FrathWiki:News/Anderson wants FrathWiki revolution
Anderson, known on the website as Pisceesumsprecan, wants to build FrathWiki into a powerful tool for 'condoers' and as a central pillar of the community, in addition to bringing it to a wider audience. Today, he speaks out on his changes and plans.
Introduction
I first noticed this wiki last year, looking for a place that would host my conlang's grammar. FrathWiki was a very opportune find; it's accessible, familiar and the administrator Muke pays a lot of attention to it. Another great thing is being able to host one's conlang among thousands of other pages, being part of a community. In early 2008, my thoughts began to drift from my personal project in an endeavour to make that community great. I sketched out designs for a new concise, vibrant Main Page to replace what I felt to be an outdated layout (in use from 2003!).
I'm 16 years old with a conlang called West Germanic, née Piscean, studying English, French, German and 20th Century History at The Rutland College, in England's smallest county with Europe's largest reservoir. FrathWiki, alongside Kinks fan fora (yes, they are my favourite band), is one of my favourite websites. As well as using it for uploading information regarding my efforts, I love reading others' articles. As a result of this, I want to make FrathWiki community-friendly. I feel very passionate; now with lots of experience, I want the best for all condoers and will happily dedicate some of my time to help those who want it.
Main Page, Community Portal and Current Events
I aimed to separate the Main Page into digestable chunks and elimative unncessary ramblings. Now there's a short introductory box, cutting to the chase for those that are new to the site, a box of topics, allowing easy access for frequent users of the site and a 'FrathWiki in other languages' box, now extended into a new initiative (see below).
I personally found having the help and information links scattered in a lengthy description of the wiki a little off-putting, so decided to adopt a new Support bar at the top of all the primary pages. All the support given on the site can be found here in one click. The new layout is ideal for people who know what they are looking for, e.g. if one wants a list of conlangs, one clicks 'Conlangs' in the Topics box. It's never been easier. Added to the links in the Topics is one to the Linguistics category because I think FrathWiki could be an excellent resource where conlangers want technical, to-the-point information about natlangs, especially with the marvellous job Blackkdark is doing. Additionally added is a link to a conlang relays category; relays are a popular activity and FrathWiki has the perfect framework to host them, so I believe this should be highlighted.
Despite FrathWiki being set up in 2003, two primary pages (the Community Portal and Current Changes), had never been in use until 2008. To keep the Main Page brief, I've moved some of its former content to the new Community Portal, also adding links to improve stubs, expand collaborative projects and to administrator Muke's talk page (I'll soon be adding a link to mine, so I can help too). The latest addition is the Current Changes page, which I hope to be used as a record of major changes to FrathWiki, including upgrades to the MediaWiki software, for alerts to goings-on in the global community, for a place for people to advertise initiatives and as a front-end - thanks to DPL - to the new FrathShed (see below).
FrathWiki in other languages initiative
The user Imbecilica, with the creation of some encyclopaedic articles translated into his conlang Espirolitan, gave me another community-related idea. Why not allow a few encyclopaedic articles with the purpose of people being able to store translation exercises and demonstrate the usability of their conlangs to others? Now, the recognisable 'FrahtWiki in other languages' box first built into the main page can be included on other pages, allowing FrathWikians to have pages translated between conlangs at the click of a mouse. I think this is a fun feature! It also led me to another idea regarding translation exercises, explained in the following section.
FrathShed
There has always been a sandbox, which users could use to sketch their new conlang ideas, but I feel that my new FrathShed is a continuation of this idea. The FrathShed category is there for users to place pages paired with their established conlang grammars. A FrathShed page is a personal way of keeping track of one's conlang, so using short-hand does not matter. Committing material to the FrathShed is not with the intention of it being read, though others are encouraged to check it out from a distance (i.e. not edit). Users are encourage to update FrathShed articles regularly, with changes appearing on the Current Events page, so FrathWikians can observe the evolution of fellow users' projects, and draw inspiration for their own. Contact Anderson for advice on the FrathShed and FrathWiki in other languages initiative; I am here to help.
New logo
As of 11th September, with Muke's approval, ongoing trials are underway to find a new iconic logo for FrathWiki, representing the conlang community. Feel free to join the debate and submit your own designs. I am today working to improve my own, so watch out for the upload of my second pyramid adaptation, following others' suggestions. There is a good chance we'll see a new logo before Christmas 2008 - another FrathWiki 'rebranding' milestone! The mission to find a new logo gave birth to the News banner project template, which is designed to spark community discussions about site-related matters that would otherwise be unknown. Contact Anderson if you think you have some news.
Upcoming
Twinned with Conlanger BBoard
Zompist BBoard has its own KneeQuickie, which is popular, but I find it clumsy in parts and not as accessible as FrathWiki. However, it does a good job of hosting collaborative threads long-term. The very friendly, in my opinion, Conlanger BBoard has no means to do this. I might soon begin to add established Translation Challenges and possibly previous Teach and Learn courses for easy access, also allowing one to find what one is looking for more efficiently (the wiki layout is perfect for this).
Potential further updates to the Main Page
Many of you on the fora voiced a desire to have featured pages, whose content could be cycled on the Main Page, giving people equal chances of having their detailed conlang pages noticed. I love this idea, but it is difficult for me to implement. I have some ideas as to how to go about this, but at the end of the day, it is down to the admin team, especially Muke. Consulting with him on this matter is on my to-do list, particularly after the new logo idea has been been implemented or dismissed.
I've also spotted some nifty extensions that might be of use to the wiki CSS. This includes a fixed left sidebar that keeps its place despite scrolling the article (I personally find it very frustrating having to scroll up and down to open, say, the Recent Pages link in a new tab while I continue working on my article). Another is an inbuilt Java chat, which places a Chat tab in the top bar next to the Edit, History, Move and Watch tabs - good for collaboration efforts!
'Devoted to FrathWiki'
As you can see, I've done my best to enhance the FrathWiki experience and I only hope that you enjoy my changes. I will remain devoted to FrathWiki, so send your opinions to me and I will respond readily. Thank you for reading this article!
