The Wolfpack Wiki by SFN

SFN Stuff Site News15

It is with much excitement that the team here at StateFansNation would like to introduce you to one of our new creations – Wolfpack Wiki.

The core of our author team– and many of our readers– have been a part of the ‘NC State internet community’ since the very beginning (early to mid 90s) and we’ve seen more topics get discussed…and explained…and hashed through…and re-discussed…and re-explained…and re-hashed more times than you can imagine. I swear to God that “Charles Shackleford & Amphibious” has been discussed and explained at least two hundred times on various NC State Message Boards and communities since 1994. How much more can we endure?

So, today SFN will begin the process of putting an end to the ridiculous redundancies and the inefficiencies associated with historical topics that can and should be archived on the internet so that the next generation of Wolfpack fan has an easy reference point from which to learn about the past. Today we unveil an open access forum for all Wolfpackers to log, link and build an encyclopedia of information related to all things NC State. No more wasting time trying to correct the ‘too stupid to correct anonymous posters’ on message boards after there is a definitive repository of facts, figures, information and references on the topic all behind a single click.

We were going to dip our toes into this slowly and gradually pick a set of topics to build out with the community. Instead, we are just going to flip the switch and see what comes of it while recognizing that it will take some time to ultimately settle into a nice equilibrium. I hope that you will choose to contribute to the endeavor both now and well into the future.

The following are some technical thoughts/guidelines that may be of some value for you:

  • Go get some good info from Wikipedia, since the license allows. Copy and paste away
  • Try to maintain objectivity to your posts but don’t abandon your perspective
  • Keep it real and keep it clean. Harsh language and slurs of any type will not be tolerated
  • Lets create THE beacon on the Internet for all-things NC State history

And as a last word: get to it!

SFN Stuff Site News

15 Responses to The Wolfpack Wiki by SFN

  1. StateFans 07/30/2009 at 8:05 PM #

    This is an example of the difference between people who live computers every day and the rest of us.

    I can’t figure it out. Perhaps someone can explain how to build some pages/categories to get us started?

  2. 61Packer 07/30/2009 at 9:02 PM #

    This is so Greek to me that I don’t even know how to respond to it or post, so I won’t.

  3. LRM 07/30/2009 at 9:36 PM #

    I have zero clue what Wiki is, but I probably shouldn’t be allowed to contribute to anything written about Herb Sendek.

  4. LRM 07/30/2009 at 9:40 PM #

    Or Daniel Evans.

  5. StateFans 07/31/2009 at 7:05 AM #

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

    Wiki is basically an encyclopedia that is open to the world to contribute to the content.

    For example, here is Jim Valvano’s entry on Wikipedia:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Valvano

    The great news is that everything on Wikipedia is “community commons” material and can be copied into WolfpackWiki. So, we can pick and choose topics that already exist and bring them over and start building entries from there.

    Problem is that I can’t figure out how to even begin submitting subjects into ours.

  6. PackBacker001 07/31/2009 at 7:54 AM #

    StateFans:
    The way I do it is to go to the root of the wiki (http://www.statefansnation.com/w/index.php/) and append it with the name of the page I want to create. In this case, I am adding Tom_O’Brien, for a link of “http://www.statefansnation.com/w/index.php/Tom_O’Brien”. If the page has not been created there will obviously be no data for it. However, there is a link to edit the page (assuming you are logged in). Click it and then enter away.

    HTH

  7. StateFans 07/31/2009 at 8:00 AM #

    ^ This is the start of the kind guidance us technically illiterate folks need!

    All you people who know what you are doing need to try to be as dumb as you possibly can be and then try to explain it as if I were 10 years old.

    Step by step…and then we will be on our way

    THANKS!

  8. PackBacker001 07/31/2009 at 9:02 AM #

    I wish I could tell you how to get HTML to work in the edit box, but I can’t. The file embedding with the image icon doesn’t do the trick, and any HTML just gets treated as text.

  9. Alpha Wolf 07/31/2009 at 1:16 PM #

    ^ It is going to take some time, but I will work up a guide on how to do this. It is Greek to me at the moment, but it can’t be all that hard.

    It’s not like we went to Carolina, right? (I kid, I kid.)

  10. PackBacker001 07/31/2009 at 1:21 PM #

    Alpha, let me know if I can help out at all. Is there a link to the documentation online?

  11. conq 07/31/2009 at 2:12 PM #

    Another way to create a new page is to add a link to it from an existing page. For example, I just added several links on the Carter-Finley Stadium page:

    http://www.statefansnation.com/w/index.php/Carter-finley_stadium

    Since the linked pages don’t already exist, the links are red. Clicking one will open an edit box that will let you enter the initial content for that page.

  12. DFMo 07/31/2009 at 4:47 PM #

    conq,

    excellent point and I think of that as the preferred way since it creates a link from an existing page rather than a standalone page that sometimes gets orphaned. I have seen wiki’s that get built that way so you build a virtual table of contents and document hierarchy.

    I added a link to wiki help on the main page that I find as useful reference and a section at the bottom for Recent Updates (effectively orphaned pages only avail via “All Pages”

  13. LKNpackfan 07/31/2009 at 8:04 PM #

    Genius. I love it already

  14. Classof89 08/01/2009 at 6:30 PM #

    I created an entry for the wrestling team yesterday which has since disappeared…what gives?

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