The Browncoat Wiki Project by Calliope79

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

The Browncoat Wiki Project

POSTED BY: CALLIOPE79
UPDATED: Thursday, June 14, 2007 10:06
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Friday, June 8, 2007 11:57 AM

I don't want to spam, so I promise this is the only thread I will make about this here. Please accept my apology if you've already seen this posted elsewhere. We are trying to cross-post as little as possible ;)

Wikia.com has approved the request my sister (ellie79) and I made to open a 'Browncoat Wiki' and we are going to need help from pretty much everyone to make sure it's up to date and overflowing with information! Here's the gist of what we're trying to do:

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"Unlike other Firefly & Serenity wikis, which do a fantastic job of providing info on the show, characters, cast, movie, etc..., the sole purpose of this wiki will be to document the fans. The Browncoat Wiki will serve as a perpetually evolving archive of Browncoat culture, including activities, regional Browncoat organizations, charity events, conventions, meetups, projects, etc. If you are a Browncoat, then we want to hear from you! We need editors willing to share what they know with the rest of the Browncoat Community.

This wiki can become an invaluable 'cortex' of information on our Browncoat past, present, and future, but only with every Browncoat doing their part to contribute!"
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So, if this sounds like something you want to be a part of, then please join us. If you have experience with Wikis, great!! If not, don't worry, it's very easy to learn and we'll be glad to help anyone who's interested in editing. One request we do have to make though, if you plan to edit anything, please create a username and log in. First of all, it helps keep things more organized and keeps everyone accountable. However, it also means that you'll be able to view the wiki with the template of you're choosing which means you can use the one we've all been working on. Anyone who doesn't have a log-in will be seeing the default site-wide template.

Also, if you want to support the project, we've made a few graphics that we'd love for you to post on your journals, websites, forums, ...wherever. You can find them on the main page. Thanks so much for reading!!

Link to the Browncoat Wiki: http://browncoats.wikia.com/wiki/Browncoat_Wiki

One last note, we may have started the Wiki but it does not belong to us. We're well aware that we Browncoats are a very large, diverse community and we want everyone to have a say, so if something's missing, join up and add it. That's all. Stay shiny!!!!

~*~ Cheryl
CafePress Shop:
http://www.cafepress.com/time_and_space

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Friday, June 8, 2007 12:00 PM

CALLIOPE79

*facepalm* That was supposed to say 'of YOUR choosing' up there... way to look intelligent, lol

~*~ Cheryl
CafePress Shop:
http://www.cafepress.com/time_and_space

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Friday, June 8, 2007 12:27 PM

SIGMANUNKI

I applaud your effort to organise the community so as to minimize duplicate efforts. It certainly is a worthy cause and can only be a benefit to the community. But, such an effort is already underway:

http://www.newsoftheverse.net/

The official launch announcement here:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=29084

We'd love to have you all on board so that we can work together to pool our resources in one spot instead of further spreading out our community.

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Friday, June 8, 2007 12:39 PM

CALLIOPE79

Thank you for letting us know about 'News of the Verse'. Before submitting our application for the Browncoat Wiki, we searched high and low for any sign of another such project and only when we were certain that there were none in existance, we finally submitted an application.

Unfortunately, as a Wiki hosted in the Wikia community is in actuality, community owned, once it has been created it cannot simply be torn down - it does not belong to any one person but to the community as a whole. We currently have already created 81 stub articles and have several editors, as well as many hours put into the project.

If 'News of the Verse' is more of a website format, as opposed to a wiki format, then there would definitely be a benefit to having both available. We have no intentions of trying to step on any toes, and we'd be glad to share anything that we might have and will try our best not to get in the way of what 'News in the Verse' is trying to accomplish.

I hope you can understand our position.

~*~ Cheryl
CafePress Shop:
http://www.cafepress.com/time_and_space
Browncoat Wiki:
http://browncoats.wikia.com

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Friday, June 8, 2007 3:56 PM

SIGMANUNKI

So, you're ok with duplicated efforts, then? If so, I can't really understand your position. It doesn't really seem reasonable to me to be ok with duplicated efforts when the point is to try to not duplicate efforts.

