I'm in the process of building a new web site called Wikitography. The goal of the site is to be a reference guide to all things photography.
The site is a Wiki, which is a site that anyone can edit. Editing is easy, and creating a new page on the site is also easy. If you're familiar with the online encyclopædia Wikipedia, Wikitography works on the same concept (and, in fact, the same software). This means that if you don't see an article on a particular topic, and would like to share your knowledge of that topic with the community, you can! Registration is purely optional, but if you do register you can watch articles and track your changes. Providing your email address is NOT required to register, but if you DO provide it, I promise not to use it to spam you or to share it with anyone!
There are editing instructions on the site, and it's pretty much as easy as just writing. If you're a little intimidated by the markup, don't worry too much about it. Just concentrate on content, and someone will come along and edit to add the markup needed to make it look nice!
All articles on the site are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means you are free to copy, edit and redistribue any articles you see on the site, so long as any redistribution you do also uses that same livense. You should be aware that since this project is dedicated to the sharing of knowledge, anything you contribute is also covered by that same license as well.
The site is a work in progress (in fact, wikis are always works in progress), and there probably will be a couple bumps here and there as I get things looking nice. In the meantime, if you'd like to share your knowledge of a particular photography topic, web site, famous photographer, or just about ANYTHING else related to Photography, please stop by and do so!
If you have any questions about the Wikitography project or how the site works, please feel free to post them here or on the site's questions and answers page. This will help me refine the site's Help pages as well.
Good work... I had the same idea before I started Polished Tool, but didn't want the hassle of moderating it. Cool site though. I'll stop by and contribute when I have the time to write.
Good work... I had the same idea before I started Polished Tool, but didn't want the hassle of moderating it. Cool site though. I'll stop by and contribute when I have the time to write.
That'd be awesome! You've got some good content over there and I look forward to having your writing on Wikitography. I think it will be a great asset to the community.
Excellent idea, it could be really good. I'd write articles, but I don't know anything.. except maybe how to do long exposures of cars..
BTW, fotomann, your site is very helpful, I really liked the article on lighting.
The neat thing about a Wiki is it's a collaborative effort! If you see a red link, that means there's currently no article on that topic. If you know something about it, write a few sentences. Someone can add a few more, and someone else a few more, and it doesn't take long until it's a full=fledged article!
Just asking, dont know if you could get in trouble for doing sorta the same thing.
The software he is running comes in under BSD Licnese I believe... I may be wrong on the exact license, but it's open source ... as is the Wikipedia project. I'm assuming all of ClubJuggle's articles will be covered under Creative Common License.
All is legit and is a definite plus to the community as a whole.
Just asking, dont know if you could get in trouble for doing sorta the same thing.
I am all for it and wish you the best of luck. I cant add anything, but I will stay tuned and maybe I will learn a thing or two from the site.
I am not affiliated with Wikipedia, but the software I use is distributed by the Wikimedia foundation as Free Software under the GNU Public License expressly for this type of thing. My goal is to provide more specialized content than what would be appropriate for a general encyclopædia.
In addition, all Wikitography content will be covered by the GNU Free Documentation License, the same license used by Wikipedia. Wikipedia is therefore free to redistribute any content that appears on Wikitography.
The neat thing about a Wiki is it's a collaborative effort! If you see a red link, that means there's currently no article on that topic. If you know something about it, write a few sentences. Someone can add a few more, and someone else a few more, and it doesn't take long until it's a full=fledged article!
~Terry
Sounds like an arena for a fight as person 1 contributes their understanding on a topic, it's edited by person 2 to match their understanding (and perhaps a few others). Then there is perpetual ever-changing content as persons 1 and 2 continually change it back and forth.
Not knowing about the format, I'm curious if there are safeguards in place to keep the fighting to a minimum? ... and of course, that the content is accurate and not just opinion (except where opinion is appropriate)?
The neat thing about a Wiki is it's a collaborative effort! If you see a red link, that means there's currently no article on that topic. If you know something about it, write a few sentences. Someone can add a few more, and someone else a few more, and it doesn't take long until it's a full=fledged article!
~Terry
Sounds like an arena for a fight as person 1 contributes their understanding on a topic, it's edited by person 2 to match their understanding (and perhaps a few others). Then there is perpetual ever-changing content as persons 1 and 2 continually change it back and forth.
Not knowing about the format, I'm curious if there are safeguards in place to keep the fighting to a minimum? ... and of course, that the content is accurate and not just opinion (except where opinion is appropriate)?
David
Most Wikis have guidelines for resolving those sort of conflicts. Specifically, every article has an associated Talk page that is intended to be used for resolving those types of issues. The vast majority of the time, that works to resolve the issue. Generally speaking, information posted should be verifiable and written from a neutral point of view. Where differing viewpoints exits, this can usually be satisfactorally dealt with by editing the article to address both viewpoints.
The vast majority of the time, people act as good citizens and resolve disputes peacefully. Of course all sites have exceptions, and the MediaWiki software does provide the menas to block users and/or IP addresses from editing. I see that as an absolute last resort. I'd much rather encourage people to contribute in a constructive way.
I'll wander over and look around / contribute when I get back to the UK.
Sounds like a neat project.
Sounds great... I look forward to having you!
To everyone: If you're thinking about contributing to the site, but not sure about the editing, don't sweat it too much. Try your hand in the sandbox or just be bold and edit away! Since anyone can edit, just worry about the content, and if needed someone else can clean up (or add) the formatting.
Also, don't feel like you need to write a whole article yourself! Even filling in a few sentences on a topic helps get it started, and gives other editors a starting point from which to build. Such articles are called "stubs" and are the seeds that help wikis grow. If you write a stub (or find one), you can mark it as such by typing "{{stub}}" (no quotes) at the end of it.
Most importantly, be bold and don't worry about breaking anything!
Terry, I'll add (or you can feel free to) some of the stuff I've posted on the business of photography and wedding photography in general as soon as my schedule permits.
You guys have been busy while I was eating dinner! You've posted some great content!
As to sample images, I have not yet activated the ability to upload images to the site. I need to do some research on how to implement that. The capability exists in the software, I just need to read up on how to turn it on.
