N Gauge Wiki

[Tank]

Hello all,

As you would have seen from the newsfeed we have started our own 'wiki'.  I'm hoping that this will become a fountain of knowledge for n gauge topics and 'real railways'.

Maybe some of you will already have an idea on how to use this (it's the same as on Wikipedia) and will be able to make your own articles and expand on current ones.  If not, there is a link below which shows a page that Pengi has made to get members started.

N Gauge Wiki:-
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/wiki/Main_Page

Help Article:-
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/wiki/Pengi%27s_Quick_Start_Page

I hope it becomes popular and can be somewhere for us all to go for reference.

Tank.

[brbluewill]

not a clue what wiki is or what it does is it moderated or can anyone just post anything and thats it there forever.

[Tank]

  A 'wiki' is explained here - http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/wiki/Wiki

It is moderated, but whatever anyone writes can be edited by anyone.   

[Jack]

Is this replacing the Knowledge Bank? If it's not then wouldn't it be a case a doubling up of the same info? 

[Sprintex]

The idea was borne out of the Knowledge Bank and is a way to tidy it into a more cohesive format

I would guess that once the Wiki is well-populated that the KB would eventually become redundant?


Paul

[Jack]

That would make sense Paul

Having just found the new Wiki button on the top row. With it being a small button might it be an idea to bold it the same way as the search button, or even place it along side the search button so it becomes easier for everyone to find. Just a thought.

[Tank]

Thanks Jack.  I'll certainly look into creating a bigger button for it soon.

The idea of the knowledge bank was very good, but items will become out of date and eventually hard to manage.  The wiki allows everyone to edit pages, and therefore keep links and information up to date.  The wiki software also keeps everything in order and therefore easy to find (as although the KB is in alphabetical order, it soon becomes difficult to find items if there is more than one page).

Hope that explains things a little better. 

[trainsdownunder]

Great step forward

The original Knowledge Bank was good but the Wiki should allow us to add better links throughout the forum threads.

Look forward to seeing it develop.  Are there going to be guidelines issued as to what structure the info should take or a FAQ section ?

[Tank]

Thank you!  We're working on it, but for now we're grateful for any new articles that can be written. 

[Pengi]

There is no FAQ as such but 'Pengi's Quick Start' guide is being updated as we learn more about the Wiki. I've just added a bit on images

If you want to add some content to the Wiki and are stuck then please contact us or send me a PM

[linuxyeti]

Hi All

Also, if you don't like using wiki syntax, or even the inbuilt wiki editor, you can always use an application that can link directly to the wiki, and ormat everything nicely for you I use http://www.libreoffice.org/ , the free multi platform office software, as that has a wiki editor plugin installed by default. Very easy to use. We keep a wiki at work, and I use LibreOffice for any of my documentation, and all your editing is in a standard word processor format. If you're used to using MS Word, you'll have no trouble using the LibreOffice word processing component.

Cheers

Tony

[Pengi]

Hi All

Also, if you don't like using wiki syntax, or even the inbuilt wiki editor, you can always use an application that can link directly to the wiki, and ormat everything nicely for you I use http://www.libreoffice.org/ , the free multi platform office software, as that has a wiki editor plugin installed by default. Very easy to use. We keep a wiki at work, and I use LibreOffice for any of my documentation, and all your editing is in a standard word processor format. If you're used to using MS Word, you'll have no trouble using the LibreOffice word processing component.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks Tony, that is worth investigating 

Etchedpixels has produced a whole series of pages of suppliers of N gauge products in the Wiki - 

The Wiki also has a section about the forum which explains how to use some of the features. The Book reviews have been transferred over and the Knowledge Bank is in the process of being transferred (although the posts remain on the Forum)

At the moment most of the pages, apart from the suppliers, are related to NSE and post-privatisation EMUs/DMUs (so you can guess who has been working on the Wiki!). If you have a particular era, or loco, or model of a loco that you are passionate about, then this is an opportunity for you to write about it. You can include some of your pictures too.

One of our long-term goals is to have a list of every loco that has ever been produced with pictures of the loco taken by our members

[CarriageShed]

One of our long-term goals is to have a list of every loco that has ever been produced with pictures of the loco taken by our members

If it helps, I've already researched the locomotives of the S&DJR and have put up the results on this page. Feel free to copy it over for the wiki. I also have the data available in the original Excel sheet, if that's preferable. Not many pictures, but I guess it's a start:
http://www.ngauge.historyfiles.co.uk/FeaturesS&D/locomotives.htm

[Pengi]

Thanks great -  Pete

[Pengi]

Track planning software and list of example track plans now in Wiki