News Of The 'Verse is more a long the lines of a blog which is better suited for constant community updates (e.g. activities, charity events, conventions, meet-ups, project announcements, etc) than a wiki. Also, having things dished out on a "just in time" format, lessens the possibility of things "falling through the cracks." It is this tiny niche that it is our goal to fill.

Please take this at face value as I'm just doing a flat analysis of the services that your wiki looks to be doing. Looking at your wiki, it seems to be a list of fan sites/groups which is a duplication of efforts with pretty much every fan site out there. The calendar that you have has already been done as well (though seemingly currently not maintained) by Hera on the Big Damn Board ( http://www.bigdamnboard.com/) among others. So, (and I'm sorry to say this), it really seems to me that you've missed some sites during your search as everything you've created so far is already out there. Also, poking around your wiki reveals that the articles are on average just a few sentences long. So, those 81 stubs didn't exactly take much time to create.

I know that finding such things out after working on something and growing attached to it, can raise the blood pressure. God knows I've done this as well a couple times in the past, so I can sympathise. But, I hope that knowing such things now will enable you to either change the focus of your wiki so that it doesn't duplicate efforts or join projects already in progress.

Since our main focus is current and upcoming events, if you or anyone on your team interested in this wants to help us out we'd love to have you. Redhead seems to be heading this up and so they should probably contact her:

http://fireflyfans.net/showprofile.asp?un=redhead

Oh, just fyi, both sites are of a "website format":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website#Types_of_websites

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Friday, June 8, 2007 5:32 PM

CALLIOPE79

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
So, you're ok with duplicated efforts ... It doesn't really seem reasonable to me to be ok with duplicated efforts when the point is to try to not duplicate efforts.

The point is not to duplicate efforts, though inevitably, some info will be similar. The wiki is more of an encyclopedia of Browncoat history or an archive, whereas your site, in our best understanding, is focused on events and happenings, both current and upcoming. The wiki only serves as a place of reference. In our opinion there is no reason that the two cannot co-exist. As for duplicated efforts, there are many websites in existence that duplicate what others have already said, but the angles that they approach their subject matter from are almost always different and just as useful.

Quote:
Please take this at face value as I'm just doing a flat analysis of the services that your wiki looks to be doing. Looking at your wiki, it seems to be a list of fan sites/groups which is a duplication of efforts with pretty much every fan site out there. The calendar that you have has already been done as well ... Also, poking around your wiki reveals that the articles are on average just a few sentences long. So, those 81 stubs didn't exactly take much time to create.

At this point, the wiki is still in the early stages. The calendar is not the main focus of the wiki. Events will be listed, but more for the purpose of archiving them. As for the 81 stubs, we have concentrated most of our efforts on the fan groups, and all stubs are just placeholders for further info until we are able to flesh them out with full information. Though it appears to be just a listing of sites at the moment (which, as you've said, almost every site has), it will be a fully detailed archive in it's completion and website listings will only be a small portion of that.

Quote:
..I hope that knowing such things now will enable you to either change the focus of your wiki so that it doesn't duplicate efforts or join projects already in progress.

As we mentioned above in our response to your first statement, due to the different focuses of the wiki (an archive) and your site (which you stated is for "current and upcoming events") I do not believe we are duplicating efforts and there shouldn't be any reason that we need to view each other as competition.

I really hope that we can both agree to respect each others sites/projects (even if we still disagree on some levels) and that this can be resolved without any hard feelings.

You've all done an amazing job with 'News of the Verse' and we're looking forward to seeing more of what you all are doing there in the future :)

~*~ Cheryl
CafePress Shop:
http://www.cafepress.com/time_and_space
Browncoat Wiki:
http://browncoats.wikia.com

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Saturday, June 9, 2007 6:22 AM

SIGMANUNKI

When I was talking about duplicated efforts, I wasn't just talking about our site, but sites in the community as a whole. I have shown that all your site is doing is duplicating efforts already underway (your reply has shown nothing to contradict this). I have also encouraged you to join projects that are already doing these things so that the cruft in the community is lessened.

