information storage & knowledge structure?

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AndreyB
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information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

I feel like we have a major issue with the way we keep knowledge and manage information structure.

On the one hand, forum is a great format to discuss work in progress. On the other hand, new people do not need to know so much about the previous development iterations - I guess we need a wiki which would reflect the current state of affairs. My problem with a wiki is the cost of synching the information between the forum and the wiki, I simply do not have time for that. (That's above the fact that I am in a major time crunch in general)

I am not sure what would be the best approach, between preserving the history but also simplifying everything for the newcomers.

One of the ideas I have would be to clean-up the 'info' threads once the development has reached some final phase. The obvious downside I see would be that while cleaning stuff up, some comments and some thoughts process would be lost.

Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?

Anyway, what is the most balances wiki platform for our needs? I do not want to use external services like google sides, I want to have more control over the domain name and the general L&F. But obviously I also want something simple to install & maintain.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

Actually I think the first problem is the really confusing index page - http://rusefi.com/ - that's probably the thing I should address first. The index page should do a better job of explaining the current state of the project and probably reference more of the individual forum posts?

Does anyone want to write a better introduction text for the main page and offer any ideas how to make the index page more helpful for the newcomers?
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by kb1gtt »

I wish I had better answers or suggestions for you. Unfortunately it seems a common issue. I tend to agree the index page would help new comers get up to speed. I wish I could offer to help but I've go to much on the plate at the moment. Perhaps a wiki index page where people can make edits 10 minutes at a time. Ultimately I'd say if you have content, they will come. Efficiency of how to share that content is a different question.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by puff »

I just thought of suggesting wiki instead of the main page :=)
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

http://rusefi.com/wiki/
I will put some basic stuff and then setup the redirect from the main page of http://rusefi.com
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by abecedarian »

You do realize that even with a wiki, the forums will be the primary, outside of direct, means of communication?

Wiki is like the GUI to the forums. So, if the forums aren't managed and organized, maintain a wiki won't change that.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by kb1gtt »

Hmmm, how to organize and herd cat's. Not an easy task.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

It's official - http://rusefi.com/

The old index is available @ http://rusefi.com/old_index.shtml for now
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by abecedarian »

Forum link directs to image of the circuit board.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

abecedarian wrote:Forum link directs to image of the circuit board.
Fixed, thank you!
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by kb1gtt »

Video screencasts are often a handy way to share how to do a task like compile code, or how to use the tuning software. These folks at showmedo have a pile of screencasts for open source projects. Even better they have a video showing how to make a screencast, which can be found here. http://showmedo.com/videotutorials/series?name=camstudioSeries

Creating screencasts and perhaps even posting them to showmedo, could be a handy option for educating new comers.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by abecedarian »

Easy to find links to most current firmware / hardware repositories?

Even here in the forums, the "latest / greatest" is an Easter egg hunt.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

Please help me in making this easier. What should I change? Need suggestions.

Currently you would need to click the logo in the top-left corner of the logo, this would get you to http://rusefi.com/ which would redirect you to http://rusefi.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page where you can click Manual:Software which has a link to http://rusefi.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=283 which says "all the changes to the source code are automatically compiled and available at our build_server folder."

I have just added a direct link from Manual:Software but I am not sure to what extent this would help.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by puff »

it requires four clicks to download binaries. could be three...you could put the last phrase directly in the wiki (pus a link to the forum discussion)
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

puff wrote:it requires four clicks to download binaries. could be three...
Could be more helpful if you stop making riddles and state your proposal.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by puff »

calm down. it's getting better. i guess we need contents section for the software page: how to get binaries, how to get sources for those who are ready for coding. how to flash it from various operating systems.
we need to somehow reflect the algorhythms currently used in the firmware.
btw, have you updated the pins for tunerstudio in the doc?
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by abecedarian »

That's what I was getting at: source code repository, hardware schematics... etc.
But I suppose if it's getting ready for kickstarter / crowd funding, closing the firmware and hardware makes sense.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

abecedarian wrote:But I suppose if it's getting ready for kickstarter / crowd funding, closing the firmware and hardware makes sense.
This is nonsense :)

If the suggestion is to copy more content from the forum into the wiki please let me know you are up for the job & I will get you write permission. So far I am not sure what the proposal is. I know it is bad, but I do not know how to make it better. Do you?
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by abecedarian »

russian wrote:This is nonsense :)
Yep. Shouldn't have to spend 10 minutes clicking every link on every page to find the source code or schematics. ;)
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

You suggestion sounds like a plan, I will go implement it right now!
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by kb1gtt »

Can we get a structure similar to this http://rusefi.com/wiki/index.php?title=Maine_page in the left hand area as the navigation page? I hope to attack what I think should be on some of those pages shortly. If worst comes to worst, my Maine page can function as this kind of navigation menu. Ultimately I would hope this navigation structure is moved to the left hand side.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

I can only imagine how Colorado and Washington pages would look like...

When you suggest a navigation pane on the left, do you mean on the forum, on the wiki or both?
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by puff »

i like the concept of this maine page.
i believe it's more practical, understandable and easier to use.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by puff »

plus we need a direct link to the tickets systrm for the developers and global todo (or plans) section for the general audience, so that users can get familiar with our roadmap
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by kb1gtt »

I guess it would be kind of handy as optional on the forum, and always there on the wiki. However I would say on the wiki would be the most important.

I've always had fun calling it a Maine loop instead of a main loop. I bet most folks can guess where I live :)
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

I've removed the stupid tags cloud, the whole plugin was taking too much space.

I've added a drop-down menu above the forum. I will probably move AdSense into the footer to make the header cleaner. I am tempted to take some of the PhbBB buttons out but this would require some research.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by kb1gtt »

I have added puff's recommendations, and have come up with some others. I plan to start copying the "template" creating a starting point for each of the TBC pages. Once that initial pass is done, and things have changed from TBC to TBU, it will hopefully allow people to start editing small sections as time allows. http://rusefi.com/wiki/index.php?title=Maine_page
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by kb1gtt »

Draft structure created at the wiki found here http://rusefi.com/wiki/index.php

Now it just needs content, most of major formatting is already done, we just need to fill in the one line sentences making them more useful. Right now they just show enough content to show what I was expecting in that area of the wiki.
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by AndreyB »

Wow! That's a step forward. Thank you Jared!
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Re: information storage & knowledge structure?

Post by hasse.69 »

You guys are amazing.
Jared you have structured everything up pretty neat.
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