Topic: Freebook

[Yousef]

BB,

I like the Wiki idea, whats the best shareware wiki script available?  Do you have any links or should i just google it?
I can install, set up and post link.

Stew

[Bobby Bhuna]

MediaWiki http://www.mediawiki.org is what I'd opt for. That's what drives wikipedia - so you know it's good lol

[Curry King]

Yep, great idea I'm all for something like this!

[ast]

Depending on what kind of access restrictions to the recipes we want, e.g. do we keep the same model as here that requires free registration, mediawiki may not be the right answer.  It wasn't designed for that type of functionality, although it is currently being added.

More info here:  http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Security_issues_with_authorization_extensions

This page on the mediawiki wiki, http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MoinMoin, mentions another wiki package used by the Ubuntu Linux distro help system  that does provide access control lists.

Before we go choosing software, it might be better to agree on what the essential things we're trying to do, e.g. access control requirements, review process, and the types of jobs we think are most important.  Maybe these are finding recipes known to work with a given base, reading reviews of the recipe and seeing a x/5 star rating for the recipe to help choose the right one.

We don't need an exhaustive list, but I do think some agreement on what capabilities we're really trying to provide over and above the existing cr0 functionality is necessary before anyone goes and installs software.  I almost slipped down the "dark path" last night and went hunting too, but that's not the right way to go about something like this.

What are everyone else's thoughts?

ast

[Bobby Bhuna]

I'm concerned about streamlining the authentication with SMF as it would be a real pain to maintain two account. This is very interesting http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=56404.15, although as Ast says, MediaWiki may not be the way we want to go.

[Cory Ander]

Before we go choosing software, it might be better to agree on what the essential things we're trying to do

You're talking eminent sense AST.  How can we possibly talk about HOW we are going to do something before we have discussed and agreed the WHY and WHAT we want to do?  Beats me.  :

[Bobby Bhuna]

What are everyone else's thoughts?

Here are some

Integrated authentication:

Users UN and PW are the same for the wiki as they are for the forum.
This should be maintained by the forum and not the wiki.
Point the wiki to the forums user table and never allow it to write.
This means that whatever happens to a user on the forum is reflected in the wiki.
If a user is added or removed, changes their password etc, changes will be reflected in the wiki.


Limited access permissions:

We don't want Jo Newbie creating / editing content. I'd suggest only admin and mods and perhaps a few select others. Addition of new material will have to go through processes to integrate it with the rest - remember, this is our show piece!

Hierarchical navigation structure:

I'd like to use a system that allows our objective to be modelled easily. I.e. categories, dishes, recipes etc.

Polls and reviews

I think 5 star style rating system is what we're after. We don't want users to be able to post textual content on the wiki - otherwise it will end up just like a forum. 1 vote per item per user kind of thing. Users should be able to change their vote, having remedied their problems after discussion on the forum.

[Cory Ander]

Bobby mate, I love your enthusiasm, but you're getting FAR too techinical! 

Can we please discuss and agree WHY and WHAT we wish to do before we go off cocked hat with the HOW to do it? 

[Bobby Bhuna]

Can we please discuss and agree WHY

Finding good recipes can be easy at CR0. They are there, somewhere, lurking within the relevant category. Some recipes even come with images! Some do not. Some use mls, some use grams. Others use tsps, tbsps, desert spoons, chefs spoons, ladles, oz, floz and even cups. I have found that this lack of standardisation has impacted negatively upon my results.

Sometimes someone may list a recipe, only to discover that there are errors in their post. By this time other members may have printed, or even followed the recipe. I have ended up with a freezer full of useless base sauce before because of a similar mistake.

Other users may just post quickly in a poor format with bad grammar and spelling. After all, English may not be the first language of a sizeable portion of our members. Many Indian chefs may have limited English when compared with ourselves. I'd bet we could all do with their recipes though!

Rather than getting bogged down in these issues - reading an entire thread - interpreting what's being said and ensuring no corrections have been suggested, wouldn't it be great to have a selection of not-up-for-discussion, no-nonsense recipes. These would be verified, standardised, fully illustrated and certified as good recipes by the CR0 Mafia.

These recipes would represent finished products. There would be no experimental new bases, or myths about how to achieve the 'taste', just high quality, '100 percent success rate if you follow the instructions' recipes.

This showcase could be offered through the use of a wiki. This is particularly useful because a wiki is dynamic and so our development team can amend recipes as we discover new techniques. Rather than mere static web pages, our recipes will be able to evolve. Since standard forum members will not be permitted to directly write to the wiki, the proposed implementation of standards is made easy.

If a user wants their recipe added to the wiki, the wiki development team can help them. If an experienced Indian chef with limited written English comes to us bearing recipes, we can strive to understand. If he doesn't have a digital camera, or doesn't know how to upload images, we can make the dish and take the pictures.

The real goal of the wiki would be to take the responsibility of posting top notch, verified, standardised recipes away from the user, and placing it in the hands of people who are better experienced to deal with this. We may not all be Zen Curry Master Elites but I can offer my technical abilities, and I'll help try out recipes and take pictures. I am also happy to make suggestions and comment on work.

As others have said before, I think that the knowledge on this forum is easily enough to compete with the likes of KD's Curry Secret. We have a huge pool of related information - to my mind better than any curry books I have read. I think we have a fantastic opportunity to allow people to view our information in this way for the first time and I really believe the results could be great.

[Unclebuck]

I'm thinking that starting small first is a good idea if we can polish that we will have a good bench mark. a few things need to established before it goes to "print" so to speak.

starting small i mean: 1 base, 2 main, 2 rice, 2 sides.

a list of cooking equipment needed.

list of spices and descriptions.

all same format for weights.

a backround for each dish.

a method of each obviously.

step by step with pictures.

a volunteer proof writer for grammar and English.