Looking for Supra experts

[swaq]

I have decided that a forum makes a poor format as a reference, as wading through all the posts to find relevant information can be a pain. Forums are designed for communication among a community, but not so much as an encyclopedia.

In response to this I have created a Supra wiki. I am looking for several volunteers to help develop the structure of the wiki and add add some initial content before I start advertising the URL.

Questions, comments, volunteers?

 

[jetjock]

www.mkiiitech.com Nuff said.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

i'll help. good idea.

 

[CRE]

I just want to be clear, I presume this is going to be a sort of how-to encyclopedia.

What specifically is the intent behind this wiki? Is it to be a sort of MKIII cookbook for mods, maintenance or repairs? Or will it cover all of it? What will be covered and what won't?

 

[jetjock]

ill help.

The prosecution rests....

 

[americanjebus]

have you red the howto/faq section? Pretty much everything is in there or linked to whatever you may need.

 

[swaq]

www.mkiiitech.com Nuff said.

Which is a great forum, but I think a wiki would be a better way to organize the information. Also, I suppose I should add that this is not intended to replace any forums, just be reference/informational/etc.

I just want to be clear, I presume this is going to be a sort of how-to encyclopedia.

What specifically is the intent behind this wiki? Is it to be a sort of MKIII cookbook for mods, maintenance or repairs? Or will it cover all of it? What will be covered and what won't?

This will be an everything Supras wiki. Technical, specifications, how-tos, modifications, maintenance, history, etc. It will not be used to coordinate meets, host full build threads, buy/sell/trade parts or cars, or general discussion.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

The prosecution rests....

if you're commenting on a simple grammatical error, it is because i am multi tasking in between this and my school work.
Anyway i have seen this for the 3S owners. it works very well!

 

[swaq]

ill help. good idea.

The prosecution rests....

Hehe :icon_razz

Thanks CryoSlash.

have you red the howto/faq section? Pretty much everything is in there or linked to whatever you may need.

Yeah, that's a lot of the kind of information I want. The trick is that I'd either need the original authors to post it to the wiki or at least get their permission.


Also, I'm planning on having the wiki span all years of Supras, 1979-1998.

 

[swaq]

Anyway i have seen this for the 3S owners. it works very well!

Do you have a link? I'd like to take a look at how it's organized.

 

[Dirgle]

The concept is sound, however proper execution will be very difficult. The potential is there for great things, but if not done right this could fall flat on it's face.

How do you intend to deal with situations where there are two schools of thought, but only one can be correct.


edit:For some goofy reason I repeated myself in two sentences. Oh well.

 

[jetjock]

Indeed. Like Wikipedia it'll just end up as a mass of misinformation mingled with truth and without the ability of most to decide between the two. Forums do a fine job of that now. Take this one for example.

 

[OneJoeZee]

The prosecution rests....

:rofl:

 

[swaq]

The concept is sound, however proper execution will be very difficult. The potential is there for great things, but if not done right this could fall flat on it's face.

How do you intend to deal with situations where there are two schools of thought, but only one can be correct. How do you plan to deal with these situations.

This is why I want a few people to help get it well structured and give it a test run before having everyone go at it right from the beginning.

Can you explain more what you mean with two schools of thought? Do you mean on particular document on the wiki. The wiki software allows for discussion on pages, so hopefully any disagreements could be resolved. Part of the reason I want experts is so they can have the final say on what is fact and what is hearsay.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

http://www.3si.org/wiki/index.php/Category:FAQ
you see they closely incorporate the supramania site AND the wiki as itself. i don't know exactly if we can get that support but i will start working on the wiki tomorrow after work.
-Thomas
edit. i really hope a lot of people are on board. we need to use this info!

 

[swaq]

Indeed. Like Wikipedia it'll just end up as a mass of misinformation mingled with truth and without the ability of most to decide between the two. Forums do a fine job of that now. Take this one for example.

There are plenty of posts on here with misinformation. With a wiki the information on a particular subject can be refined over time with moderators to keep misinformation from becoming permanent.

No, it isn't perfect. Yes, it will take a lot of work, which is why I'm asking for help.

 

[jetjock]

Well, I don't see it happening. As I said Wikipedia is a good example. I wish you luck though. I'd like to help but unlike some I actually have a life outside this old car and I've already been neglecting it too much just by being here. Considering the futility of gaining ground against the BS I sometimes wonder why I even do this.

 

[swaq]

http://www.3si.org/wiki/index.php/Category:FAQ
you see they closely incorporate the supramania site AND the wiki as itself. i don't know exactly if we can get that support but i will start working on the wiki tomorrow after work.
-Thomas
edit. i really hope a lot of people are on board. we need to use this info!

Thanks for the link!

I think what we have here is just fine. I'm not for diluting the content by spreading it around. I don't want to look at multiple places if I don't have to do so. There are too many boards/forums that are dying or dead for lack of participation.

I vote for staying here and contributing as one can.

That's a valid concern. I'd like to think this could be a supplement to the forums. It's certainly different. With forums I've found it hard to locate old posts which have information I'm looking for. I think if whenever there is an insightful post that the information could be added to the wiki for easy future reference. JetJock's post on r-12 to r-134a conversion comes to mind.

 

[CRE]

http://www.3si.org/wiki/index.php/Category:FAQ
you see they closely incorporate the supramania site AND the wiki as itself. i don't know exactly if we can get that support but i will start working on the wiki tomorrow after work.
-Thomas
edit. i really hope a lot of people are on board. we need to use this info!

I really like the way that's setup, that's precisely what I thought you had in mind.

I really don't see what's wrong with this idea. If errors are corrected promptly and structure is maintained it could prove immensely helpful to the Supra community at large.

The real question is if it can and will be maintained thoroughly enough.

As I see it there's nothing wrong with adding some structure and filtering to the countless writeups often lost to the constant tides of useless and flaw filled threads found on pretty much every forum. No confusing posts about backpressure in the middle of an otherwise thoughtful article on optimizing an exhaust. No complete and utter derailment of a topic for 15 posts before the article gets back on track.

 

[Dirgle]

This is why I want a few people to help get it well structured and give it a test run before having everyone go at it right from the beginning.

Can you explain more what you mean with two schools of thought? Do you mean on particular document on the wiki. The wiki software allows for discussion on pages, so hopefully any disagreements could be resolved. Part of the reason I want experts is so they can have the final say on what is fact and what is hearsay.

One example is going on right now over in the "R-12 to R134" thread, One school of thought is formed of extensive opinionated experience, and the other comes from factually based knowledge. Which one is right the guys who have experience dealing with the stuff on there own, or the guys who actually understand how it works and have dealt with it based on this understanding. Same thing with the experience verses knowledge thing, Lexus AFM with 440 injectors or 550 injectors. Many will swear by the 440 saying they are just fine while others understand why the 550's were chosen. And there are many, many more examples, but you get the idea.

The method of discussion in the wiki software is a mechanism we already have in place. It's the forums, and I'm sure the experts do not want one more place to have to weed through misinformation. Don't get me wrong, I like the concept, and have spent many a night trying to think of a feasible and efficient way of combining all the compiled information on the supra. I have yet to figure out a decent way to bring it together, however I don't believe a wiki is the best solution to this. I have endless documents saved for just such a time as when I can bring them together in a collective, clear, and efficient way for the benefit of all. Till then I will continue hording data.