They use Mediawiki.... Here's the mediawiki version, installed on our URL: http://wiki.lpassociation.com/ Take a look at it, register, and let me know how difficult it is to use it. To add a new page all you have to do is put the following in the address bar: http***://wiki.lpassociation.com/index.php/NEWARTICLENAME Without the asterisks. Mediawiki will tell you that it the page doesn't have any information. Hit edit, put in info, save and it's done. You will have to use BR line breaks (html) in some cases, and will have to have a knowledge of Wikipedia tags. If enough people get the hang of it, we'll custom code the site with a design etc.
In general, most wiki's I've come across use that format, and Wikipedia and Uncyclopedia and such are the big fish that use it. Also the people I worked with used it too. Just by exposure I'm familiar with the syntax, though if needed a "how to edit" page would be very helpful, since I usually have Wikipedia's version of that page open while I edit. I bet it can be just copied over from Wikipedia, actually. It also allows some copy/pasting of templates to modify instead of rebuilding from scratch. I'd be nice if someone less familiar with wikis also puts their two cents in, though. Also, i wonder if the space for the big logo in the corner can be hyperlinked to the main site. Most people click there habitually expecting it to take them to the main page.
Okay that's good then. And I'm sure we could code it to go to the main site, shouldn't take much. I just wonder if that'd piss people off who want the main WIKI page .
Well the rule is that people expect it to take them to the "top level" or root or whatever. The question is what's the top level? XD. You can leave it alone, too and make the main page have a very obvious link back to LPA. I think whatever you do, don't surprise people, is the general rule of thumb.
Well knowing that MediaWiki is the same as Wikipedia basically, feel free to start transferring your articles you've written over. I know there's not an image upload script on there right now, but we'll fix that by tomorrow. Right now, just work on creating the articles and potholing etc.
Derek: I read over your posts considering the issues with MediaWiki. Consider this: http://moinmo.in/ It's a python wiki that is stylistically very easy to write for, easy to back up, and minimalistic but HIGHLY skinnable with basic knowledge. I've used it for tons of projects and it's a favorite of many large open source projects.
Yes, although it would probably be more like: lpassociation.com/wiki/ You would need to install it on your server but if you look at Ubuntu.com's wiki they feature it. I actually think their whole site may be done in it but don't quote me.
I actually don't know if I like that. I like the feel of a traditional wiki better. By the way, image uploading is now functional: http://wiki.lpassociation.com/index.php/Rick_Astley
I think moin moin's okay. I have it as a desktop setup, so im pretty sure it can fit in the LPA domain. The camel case annoys me though, and it uses a rather non-standard wiki language.
Did you tie MediaWiki's users to the forums for ease of use? I think that can be done since both use a MySQL database, right?
Not sure if that's technologically possible. Let's ask our resident server techie Todd. *yells* "TODD!!!"
This can be done. My company's done it.... i think. (How else did my password work in both places XD)
As long as they can both use the same kind of database you should be able to tell the wikisoftware to use the forum's database as its users. When people register for one they register for both.
If there's a plugin for MediaWiki out there to do it, then yeah, it's possible. I'll see if I can find one.
Hopefully the end result will be something of significant value to fans and LPA. I think a commitment from core members to do 30 minutes of editing every 2 days will populate the site in absolutely no time flat.