PinWiki, The New Place For Everything Pinball

[Lindsey]

I know how a conventional wiki is intended to work. I just think in this context open edits are not the best approach. Just because it's called a wiki doesn't mean it has to conform to conventional wiki rules regarding content additions.

One example of where this could become a problem is people who disagree on repair methods. It happens on here all the time and often there is never a resolution where all people agree on a common method. Who's method gets to be the one posted if both people are deleting each others advice? Do both get posted?

I realize I'm bringing up a lot of negatives but it's inevitable that some of this stuff will come up eventually. On the whole I think it's awesome. The more information we have out there the better. I think pinrepair.com going down is going to inspire a lot of people to put together repair guides. That is a good thing.

Pinwiki doesn't allow edits until someone is registered. And registration requires email confirmation.

I just registered and removed content with no email confirmation. Not that it really matters. Email confirmation doesn't ensure good information.

Everyone is worried about the bad when it comes to a Wiki. Well, we've also seen what happen with a single maintainer.

I'm hopeful about the good but realistic about the bad. Pinwiki.com could be taken down at any time but I get your point about the content. We could just copy it somewhere else in a matter of minutes. In that sense it's a better system.

Neither method is perfect.

Agreed.

At the end of the day I'm just giving my $.02. My only real point is that moderating the content prior to publishing feels like a lot less work than dealing with open edits. Sure, the work involved in moderating open edits is theoretically shared among everyone but that's not necessarily a good thing and I'm sure there will be no problem finding moderators for each section. This will have no effect on the "free" nature of the content because the license will still apply. The bulk of the content will be pretty straight forward. It's when you get into the finer details and more advanced stuff that there can be conflicting opinions which could cause issues.

EDIT: There is email confirmation but I was able to make edits before confirming. That might be a bug worth looking at.

 

[supadave1]

http://pinwiki.com/index.php?title=Xenon

My little addition to the wiki.. I just recently did some work on a Xenon so I created the Xenon page on the wiki. I had fun adding my 2 cents to the site.

Issues I see though would be continuity from one game to the next. I created the xenon to look as it does now, but the next editor may create some other machines page totally different. I guess that's the nature of the beast. Overall, I hope to see the repair logs grow. It's a great way to share knowledge. Right, Wrong, or Indifferent, Knowledge is always great!

 

[stangbat]

I know how a conventional wiki is intended to work. I just think in this context open edits are not the best approach. Just because it's called a wiki doesn't mean it has to conform to conventional wiki rules regarding content additions.

I figured you did, but I've seen posts by people that don't seem to understand how they work, hence my "generic" reply.

One example of where this could become a problem is people who disagree on repair methods. It happens on here all the time and often there is never a resolution where all people agree on a common method. Who's method gets to be the one posted if both people are deleting each others advice? Do both get posted?

I think we just have to tackle this as it arises. If a topic or page's content is heavily disputed, it can be locked down and a consensus reached. Usually not everyone is happy. Maybe both views can be discussed.

At the end of the day I'm just giving my $.02. My only real point is that moderating the content prior to publishing feels like a lot less work than dealing with open edits. Sure, the work involved in moderating open edits is theoretically shared among everyone but that's not necessarily a good thing and I'm sure there will be no problem finding moderators for each section. This will have no effect on the "free" nature of the content because the license will still apply. The bulk of the content will be pretty straight forward. It's when you get into the finer details and more advanced stuff that there can be conflicting opinions which could cause issues.

You bring up valid concerns and I'm not trying to dismiss them. I think at this point it is probably best to be less restrictive with edits. Once the site is more populated, edits could be restricted and even moderated beforehand. If pinwiki.com had content like pinrepair.com, there is no reason for people to be able to delete an entire page of text without review.

As for confirmation, I tried to make an edit when I wasn't logged in and it wasn't allowed on the page I tried. All edits I made were applied instantly though, and that is what I was expecting.

