On Aug 14, 11:03*pm, Phil Addison wrote:
On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:21:25 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Grunff
wrote:

Dave Liquorice wrote:

Thank you and yes I agree there is nothing in the actual, under the hood,
wiki database that links anything to anything else except when it is
included in the navigation. This makes a wiki rather powerful and as
always with power comes responsibilty to use that power wisely.

It certainly makes a wiki flexible, but it also creates a huge amount of
extra work, required to achieve any semblance of a hierarchy.

Wikis offer the most flexible type of index, which is why people love
them. I just like my information to have a built-in level of
organisation, even if it means imposing some limitations :-)

Hmmm... sounds as if there could be a parallel scheme, with a nice neat
hierarchical structure, and drawing its content from the Wiki articles,
either by snapshot imports or by simply linking to them. It could be
called The uk.d-i-y FAQ. * * *Just needs a volunteer! *

Phil *G


Lack of volunteers is the prime point imho. We could come up with a
scheme, but so far no-one has volunteered to do it. IIRC we only have
2 multiple article contributors so far.

Putting a traditional heirarchical structure on the wiki is I think so
fraught with issues its hardly worth considering, but I do agree that
some means to make it easier to find articles would be a big step
forward.

I also think there's a very simple solution. Its one I was going to
propose earlier, but there's just one detail I hadnt yet figured out.
The idea was to move the content in 'Main page' out, renaming it
something else, and make the 'Main page' redirect to the contents
page, this one:
http://www.wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index....ecial:Allpages
So when someone clicks on or links to 'Main page', that contents page
shows up.

Now I'm certainly not going to pretend this is the perfect answer -
there's no heirarchy or organisation, but it does seem to answer every
other requirement.
* Its easily implemented
* The page automatically updates itself as new articles appear, no
ongoing maintennace work is needed
* People have a single introductory point that shows them all the
articles on the wiki, and which they can search for keywords if they
wish
* People tend to click on 'main page,' so its the perfect place to put
this introduction to the wiki.

And finally bear in mind that altho some would like more structure,
reality is there is no such structure to be found anywhere on the
wiki, and I'm doubtful that someone will come along and
a) create it
b) maintain it indefinitely

With so few contriobutors I think any solution would have to be easy
to implement and maintenance free. This idea is, and it does the job,
albeit not as neatly as some might like.

The one q I didnt figure out was what article name to call the current
content of 'Main page'


Regards, NT