In other words, to inject new life into an unmaintained or slowing down project is a very good thing. Whereas to knowingly let something sit unmaintained and/or let something die (just to do "my own thing") is a very bad thing.

What I am talking about is that our community has extremely little resources and wasting them through duplication of efforts only detracts from the community.

Just looking at the Big Damn Board there is already listings of fan pages, local groups, forums, etc with blurbs on them. Our site is already doing news type stuff with Hera's calendar being a different format for some of what will be posted and we'll soon expand to the much repeated introductory material so that people can stop repeating and just point to a resource (something else that is sorely needed). There's also Done The Impossible that has documented a lot of Browncoat history/culture.

When we were discussing about what to do, it was brought up that we shouldn't be duplicating efforts for the exact reasons given. There was no argument, and in fact, 100% consensus. We then found a niche that needed to be filled and filled it.

Sorry to say, but IMO having the exact same info in yet another format is hardly a reason to further thin our numbers and use a lot of our already extremely limited resources. Especially since forums and blogs and... are by definition themselves already a(n) (self)archive.

All that being said, there is exactly nothing that I can do if you still wish to continue with your site. I just hope that you'll generate at least one thing that is unique so that your site isn't completely just another fan site.

At any rate, I've already spent too much time on this and I have a weird multiple definitions linker error that needs my attention. I leave the last word for you if you wish to take it.

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Saturday, June 9, 2007 11:47 AM

OUT2THEBLACK

Plenty of room in the 'Verse for everyone , and

their Good Works...

" No Need to be Snappy , Jayne ! "

Folks come to the 'Verse by different means...

Myself , I find it kind of gratifying to find

similar , or ' same ' information in different

places , because it serves to show that we ARE

United , even though we're also ' Independent '.

Plus , it serves to build some confidence in the

information itself...

Now , if we were seeing Browncoat websites

" dying on the vine " , THAT would be cause for

Concern , but since we're seeing a profusion of

Websites devoted to the Browncoat Cause , that

means we're Growing Our Ranks !

" I'm Thinking We'll Rise Again ! "

" Y'all got on this Boat for Different Reasons "

Etc ...

" Best to be helping me out , or Taking Your

Leave..."

Kudos and Applause for the Efforts of ALL Good

Folk looking to bring " The 'Verse " to them as

need it told...

We never know from where more Folk will surf in ,

but we need to put out as many

" ports of Harbor " as it takes for Folk to feel

WELCOME , so that they stay around and become

ONE of US...

No person has more " ownership " of this task

than the t'other , so nobody should feel the need

to go p!$$ in a corner , and mark 'their' turf...

There's plenty of work to be done , and more

hands just make for lighter work...

[IMG]

[/IMG]

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Thursday, June 14, 2007 9:14 AM

CALLIOPE79

** UPDATE: We are currently in need of any and all information on the History of Browncoats... whether that be past charity fundraisers, how certain organizations began, or just general BC history. If you have any information on this subject, please add it to the Wiki, or you may contact me directly.**

Thanks!!

~*~ Cheryl
CafePress Shop:
http://www.cafepress.com/time_and_space
Browncoat Wiki:
http://browncoats.wikia.com

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Thursday, June 14, 2007 10:03 AM

REDHEAD

Cheryl, You probably know about this but the Done the Impossible DVD has a great timeline of fan events. Have you seen it?

http://www.newsoftheverse.net/ We search the 'Verse so you don't have to.

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Thursday, June 14, 2007 10:06 AM

CALLIOPE79

Oooh! Thank you for the reminder... I have a copy of the DVD at home, but for some reason I forgot about the fact that it has a timeline - it will be great for reference ;) Thanks

~*~ Cheryl
CafePress Shop:
http://www.cafepress.com/time_and_space
Browncoat Wiki:
http://browncoats.wikia.com

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