A case for a wiki

[syncro]

I feel our hobby needs an organized, curated, concise body of knowledge covering the core of aquarium keeping. Forums are great for sharing and building a community but not as good at organizing information (there is so much great information on canreef but is is spread across many threads and posts). Published book are concise but less accessible, not everyone has the same books and are out of date once printed. I think we need something in between to compliment both - and I think a wiki is a good fit.

A concise body of knowedlge would let us get beginners up to speed faster, pushing the hobby forward sooner and lower the bar for new hobbyists. I think we all are beginners of varying degree and on varying topics so this will help you too.

The only active wiki I've found is theaquariumwiki.com. It is free, no registration to edit, creative-commons licensed and has content for both freshwater and saltwater aquariums (though mostly freshwater at the moment).

I'm going to try an experiment. I'll post a wiki article (with attribution) on canreef and encourage canreefers to either post updates/corrections on the thread or go to the wiki an edit it themselves. The hope is to help bridge the wiki and forums. Of course, the goal is not to take users away from canreef. In fact, it looks like theaquariumwiki closed their forums a while ago. The two sites serve different but compilmentary purposes.

Thoughts?

[Funky_Fish14]

Not dismissing your idea, sounds great! But there is actually a pretty reliable and accessible online info source... www.wetwebmedia.com

[MKLKT]

I find it really tough to navigate WWM, it's like a big pile of info just mashed together.

[lastlight]

I find it really tough to navigate WWM, it's like a big pile of info just mashed together.

+ 1 million

If a google search lands me there then you have half a clue where to go.. then you're reading thru a collection of semi related posts.

I think a wiki would be light-years ahead. No doubt WWM has all the knowledge... I just hate looking for it.

[syncro]

WWM is a step in the right direction. The info is collected around topics but still needs to be distilled and improve the signal-to-noise ratio.

[syncro]

Here is a first wiki article on Ammonia
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=668470#post668470

[RuGlu6]

This is great idea.
Why not organize existing "sticky" notes in to a local Reef Wiki?
Collective knowledge is best way to progress this hobby in to the future.
How many times we read questions from people new to the hobby about all the basics? Time after time and time again.

The one obstacle would be a difference in opinions: Best skimmer, deep sand bed or BB, Built in overflow or hang on and so on.
Nevertheless the idea is wonderful.

[lastlight]

We could write on all things without necessarily passing judgement on them...

For example:

mh > t5 > led

But we'd just write on each and not actually spell this out on the wiki :biggrin:

[Funky_Fish14]

I think you meant $$>$$$>$$$$$$$$


Sent from iPhone's tapatalk - Please excuse poor writing!

[Funky_Fish14]

Or maybe
Boring<color choice<thunderstorm???

Sorry, lol.

I agree wwm is a mashup..

Open access is definitely making a stand Recently, so Im sure the wiki idea will catch


Sent from iPhone's tapatalk - Please excuse poor writing!

[syncro]

Why not organize existing "sticky" notes in to a local Reef Wiki?

Good point, there is a lot of great info in the stickies and reference library subforum. A non-Canadian-specific wiki seemed appropriate because there are many other reef/freshwater forums that could use and contribute to this body of knowledge.


Collective knowledge is best way to progress this hobby in to the future.
How many times we read questions from people new to the hobby about all the basics? Time after time and time again.

Yes, absolutely.


The one obstacle would be a difference in opinions: Best skimmer, deep sand bed or BB, Built in overflow or hang on and so on.
I think this is where forum and wikis compliment each other. The wiki can describe the options available (mh, t5, led) along with pros and cons while forums can give specific product advice.