I hope this works out and people contribute. It has a lot of potential.

 

[XNIF]

I want to thank you for this site. It really helps me repair my bally.
I hope you will continue this site, and ignore people that are always complaining.... Because it's everything pinrepair should have been...

 

[Pinball Wizard]

No problem! Glad to hear it's helping someone!

 

[sosage]

2 very general cents on doing stuff like this and keeping your sanity...you're not gonna make everybody happy. Don't try. Contemplate the best way to organize and manage the information that works for you on the back end, then go for it.

I'm not saying ignore suggestions either, but don't break your back trying to cover everyone's bases. It's impossible.

 

[XNIF]

Yes.. and copy most of the pinrepair site to your wiki from this backup: http://www.xs4all.nl/~hansbalk/rep/ballyss/index1.htm

 

[Lindsey]

Yes.. and copy most of the pinrepair site to your wiki from this backup: http://www.xs4all.nl/~hansbalk/rep/ballyss/index1.htm

Sure... just steal everything on my site while you're at it. And all of the hard work of everyone else on the internet. Just copy everything you can without regard for who owns it.

 

[XNIF]

Sure... just steal everything on my site while you're at it. And all of the hard work of everyone else on the internet. Just copy everything you can without regard for who owns it.

Pinrepair was co-written by Hans.... the link i just posted is partly his work. He made it public so i see no reason why not to since pinrepair is stealing it.

 

[Lindsey]

Pinrepair was co-written by Hans.... the link i just posted is partly his work. He made it public so i see no reason why not to since pinrepair is stealing it.

So... you claim that pinrepair was stealing content so that makes it okay to steal their content?

FYI: Pinrepair was co-written by tons of people. The section you posted alone probably had a dozen contributors. If those people choose to share that content in other ways then good for them. Those who don't should be respected and not have their content stolen and reproduced without consent. I don't agree with what happened with trying to sell the content but it doesn't justify stealing and reproducing the content somewhere else.

The wiki is exploding anyway. There's no need to steal from pinrepair.

 

[XNIF]

So... you claim that pinrepair was stealing content so that makes it okay to steal their content?

FYI: Pinrepair was co-written by tons of people. The section you posted alone probably had a dozen contributors. If those people choose to share that content in other ways then good for them. Those who don't should be respected and not have their content stolen and reproduced without consent. I don't agree with what happened with trying to sell the content but it doesn't justify stealing and reproducing the content somewhere else.

The wiki is exploding anyway. There's no need to steal from pinrepair.

I know it was cowritten by many.... And it's not fair what pinrepair is doing. And yes...you are right, we should not go down the same road. However i get vindictive (is that the right word..?) when i see how easy this theft is taken by everyone.

 

[jar155]

Well, I feel that the majority of contributions to pinrepair.com were made with the intent to share freely...FOR FREE. As long as Casey is never using it for monetary gain, I'm fine with him lifting content, though the proper thing would be to approach the original writers whenever possible to make sure that they're okay with it.

I've decided to point my www.pinballwiki.com to www.pinwiki.com for the greater good. Good luck, Casey!

 

[KenLayton]

I have been working on a Bally Captain Fantastic electronic home model pinball lately. I've been making notes and taking pictures in hopes of getting this info to the pinwiki. There is precious little technical information out there on these home models, aside from the service manual Marco Specialties sells.

If the basic format was already setup at pinwiki for the home models, I would start posting the information.

The main problem with the Bally electronic home models is the piss-poor power supplies, especially with the Series 1 machines. Series 2 was a lot better, but was designed without any fuse in the 18VAC line from the transformer!

 

[Pinball Wizard]

Ken,
I will get your formatting setup for you tonight, planned on working on Pinball 2000 stuff too so I will set you up.

 

[Pinball Wizard]

Just posted the Home Model page, it is under the Bally/Stern section. If you need any help email me at pinwiki (a t) pinwiki (dot) c0m, and I can offer further assistance.