (the queen of wiki) contacted me about the project and offered to help however she could. I am going to eamil her and see if she (or someone else) has some advice.
In other words, I will do my best to fix this situation. And I am going to post again to answer these questions I have neglected.
@Chris
I hope some heavy-duty remodelling will do the job. Of course, wrecking balls and demolition are more fun
@Nick
I am going to reply (or answer in the next post) all of these point you guys have mentioned. But I just wanted to give a quick reply now.
I have done a very poor job of explaining this project. In my head it all makes sense and I have asked and answered most of the questions you guys are asking. I just need to type it all out and stop frustrating everyone
You’re right, if Japanopedia was just a directory I could have started with a directory script and if it was just encyclopedia-worthy] information about Japan we could just add to wikipedia itself (and I don’t want it to interfer with any wikipedia pages. I’ll explain that more later).
This wiki is more than just a directory and more than what is allowed in wikipedia articles.
Here is a very brief (incomplete) explanation of my big picture for the encyclopedia side of the project. There are two types of pages:
1) A directory of pages for all the Japan-related websites online.
2) Pages about general information (ex: sakura)
The Sakura page could have a brief explanation of sakura, a link that directs to the wikipedia page, and a long list of snippets and links to Japan-related sites/etc. about sakura that would not make the wikipedia page. Sites in the directory related to sakura could be tagged “sakura” and you could find them on the sakura page.
Ok. That might be a confusing explanation. Let me know if you understood it or not.
I think the real strength of the Japanopedia project is in the ease of collaboration. I think of the project as more of a base for Japan-related projects than as an encyclopedia, In that sense maybe Japanopedia was a bad name for it.
On the collaboration front, take the JapanSoc page for example. Multiple people can use the same list of blogs and check off the date on which they submitted something from each individual blog. The users can also add to the list of blogs, etc. There are few other systems outside of wikis that come close to fostering that type of collaboration.
This wiki is ugly and disorganised, yes, but it is also powerful.
Also this project can go beyond the efforts of any one person. Where an individual site dies when the webmaster walks away from it, a wiki has the potential to continue on (like Wikipedia)
Is wiki the right choice? I like the choice but I know I have been wrong before.
@Shane
oops. I made a mistake with the links to the featured site pages. They were not supposed to look like that.
I have fixed it now.
@Chemist,
Thanks for the explanation. I’m starting to get the big picture now, and can see how people could build up special interest pages by linking to all their favorite resources for that topic. Perhaps it does have potential after all!
“a wiki has the potential to continue on [without a webmaster]”
If that’s true, then please tell me how to delete pages because if you search for “JapanSoc” you get four results, in this order:
JapanSoc
JapanSoc test page
Checklist of 140+ Japan-blogs for JapanSoc
JapanSoc.com
The first two are empty, useless pages. Do users have the power to “clean up” these kind of problems?
Next question: Let’s say I want to link internally to the JapanSoc.com page but want to use the anchor “JapanSoc” only. Is it possible? Can “JapanSoc” redirect to “JapanSoc.com” in these cases?
Those are just a couple of things I hope you don’t mind me asking in these comments. Help us to help you and magic can happen! I look forward to your upcoming Japanopedia posts.
P.S. Bravo on improving the Featured Pages image links on the home page. They look good.
P.P.S Don’t forget about those Wordpress navigation plugins I told you about for the Daily J! Haha… feel the pressure!
Here’s a handy tool for converting html to wiki markup. I used it to center the Featured Pages images on the Japanopedia homepage (remember to use Wiki dialect: MediaWiki):
html2wiki converter
@Chemist, is there anyway I can get to that main logo and spruce it up a bit?
Hehehe. You like to keep me busy.
It keeps me on my toes so that’s good!
Some quick answers to those points (and I will give better ones hopefully tomorrow)
To delete pages I think {{delete}} placed inside of the page marks it for deletion.
If on the other hand you want to redirect:
In this case, #REDIRECT [[Japansoc.com]]. I made this already so I think I solved the problem.
Creating a disambiguation page is another option (but maybe not in this case). I think I have to set up a template for this so I can’t be done yet. There is info about these types of pages here.
I have a little list of cheats for editing wikis on my gmail. I will make those into a tutorial for everyone. A lot of the editing isn’t that difficult but finding out what code you need to use is the painful part. Searching for them eats up time. I need to put the good ones all in one place.
I will be posting more about all things Japanopedia as soon as I can.
Thank you so much for your feedback and support!
Oops. I guess we were commenting at the same time because there was no #9 comment when I wrote #10.
Anyway,
That html to wiki markup converter is GREAT! That will be a lifesaver for sure.
Thanks for letting me know about it!
There is a link to upload and edit files (images, etc.) on the far right under the header “toolbox.” Or you can use this link:
http://jproject.wikia.com/wiki/Special:Upload
And the logo’s filename is Wiki-wide.png
But I’ve beat you to it. I’ve uploaded the new logo you made
[...] think I have confused some people with the Japanopedia project. Thankfully Shane has pointed that out: I applaud you for starting this project and maybe I missed something - what is the goal? Who is it [...]
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