[Bf-docboard] Blender Proceedings

[Raindrops From Sky]

Hi Luca,

Most of your thoughts are not valid for a wiki environment. Let me explain
with examples:

   1. Videos would dominate life in future, and overtake the written
   instructions (wiki/pdf).
   So we better plan for this medium.

   It can easily be hosted on Youtube etc., by having a *Blender channel*,
   (bidirectional links between Blender wiki and Youtube).

   See examples: Harvard University <http://www.youtube.com/user/Harvard>and
   IITs+IISc <http://www.youtube.com/user/nptelhrd?blend=3&ob=4>, where huge
   series of lectures (spanning several HOURS on each subject) are hosted on
   Youtube, and linked from various departments.

   It does not add any load to the Blender website.

   Are you opposing this idea? why?

   2. About translations, my point was, we cannot plan for translations with
   just 3 people.
   However, in wiki, we would not be blocking anyone from translating an
   existing page.
   Anyone is welcome to do it. He has to ask the Admin to put a new link on
   the home page.

   3. I do not advocate taking screenshots manually, but if that is
   unavoidable, I can do it.
   The idea is to make the other content-writers free to focus on the actual
   writing.
   BTW you talk about a "plan" to automate screenshots, but where is it
   actually?
   Unless this is actually coming up soon, there is no point in waiting for
   it eternally-- I can go ahead and do it. Let it not be a bottleneck.

   4. I have successfully uploaded screenshots first (using a predetermined
   naming convention), and then written the rest of the wiki. It is simpler,
   believe me. In fact, all icons would be readily available as individual
   files, so we can directly upload them to wiki without needing to take
   screenshots.

   5. I do not see how the "wiki" and "sandbox" concepts mix.
   The sandbox idea is from an old era: In a wiki, we simply go ahead and
   write what we want.
   According to wiki principles, if someone does not like it, he can edit it
   further (There are NO reviews).
   Use discussion page to debate any point.

   Further, what is the point of making a sandbox when there are 3 authors
   in total??
   Surely we cannot have 3 horses and 30 jockeys? :)

   6. Mont29 had proposed the TOC changes long ago.
   If anyone had to add any value, he should have done it by now.
   How long should we wait, and why??

   Even if any objections come up later, we can simply shift the wiki pages
   later.
   The idea of censorship and endlessly waiting for "approval" is just
   stifling.

   7. For the wiki issues where you had "?", I'll answer with an
example<http://www.den4b.com/wiki/Main_Page>
   .
      - This wiki is NOT flat: It starts with a product-line, and then drill
      down in each product.
      Each product has topics and subtopics.
      Its actual pages are arranged to mirror that structure.
      In fact, the pages are also organized in virtual categories, which are
      used to fire PDFs.
      (A given page can appear in multiple pdf books.)
      - Some Blender website pages are composed by single authors (They are
      not wiki).
      My proposal is to treat all pages as part of wiki.
      Let volunteers compose+edit all pages in a wiki.
      - New wiki pages can be created by simply creating a link in an
      existing page.
      This can lead to haphazard growth of the tree.
      An Admin should check if the pages are placed in the right place.
      For example, in the Renamer wiki, the author (Denis Kozlov) took care
      of this aspect.
      - Mediawiki itself provides a built-in backup; and a log of all
      changes.
      It also provides a diff tool to compare the pages, and accept/reject
      the changes.
      So you can do rollback to any stage with just a click. Who says
      restoring is difficult?

-Narayan
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