Hi Jessie & Alison Thanks for the initiative. I have been thinking about this too but am not highly skilled to do it myself. I have seen the well detailed account on the link sent by you & have signed up. I hope to be useful there as I learn along the way. I am sure this will help the collaborative content development by presenting more organized structure. Warm wishes
Gita http://www.wikieducator.org/ <http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Gita_Mathur> User:Gita_Mathur On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Wayne Mackintosh < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > I must commend Jesse and Alison's amazing work in moving the power of > categories forward for WE. This has huge potential for improving the utility > of our project and I am inspired by the gifting culture of so many in our > community! > > I've said this many times before -- but my faith in education has been > restored witnessing the tireless contributions of educators around the world > who are returning to the core values of our noble profession -- that is to > share knowledge freely! > > BIG thanks and community kudos to our emerging Category team :-) > > Cheers > W > > 2009/10/13 Jesse Groppi <[email protected]> > > Elizabeth, >> >> This is exactly what I was hoping to see! Please have a look at what >> Alison and I have already begun, and ask as many questions as you can. >> <smile> >> >> Jesse >> >> >> On 12/10/2009 23:50, elizabeth mbasu wrote: >> >> Dear Jesse, >> I know about web pages in terms of pages and sub-pages i.e parent, >> children, grandchildren etc. and can generate a structure for this. I have >> read your write up and am signing in hoping to learn more about categories >> along the way. I am not sure that I really understand everything about >> categories. >> Many thanks, >> Elizabeth >> >> --- On *Mon, 10/12/09, Jesse Groppi <[email protected]><[email protected]> >> * wrote: >> >> >> From: Jesse Groppi <[email protected]> <[email protected]> >> Subject: [WikiEducator] Announcing the categories workgroup and inviting >> new members >> To: [email protected] >> Date: Monday, October 12, 2009, 2:49 PM >> >> Hi all! >> >> There's another workgroup a-brewin' down on the wiki! This one is about >> categories; yes, dreadful fun, I know. Before I talk about the workgroup, >> I'd like to introduce you to the concept, and the rationale behind their >> use. >> >> *What are categories?* >> >> A category is just what it sounds like: a method of grouping pages >> according to their content. Categories also work with parent-child >> connections in the same way that subpages do. The category you put a page >> in will actually be a subcategory of another. A category system will have >> many levels within it. Where the category system gets even more useful than >> the subpage system is in the number of relationships that can be defined by >> it. While a subpage can only have one parent page, any page or category can >> be in as many categories as we like. This is where the mediawiki software >> becomes genius in its use of virtual reality; even though there exists only >> one document, at a single url, it can be found and related to other >> documents in any number of ways. This creates a powerful browseability that >> is trumped only by the searchability of the SemanticWiki extension, which >> involves a steep learning curve. >> >> *Why categories?* >> >> The category system is a built-in method of organising content far better >> than the subpage system method. It creates relationships between content >> that cannot be defined by subpages, making it easier for members to move >> from page to page and between related information. Want to know what other >> projects there are on astrophysics? The category system will tell you >> that. Want to be able to find all the resources from Otago Poly-Tech >> easily? Curious about what 10 year old children are learning elsewhere in >> the world? The category system allows for these. Using the category system >> is preferred over contents pages because it requires far less effort from >> members to keep current. To add a page to a category, one never has to >> leave the page, itself! >> >> The other key factor for categorising pages is a concept called "search >> engine optimisation" (SEO). You may have heard of this if you are in any >> way involved with web publishing. I'm not going to explain SEO, but I will >> tell you the point of it is to increase readership organically (they come to >> us, we don't market directly to them). This is done by appealing to the >> formulas Google and other search engines use to determine who goes at the >> top of any search list. The thing is, if there aren't any links to your >> page, Google never sees it! Categories create a link-based map of the >> website, allowing Google's programs to see each page that has a category. >> >> *The workgroup* >> >> Sounds great, right? Well, WE's category structure is a bit out of shape >> at the moment. For example, about 30% of the categories used don't actually >> exist, yet; there are a handful of central/root/contents categories, none of >> which go deeper than a few levels; there are (as I write this) 12,200 >> uncategorised pages out of 68,992 total, or about 15%; and most of the >> existing categories aren't connected to any other category. >> >> So, Alison Snieckus and I have seeded a workgroup to get WE's category >> system in tip-top shape, as well as working to educate WE members on >> categories and advise the style guidelines workgroup on guidelines that >> affect category usage. We're still organising the group, and there are some >> tasks to be done, and we could use your help with both! WE would really >> benefit from your opinions and ideas, so please stop by ( >> http://www.wikieducator.org/Workgroup:Categories ) and sign up. There >> are lots of informational links, and it isn't necessary you be an expert on >> wikis or the category system to take part, but you might find you know a lot >> more when we're all done. If you have any questions, please feel free to >> ask here, or on the workgroup talk pages. As with the style guide >> workgroup, membership isn't required to participate in discussions, it just >> helps us to know who wants to be involved so we can give them credit and to >> make sure everyone has something to do to help. >> >> Looking forward to seeing you there! >> >> Jesse >> http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Jesse_Groppi >> skype: jesse.groppi >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > -- > Wayne Mackintosh, Ph.D. > Director, > International Centre for Open Education, > Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. > Board of Directors, OER Foundation. > Founder and Community Council Member, Wikieducator, www.wikieducator.org > Mobile +64 21 2436 380 > Skype: WGMNZ1 > Twitter: OERFoundation, Mackiwg > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. 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