(Still working on this as of 16:11, 20 December 2006 (PST), please wait (maybe until tomorrow) to comment or change see #Possible names of new area and below for stuff that is ready for comments)
Current Areas
Following are the areas and a brief overview of their purpose:
- Topic Categories
-Categorize the content of Appropedia -Offer some basic information on its page -Offer some room for discussion on its corresponding Talk page.
- Project Pages
-Show projects -Often written in first person by the project creators -
- 'How to Pages
-Show how to's -Usually based on projects -Involve mulitple authors and no first person
- Organization Pages or Categories
-Describe an organization, often from the organization's POV -Organizations with many projects, coordinations or users on Appropedia can be promoted to a category so that pages and users can be categorized under that Organization.
- Program Pages or Categories
-Describe a program -Programs with many projects, coordinations or users on Appropedia can be promoted to a category so that pages and users can be categorized under that Organization. -Can be used to coordinate program activities
- Tool
- Thesis
Issues (should be something else)
Most content will have the following category tags:
Category:Pick an area <--Usually just one area that the content fits under
Category:Pick a topic <--Should be atleast one topic that the content fits under. Categories in the Topic Area use this tag to become a subcategory of a greater Topic.
Category:Location <--Often a location can also be placed.
(this part is ready for comments, --Lonny 16:11, 20 December 2006 (PST))
Possible names of new area
Let's list suggestions below: --Lonny 15:05, 20 December 2006 (PST)
- Principles
- Musings
- Compositions
- Editorials
- Writtings
- Articles (this will probably get confused with the normal usage in MediaWiki of an Article being the main namespace, although we have the same problem with the Project area in which case Project is another MediaWiki name).
- We can wait, call the area "Other" or nothing at all, and see what content emerges that needs Area categorization.
Moved from /Draft of metatopic structure
Sample table of category structure
Here is a table that talks about category framework a bit more, based on extensive exchanges Lonny and I have had via email. Since this is a structure comment, I'm not sweating the plural/singular decisions here.
| cells below contain category pages | cells below (under the headings) contain article pages | |||||
| Cat:Topic(s)are below /// Areas are to the right | Cat:Projects | Cat:How tos | Cat:Principles (?) | Cat:Organizations | ||
| Cat:Water | Cat:Rainwater harvesting |
Cat:Swails | Portland example | (empty) | Beyond dams article | Bob's swails |
| Cat:Rooftop catchment |
Ersson project | Catchment how-to | Beyond dams article | Rain Harvest Association | ||
| Cat: Greywater | Cat:Garden box | (empty) | Grey box how-to | (empty) | ||
In the table above, I propose the "Principles" area name for articles that are not quite Projects or How-tos. "Basics" seems too constraining, "Musings" seems too glib or lightweight for me. The need for this area category is not entirely clear yet, but if someone wants to see the list of such articles, it would be good to look here. We have several examples of such articles, like many from "Beyond Dams", as well as the "Power and energy basics" article. --CurtB 11:04, 20 December 2006 (PST) (sig line added by Lonny to break up conversation)
- Power and energy basics seems more like it could be in a new area, such as Category:Lecture notes, could be Lonny's power and energy basics or Engr305 power and energy basics.
- I based "Musings" on the following definition "to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon."[1], and the incredible and very carefully worded Tech Musings of Don Lancaster (did I mention incredible). The "s" is used to signify the usage (and definitin) as a noun. But I hear what you are saying. I think that we should continue looking for the right name(s) for the area(s). Let's move this conversation to Category_talk:Topic/Draft_of_areas. --Lonny 15:05, 20 December 2006 (PST)