Joomla! at Wikipedia

Comment by Robert Vining on July 30, 2010 at 12:40am

I think that's a great idea Sully. I have so much going on right now, I can't possibly commit to another project at the moment, but will certainly send anyone I see standing around with their hands in their pockets over this way.

Comment by Brian "Sully" Sullivan on July 30, 2010 at 6:12am

Thanks Robert.

Comment by Amy Stephen on July 30, 2010 at 6:48am

Sully - When I was on the comm team, I used to try to help with the Wiki. Elin kept track of the page quite religiously and sometimes would ping me when something was added and ask that I respond. It was then that I learned where the most interesting conversations took place on the wiki - and that is on the Talk pages as "pro" and "anti" battles waged war over seemingly ridiculous nuances in word choice and what is or is not a neutral point of view. There was a gentleman from the Mambo era who had a long standing grudge with Andrew Eddie and members of the then core team who he saw as opportunists and people who still were simply waiting to turn Joomla! into their own piggy banks. So, he and I would engage from time to time exchanging links for whatever gathering audience would help us sort things out.

My only accomplishments were to keep sh*t off the page. I was never able to add anything. Wikipedia is a microcosm of what is good and bad about communties. I think it can only reach a certain point and then if the concept is well known at all, growth beyond that level is stunted because we seem to be able to do nothing but divide.

I've also looked at the Talk pages for Drupal and WordPress and found the same fun and games. Every once in awhile, when an interesting story hits, I go to the wiki and I hit the talk page for the subject to learn what is going on. That's where folks should put the good stuff cuz it can't come off. The public facing page is completely filtered through whatever religious zealots (and yes, that included myself) have decided a major focus of their life is taking a stand on what letters appear on that page.

So, since I just did what I hate folks to do (poo'ooed someone's idea), I want to encourage you to try to add information. We technically should be able to add screen shots that describe features of Joomla!. It *will* be protested on the grounds that it looks like advertising. Starting out with maybe 8-10 screen shots with a couple of sentences on each might net you 2-3 images and a handful of words. But, it would be an improvement.

Also, if the people and magazine resources aren't yet listed, they could be successfully added, given both are high-level domains.

One other caution is that it seems the Wiki is completely run by the Rules of Physics which state for every ying there is an equal and opposite yang.

AND - if you do this, please do share your stories. !!! May the force be with you!

Comment by Brian "Sully" Sullivan on July 30, 2010 at 6:55am

Thanks for the heads up. I know enough about Wikipedia to understand the need for a cohort of fair-minded people working together on that article. That's why I'm calling for volunteers here before jumping in and "fixing" things.

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