Any of you guys considered putting your tutorials into the Ubuntu Wiki?

[handy]

The title basically says it all.

The Ubuntu Wiki could really do with more Ubuntu users supporting it, & therefore turning it into the place where you look first for your solutions.

The forum would then become the place where you go when the wiki fails you.

[user1397]

The title basically says it all.

The Ubuntu Wiki could really do with more Ubuntu users supporting it, & therefore turning it into the place where you look first for your solutions.

The forum would then become the place where you go when the wiki fails you.

I have been thinking about doing this for those very few little tutorials I might have here in the forums, or some that I might have floating around in my head. I think I can help the most by cleaning up or updating existing wiki pages though (my tutorials usually aren't very good :( )

[grahammechanical]

Every time I have gone to the Ubuntu wiki I have seen this comment:


If you are looking for user help related documentation you are looking in the wrong place; this site is for Ubuntu teams to collaborate.It appears that the Ubuntu wiki is not the kind of wiki that you are thinking of. Sure, they need help creating official documentation but the way to get involved in that is to join a specific team.

The Full Circle magazine folks want articles. A person could write a tutorial and send it to the editor and it may get accepted.

Regards.

P.S. New users could solve a lot of their initial problems themselves by reading the Help documentation that comes with the installation.

P.P.S. For the first time I have not been put off by the statement I quoted. It is possible to go further into this section of the web site without needing a password. You can get a lot of information about how to help. I am going to think about this.

[handy]

If that is in fact the case, then perhaps the Ubuntu forum users & the wiki administration should talk about how this situation may be improved to make it as easy as possible for Ubuntu forum users to contribute to the Ubuntu wiki.

On the Arch forum (if my memory serves me well), a user sets up an account & then may add new pages or contribute by improving or extending pages that already exist.

Anything that is new is reviewed by the wiki administration & modified where appropriate.

If someone is making changes that the wiki administration does not agree with then those changes are removed.

If someone is making lots of changes that the administration does not agree with, they are removed & there is communication between the administration & that particular contributor. In the worst case scenario that user will be blocked from contributing to the wiki.

This is an incredibly rare occurrence on the Arch wiki. I'm only aware of it happening once, but there may be other occurrences that I'm unaware of.

There are also certain sections of the Arch wiki that are locked to all but a few, as they are critically important to the community & are therefore kept accurate & up to date by the wiki administration. (e.g. The Beginners' Guide.)

This system works incredibly well for the Arch community, where in so many cases you check the wiki first & then go to the forum if you need to. Not searching the wiki first & asking a question about something that is in the wiki, brings about a quick response from that forum community to use the wiki.

Such a system is so much more efficient than using the forum to keep on asking/replying to the same old questions over, & over, & over again.

Giving a new user a link to the Ubuntu wiki that gives a clear step by step answer to their question is so easy & helps train them to go to the wiki first.

How simple is that!

[Thewhistlingwind]

In terms of the internet, the ubuntu wiki and forums both require a unique username and password, this is a high barrier to entry. In addition, the wiki has a "Do not enter" sign. The current infrastructure exists, but is fragmented and unwholistic. As a community, it would make more sense to have a infrastructure that lives up to the word ubuntu.

[wojox]

I think some of you are not looking in the right place. Ubuntu Wiki is for the team members. help.ubuntu.com and help.ubuntu.com/community are the real wikis.

I think adding tutorials to the wikis would make a heavier work load on the team members already. I believe they have enough to do keeping the pertinent information up to date. Ubuntu uses Focus Groups to keep things in order.

You know how many times I've logged onto the Arch Forums and seen people link their response to the wiki. People asking questions without searching is inevitable.

[handy]

I think some of you are not looking in the right place. Ubuntu Wiki is for the team members. help.ubuntu.com and help.ubuntu.com/community are the real wikis.

I think adding tutorials to the wikis would make a heavier work load on the team members already. I believe they have enough to do keeping the pertinent information up to date. Ubuntu uses Focus Groups to keep things in order.

The Ubuntu wiki teams want more people to contribute & to help them create a better wiki experience. So I don't agree with what you are saying here.



