But, before even broaching the topic, an explanation of what the various types of categories are, how they function and how they might be used (or completely ignored) by readers of Fanlore is surely in order.
Oh please yes! What confused me a great deal was that fandom by source text categories seem to be on the same level as "individual fandoms", at least according to the sitemap. It would make more sense to me, if individual fandoms would fall into the various categories like RPF, Manga, Radio etc. I don't know how these things work, but to make it easier, perhaps fandom categories could be connected to their respective "parent folders"? (For more, see below.)
You are right, a lot of the categories didn't make any sense to me - or rather, their hierarchy and placement didn't. It would be great, if they could be made more "understandable" for people who have never before worked on a wiki, for fans who just want to write something about their fandom and not waste time digging through pages of explanations for each strangely named category. ;)
When I started, I was presented with an empty window and the suggestion to "just start typing in the box below". The "see for help" link offered more links to a FAQ. So I went to the "start a new page" site and was confronted with a four-step list - and two of the steps had me stop. A name for a page and the need to format it, sure, that's familiar. But what template to use for what page? And what category? Without additional digging around (and sometimes not even then) there's no way to know that as a newbie. I would have loved to have the three or four most common pages readily linked to make it easy for beginners. For example, the page templates for a source fandom (i.e. the series, book, movie), one for communities, for stories, perhaps for pairings or characters or debates/controversies in fandoms, too. (Of course, that's a highly personal impression on what "most common pages" could be.)
Or perhaps there could be a fool-proof way for peeps like me, something to klick through: say, I want to create a new page for an anime, then I'd follow a prominently placed link called "create new page", from there I could choose which "parent" category, which would be "Fan communities", then "fandom by source text", then I'd click on Anime and would be presented with an empty page where the correct templates and categories are already inserted. Perhaps with a note on how to add the new fandom category or an additional step where I could insert the fandom category (either click on a link to an already existing one or write a new one) and it would be placed in the page as well.
I have no idea, if that would even be doable and I'm sure it's way too much hassle for experienced Wikiwriters. But not all of us are and there will be people who have no idea how the Wiki community works. I pestered Lian and Frogspace, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have turned away again and not be bothered with adding my share to Fanlore.
And boy, will I ever be able to just write one-sentence replies? -_-;;
tl;dr: A bit easier access for n00bs would be greatly appreciated! =D
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Oh please yes! What confused me a great deal was that fandom by source text categories seem to be on the same level as "individual fandoms", at least according to the sitemap. It would make more sense to me, if individual fandoms would fall into the various categories like RPF, Manga, Radio etc. I don't know how these things work, but to make it easier, perhaps fandom categories could be connected to their respective "parent folders"? (For more, see below.)
You are right, a lot of the categories didn't make any sense to me - or rather, their hierarchy and placement didn't. It would be great, if they could be made more "understandable" for people who have never before worked on a wiki, for fans who just want to write something about their fandom and not waste time digging through pages of explanations for each strangely named category. ;)
When I started, I was presented with an empty window and the suggestion to "just start typing in the box below". The "see for help" link offered more links to a FAQ. So I went to the "start a new page" site and was confronted with a four-step list - and two of the steps had me stop. A name for a page and the need to format it, sure, that's familiar. But what template to use for what page? And what category? Without additional digging around (and sometimes not even then) there's no way to know that as a newbie. I would have loved to have the three or four most common pages readily linked to make it easy for beginners. For example, the page templates for a source fandom (i.e. the series, book, movie), one for communities, for stories, perhaps for pairings or characters or debates/controversies in fandoms, too. (Of course, that's a highly personal impression on what "most common pages" could be.)
Or perhaps there could be a fool-proof way for peeps like me, something to klick through: say, I want to create a new page for an anime, then I'd follow a prominently placed link called "create new page", from there I could choose which "parent" category, which would be "Fan communities", then "fandom by source text", then I'd click on Anime and would be presented with an empty page where the correct templates and categories are already inserted. Perhaps with a note on how to add the new fandom category or an additional step where I could insert the fandom category (either click on a link to an already existing one or write a new one) and it would be placed in the page as well.
I have no idea, if that would even be doable and I'm sure it's way too much hassle for experienced Wikiwriters. But not all of us are and there will be people who have no idea how the Wiki community works. I pestered Lian and Frogspace, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have turned away again and not be bothered with adding my share to Fanlore.
And boy, will I ever be able to just write one-sentence replies? -_-;;
tl;dr: A bit easier access for n00bs would be greatly appreciated! =D