Nellie: Thanks for your confidence, but it won't just be the two of us accomplishing this big task. I'm confident that WE will do it together.
Wayne: I am very equally glad there are people like that, here. Gita & Valerie: Good to hear others are on the same page. Thank you both for offering to help! 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 /<jagro...@gmail.com>/* wrote: > > > From: Jesse Groppi <jagro...@gmail.com> > Subject: [WikiEducator] Announcing the categories workgroup and > inviting new members > To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com > 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 > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. 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