You know how many times I've logged onto the Arch Forums and seen people link their response to the wiki. People asking questions without searching is inevitable.

From personal experience of the Arch forum, I very quickly learned in my early days (over 3 years ago now) of using Arch & the forum/wiki, that posting questions in the forum that were covered in the wiki was not a good idea. I got told quickly that I wasn't doing the right thing & that I should search the wiki first.

I went to Arch with a Ubuntu forum mindset & had it changed to the Arch - use the wiki first - mindset.

Which (as I've previously said) is a vastly superior one when it comes to the amount of energy that goes in, for getting the best results out.

Unfortunately it would seem that most Ubuntu users don't share this understanding/experience, & it may be that the way the Ubuntu wiki is administered could be modified to make it easier for Ubuntu members to contribute to.

[Elfy]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ -
If you are looking for user help related documentation you are looking in the wrong place; this site is for Ubuntu teams to collaborate

which is a different beast to

https://help.ubuntu.com/community -
Welcome to the community documentation for Ubuntu - created by users just like you! Note that this is not the official documentation.

To be frank I find the different sites to be confusing and when looking for information in any of the wiki's get a bit more confused.

[handy]

I just went here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community

Looking for how you contribute to the Ubuntu wiki. I then went here in hope:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Signpost/Questions#contribute

If there was something there that I needed to do so I could contribute to the wiki it certainly wasn't plain & simple to see?

I think that there should be a plain & simple to see way to contribute to the wiki plastered all over this forum, for starters.

[wojox]

I argee with you both, it is quit confusing.

Here's the link to Documentation Focus Group (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BeginnersTeam/FocusGroups/Docs) handy. You should join the group and help set them straight. :P

[handy]

I argee with you both, it is quit confusing.

Here's the link to Documentation Focus Group (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BeginnersTeam/FocusGroups/Docs) handy. You should join the group and help set them straight. :P

Thanks for that. :rolleyes:

My problem is that I'm quite limited re. my knowledge of the workings of Ubuntu these days. I haven't used it for well over 3 years now.

Still, I'll look into it, though I'm really not the committee type.

[user1397]

Thanks for that. :rolleyes:

My problem is that I'm quite limited re. my knowledge of the workings of Ubuntu these days. I haven't used it for well over 3 years now.

Still, I'll look into it, though I'm really not the committee type.

3 years? wow, that arch must sure be special :)

seriously though, I can never make my mind up about arch or ubuntu... I mean I always stick with ubuntu because I usually just want something that works out of the box with little hassle, but the geek in me wants to configure my system to the utmost point! what to do? :confused:

[handy]

3 years? wow, that arch must sure be special :)

seriously though, I can never make my mind up about arch or ubuntu... I mean I always stick with ubuntu because I usually just want something that works out of the box with little hassle, but the geek in me wants to configure my system to the utmost point! what to do? :confused:

Give it a shot for a month or so, (it takes a little getting used to) if you don't like it (its not for everyone), dump it. Easy. :)

[zer010]

Here's the How-To on contributing...https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WikiGuide . This link was at the very bottom of https://help.ubuntu.com/community in small print....:\

[handy]

Here's the How-To on contributing...https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WikiGuide . This link was at the very bottom of https://help.ubuntu.com/community in small print....:\

Thanks zer010, for a valuable post indeed.

Your first link, that points to the "WikiGuide" in my view should be made very obvious on these forums & in the Ubuntu wiki pages.

People don't do things that they don't know about.

If the wiki people want more people to help, then they have got to advertise here in these forums.

The link to the WikiGuide, should be on every page here for every one to see & know about.

This would have the spin off of generating more talk in the community about it, which will garner more contributions to the wiki, improving it & helping to implement a gradual change in the community, building more respect for the value of the content of the wiki. With all of the effects that, that would bring.

We would start to see more replies in these forums that include links to the appropriate wiki page.

In doing so, if find that the wiki page is out of date, we can bring it up to date, or mark it as out of date, if we don't know the relevant info' ourselves.

I'm sure the wiki team wants both help & many more people to be using the wiki.

The whole thing needs to be somehow simplified & made easier for people to become contributors.