Wiki Picky Favor January 3, 2008 3:08 PM Subscribe
Is there a way to have MeFi Wiki "summary articles" (like this one) appear permanently and visibly in a MeFi/MeTa/AskMe thread that they are linked to?
The recent humdinger threads here in the grey have had some great discussion and commentary, and folks have made efforts to summarize and preserve the information in the wiki. Wouldn't it be great to see a link to said wiki articles (when and if they appear) both at the top of the thread, and next to the comment box (next to the box to hopefully stave off "can someone summarize this for me" comments)? This would give people a chance to get acquainted with the topic without being intimidated by the number of messages--and it would hopefully expose more users to important or interesting discussions.
The recent humdinger threads here in the grey have had some great discussion and commentary, and folks have made efforts to summarize and preserve the information in the wiki. Wouldn't it be great to see a link to said wiki articles (when and if they appear) both at the top of the thread, and next to the comment box (next to the box to hopefully stave off "can someone summarize this for me" comments)? This would give people a chance to get acquainted with the topic without being intimidated by the number of messages--and it would hopefully expose more users to important or interesting discussions.
maxwelton: I tried. Do you sound better to yourself now?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:20 PM on January 3, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:20 PM on January 3, 2008
Also, I would like for someone to make me slightly less incoherent.
Impossible. But I can offer a slightly more concise version of what you said:
Shouldn't we have a link to wiki articles like this at the top of threads like this?
posted by burnmp3s at 3:25 PM on January 3, 2008
Impossible. But I can offer a slightly more concise version of what you said:
Shouldn't we have a link to wiki articles like this at the top of threads like this?
posted by burnmp3s at 3:25 PM on January 3, 2008
Mod note: Would it make sense—and not be weird—to just add an
update: wiki summary of this thread
one-liner to the post text of the rare thread for which this'd be relevant? We don't really do that sort of thing, normally, but as a one-off (and I don't know how often this sort of thing comes up, really; other examples?) it seems like that'd be a lot simpler than building a rarely-used UI addition.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:26 PM on January 3, 2008
update: wiki summary of this thread
one-liner to the post text of the rare thread for which this'd be relevant? We don't really do that sort of thing, normally, but as a one-off (and I don't know how often this sort of thing comes up, really; other examples?) it seems like that'd be a lot simpler than building a rarely-used UI addition.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:26 PM on January 3, 2008
oh gee, cortex is right we totally have the power to do that! so I guess the answer is, with the permission of the thread-starter, yes.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:27 PM on January 3, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:27 PM on January 3, 2008
I think requesting additions on a case-by-case basis is a good approach for now. People will be more willing to make Wiki summaries if they know this can be done. We'll see how often it happens.
posted by grouse at 3:28 PM on January 3, 2008
posted by grouse at 3:28 PM on January 3, 2008
I've gone ahead and added a note to the Givewell thread; given Miko's ongoing involvement in the discussion here and elsewhere, I'm presuming she's down with it, but I've sent her an email to make sure that's the case.
In general, yeah, request-from-poster and a little note will probably do us.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:39 PM on January 3, 2008
In general, yeah, request-from-poster and a little note will probably do us.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:39 PM on January 3, 2008
Cool. Thanks Jessamyn, I need all the help I can get. I think a manual addition is fine for these rare cases. I do this it would help folks who are potentially interested in a subject (I was also thinking of the sexism threads) quickly get their feet under them, assuming the wiki resources exist, of course.
posted by maxwelton at 3:57 PM on January 3, 2008
posted by maxwelton at 3:57 PM on January 3, 2008
Jesus, I'm just going to give up typing. Maybe I can just point at what I want in the future?
posted by maxwelton at 4:05 PM on January 3, 2008
posted by maxwelton at 4:05 PM on January 3, 2008
Do you have hypothermia? That's my problem this evening.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:12 PM on January 3, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:12 PM on January 3, 2008
I sure wish there was a way those really long threads could be made to load faster. Maybe threads should default to "only the 100 most recent posts - click here for the whole thing" once they reach, say 400 posts or something. That way people could reload speedily and comment if they are actively following the thread.
Also, while we are on this subject, it was disappointing how quickly the sexism thread fell off the front page of metatalk. I get that it might be a good idea for most metatalk threads to slip away quietly, but for that one, it seemed that a lot of people missed it and were sorry. Certainly the metatalk front page is significantly shorter than the blue and the green.
posted by Rumple at 4:53 PM on January 3, 2008
Also, while we are on this subject, it was disappointing how quickly the sexism thread fell off the front page of metatalk. I get that it might be a good idea for most metatalk threads to slip away quietly, but for that one, it seemed that a lot of people missed it and were sorry. Certainly the metatalk front page is significantly shorter than the blue and the green.
posted by Rumple at 4:53 PM on January 3, 2008
cortex is right we totally have the power to do that!
Cortex the life coach.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:59 PM on January 3, 2008 [2 favorites]
Cortex the life coach.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:59 PM on January 3, 2008 [2 favorites]
Wow! Thanks for this MeTa, because I somehow totally missed out on the whole GiveWell astroturf AskMe and callout MeTa.
Wow! *Runs off to read cool new hyper-linked Summary of Events*
posted by trip and a half at 5:01 PM on January 3, 2008
Wow! *Runs off to read cool new hyper-linked Summary of Events*
posted by trip and a half at 5:01 PM on January 3, 2008
Do you have hypothermia? That's my problem this evening.
Of the brain, yes. Yes I do.
posted by maxwelton at 5:48 PM on January 3, 2008
Of the brain, yes. Yes I do.
posted by maxwelton at 5:48 PM on January 3, 2008
Do you have hypothermia? That's my problem this evening.
Of the brain, yes. Yes I do.
A brain freeze? I would suggest eating your ice cream slower.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:02 PM on January 3, 2008
Of the brain, yes. Yes I do.
A brain freeze? I would suggest eating your ice cream slower.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:02 PM on January 3, 2008
so.... has anyone tried calling up the support number listed on the WHOIS entry?
posted by spiderwire at 11:38 PM on January 3, 2008
posted by spiderwire at 11:38 PM on January 3, 2008
um spiderwire, there's no real value in posting adrianhon's address and phone number here so I removed it from your post. Hope that's okay. Wiki seems to be up now and my toes and brain have thawed.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:07 AM on January 4, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:07 AM on January 4, 2008
np -- bad sysadmin reflex; thank you for correcting it
posted by spiderwire at 11:14 AM on January 4, 2008
posted by spiderwire at 11:14 AM on January 4, 2008
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posted by maxwelton at 3:12 PM on January 3, 2008