Caving Wiki

[bubba]

If the wiki is effectively 'open access', is there not a risk of a free for all, resulting in more confusion and aggravation than clarification and responsible publicity.

Yes, that is a risk but we won't know until we try.

 

[emgee]

For those who are interested, there is quite a bit of caving stuff on Wikipedia. Follow the links at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caving . It's not very good though.

Rhys

It taught me a new word though. Claustrophilia.

 

[bubba]

It taught me a new word though. Claustrophilia.

Same here

It's disgusting I know, but I suspect there are a few filthy claustrophiles on these very forums!

 

[Huge]

I think Rhys is correct in that you should try to avoid another registry. The time and work involved in setting up and maintaining it is quite considerable. I tend to think that it's better left to the various regional registrars, who are all off doing their own versions anyway.

I'd like to see a sort of caving encyclopedia with loads of articles and information on caving.

I agree too!

I'm sure there will be guide book type entries but it should be much more than just an on line guide book / register. I'm not sure everyone needs to stick to a set template but I suppose it would make it easier for someone to pick out the information they need if all the cave descriptions looked the same.

 

[andymorgan]

I think some kind of registry as well is a good idea: if someone wants to do it though. It would be nice if this site was a first stop point for information on a particular cave.

 

[andymorgan]

Cave Troll, did you find out how to add photos, as I can't do it. According to the guide we need a common page to add photos on http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Images_and_other_uploaded_files, which there doesn't appear to be yet/

 

[bubba]

There's nothing to stop the wiki growing into some sort of registry, it's just that I don't think it should be it's main purpose to begin with, as there are other registries around.

 

[bubba]

Cave Troll, did you find out how to add photos, as I can't do it.

Uploads are now enabled - see the "upload file" link at the bottom left of the page, in the "toolbox"

 

[paul]

There's nothing to stop the wiki growing into some sort of registry, it's just that I don't think it should be it's main purpose to begin with, as there are other registries around.

Agreed. An incomplete registry is of little use, so one central up to date registry is best. Whether the format is a Wiki or not is a separate issue.

 

[andymorgan]

There's nothing to stop the wiki growing into some sort of registry, it's just that I don't think it should be it's main purpose to begin with, as there are other registries around.

Agreed. An incomplete registry is of little use, so one central up to date registry is best. Whether the format is a Wiki or not is a separate issue.

But who is doing one? If nobody else is, then the UKCaving one, will be of use. If it is incomplete, then users can add things: that is the whole point of a wiki.

 

[Cave_Troll]

There's nothing to stop the wiki growing into some sort of registry, it's just that I don't think it should be it's main purpose to begin with, as there are other registries around.

There are also other discussion forums around.

other "directories" "lists of shops" and "beginners guides"
http://british-caving.org.uk
http://caving.uk.com
http://www.ukcaves.co.uk
http://www.cavedatabase.co.uk
http://www.cavinguk.co.uk
http://trycaving.co.uk

The big selling point of the wiki is that everyone can update it. now the cavedatabase.co.uk does seem like people can update it...

 

[bubba]

My take on the above links:

http://british-caving.org.uk

Not really a huge amount of information on the site, despite initially appearing so.

http://caving.uk.com

A good resource, though a bit confusing to navigate - doesn't seem to have been updated very much since 2005.

http://www.ukcaves.co.uk

Ok, but made obsolete by the next link...

http://www.cavedatabase.co.uk

Very good resource - fast database and allows user edits.

http://www.cavinguk.co.uk

Hmmm...some info but badly organised and not a lot there really.

http://trycaving.co.uk

Only aimed at beginners - a good site, but I doubt it will ever go into the same level of detail we want in the wiki.

 

[Cave_Troll]

indeed, most of these sites are out of date/ incomplete, probably because the initial enthusiasm by the owners has run out.
We're left with our wiki and the cavedatabase, both of which can be updated by anyone, hopefully meaning they will continue to get updated.
I'm trying to think of there is any way they could be linked.
Our Wiki certainly can be made to look more spangly, but from the looks of it, the cavedatabase is actually a database and thus the data can be extracted and reformated in different ways.
maybe its a case of "see how it develops". if  we do this, i'd like to see discussions between the people who are updating to try and coordinate some common look and feel

 

[bubba]

Our Wiki certainly can be made to look more spangly, but from the looks of it, the cavedatabase is actually a database and thus the data can be extracted and reformated in different ways.

The wiki is also database driven - it's the presentation layer that gives the data the wiki style.

The cave database has a distinct url for each entry, so it's easy to link to that entry from the Wiki.

 

[Cave_Troll]

maybe there is space for both if one tries to be the definitive reference, and the other becomes "selected caves guide" type thing...

 

[darkplaces]

Nothing wrong with 'disparate' cave databases, what if the existing cavedatabase is busy or got hacked, it could be done in a way that would render backups all bad.

The trick is to replicate changes or hi-light out of date information. This wiki is powerfull stuff, when linking to very important information more then one source maybe a good idea. This mediawiki actually has details for intergrating into phpBB, has the admin looked for intergration into simple machines forum? It was simple enough, just a referance to phpbb_users saves on multiple user DB's.

Maybe on the forum the areas (mendip etc) could have a link to the wiki area.

 

[bubba]

User integration between the wiki/SMF/etc will be handled in the future by Joomla.

 

[darkplaces]

User integration between the wiki/SMF/etc will be handled in the future by Joomla.

WHo is she?

 

[bubba]

She's a rather nice CMS: http://www.joomla.org/

Branched from Mambo and now a completely seperate development. The 1.5 beta has just been released and I'm playing with it now.

On a test server I managed to get the Joomla/SMF/Gallery logins all integrated, and I know somebody has written a MediaWiki interface too, so theoretically it should all work...of course, it'll probably be a nightmare to actually get working but hey, it's about time I actually learned PHP properly rather than just blagging it.

 

[bubba]

Come on people, get editing - we need this thing to grow....