I've been lurking the vbulletin sites here and there, hoping to find a good solution for something I've been wanting to do. Cathy mentioned a few weeks ago the idea of having a sort of "reference" sticky thread for each of the major themes of this site (like scroll saws, table saws, finishing, etc). I think that's a good idea but it would be impractical. Each thread would quickly become confusing and you might miss critical information buried in the 3rd page of replies, etc. At this point there is no simple solution within vbulletin that I know of to really deal with this problem.
I think that what we need is Wiki. As I understand it, Wiki is simply a way to create an "article" that others can edit, add to, correct mistakes, elaborate, etc (there are other features, but that's a big one). Take for example my recent thread on using the hollow chisel mortiser. That thread provides some basic tips, but I am sure there are plenty of people who saw that thread who know of things they would like to add. Like machine setup & tuneup, how to sharpen the chisels, etc. If instead of making that post, I had created a Wiki article, then others could have edited my text to add their contribution. Someone might post a sentence that's confusing or poorly worded, but someone else can edit it so it makes more sense. Someone might post a typo or mistake but someone else could correct it. Over time that little article could turn out to be an all-inclusive reference on the subject, and you wouldn't have to rely on reading through multiple replies to put it all together.
Today I found this thread on vBulletin.org. It references integration of PmWiki with vbulletin, so a user has to have a vbulletin id/password to edit a page. I figure we might be able to make a Wiki page as a custom page within this site, so it looks integrated with the site. There is not a formal vbulletin add-on for this, as far as I know. It would take some tweaking to make it work, and it may not even be feasible (Steve???).
This is just an idea I'm kicking around... I'm just looking for feedback from the team. If there is a better solution I'd like to know about it.
I think that what we need is Wiki. As I understand it, Wiki is simply a way to create an "article" that others can edit, add to, correct mistakes, elaborate, etc (there are other features, but that's a big one). Take for example my recent thread on using the hollow chisel mortiser. That thread provides some basic tips, but I am sure there are plenty of people who saw that thread who know of things they would like to add. Like machine setup & tuneup, how to sharpen the chisels, etc. If instead of making that post, I had created a Wiki article, then others could have edited my text to add their contribution. Someone might post a sentence that's confusing or poorly worded, but someone else can edit it so it makes more sense. Someone might post a typo or mistake but someone else could correct it. Over time that little article could turn out to be an all-inclusive reference on the subject, and you wouldn't have to rely on reading through multiple replies to put it all together.
Today I found this thread on vBulletin.org. It references integration of PmWiki with vbulletin, so a user has to have a vbulletin id/password to edit a page. I figure we might be able to make a Wiki page as a custom page within this site, so it looks integrated with the site. There is not a formal vbulletin add-on for this, as far as I know. It would take some tweaking to make it work, and it may not even be feasible (Steve???).
This is just an idea I'm kicking around... I'm just looking for feedback from the team. If there is a better solution I'd like to know about it.