Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Lois & Clark Wiki

After reading this post the other day, I had an idea: what we if were to build a Lois & Clark wiki? It would be similar to Wikipedia, but devoted just to L&C:TNAOS and Folcdom. Let me know what you think. Answers to the poll and comments are appreciated!

I think it would be interesting. I've looked at some of the resources other fandoms have (pages with full character bios and stats, and stuff like that), and we're slightly lacking.

I don't see why not. Who better to fill in the blanks than FoLCs?

I'm puzzled by the fundraising campaign question though. Granted, what I know about Wiki you could put on a postage stamp, but I'd always assumed you just made an entry if you had something to say. Am I to take it from this that you actually have to pay to make an entry?

ETA: Oh, hang on, I see. I got confused through the simple process of not reading the initial post correctly.

Hmmmmmm. Okay, now I'm not so sure why you'd need to build a whole new system similar to Wiki when you have Wiki. Why not just fill in an entry in Wiki and save yourself a lot of time and cash? (Again the answer to this question is probably obvious to anyone who knows squat more than I do about Wiki. )

LabRat

We could use the real Wikipedia, but then we would have to wade through all sorts of non-L&C stuff, especially in the articles about the major characters. And, I don't know, I just would feel funny submitting an article to Wikipedia for something like Jimmy Interruptus!

The fundraising would just be for website maintenance, if needed. Paying for hosting, etc.

For my part, as someone who writes a lot of crossovers, a wiki devoted only to L&C wouldn't be useful - I quite often want to check out the career of the actors, how the character appears in the other DC universe stories, and so forth. I think it would only get a tiny readership compared to the main Wikipedia articles on Lois & Clark, and that the effort would be better used there, improving their accuracy and scope, adding more episode descriptions, and so forth.

I don't really know. It seems like everybody here knows what there is to know. And what we don't knwo, we can always ask. There are always helpful FoLCs around to answer every single question.

I think it would be great fun! I'd just have to wait until after moving day to get started on any of it.

Cool idea! There's already a wealth of information on Zoomway's sites....

* Lois & Clark
* Episode Guides
* FAQ
(plus I have a vague recollection of a concordance but can't find it)

... but having it in Wiki form would be good too. Maybe Zoomway would be willing to contribute some content. A Wiki would be a great resource for fanfic writers and could certainly answer those "How do you spell Hobs/Hobbs/Hobb's Bay-type questions."

-- Lauren

I like this idea! I'd be willing to store at least some of the files on my personal website (which is pretty empty at the moment), I still need a purpose for it anyway

Yarrrr great idea *hyper hyper Lol*

I agree with Marcus, I personally think that fleshing out the existing Wiki would be perfectly fine.

Then we could get a lot more exposure to the general Wiki crowd. I've already submitted a few things on the main site and haven't had any problems.

James

Be careful and make sure that you have read any rules, recommendations and notes attached to those things. Wikipedia can be quite stingy on what information they accept, you might find your articles deleted faster than you can write them and garner some rude comments while they are at it.

It can be a shark pool, better contact the TV series project and the Superman project first, they can help you on which kind of information they need and how that information should be presented

I think that in general the approach that the main wikipedia site takes is a good one - I've been called on several changes I made where it turned out I couldn't verify the facts, and one where I was plain wrong. I've never had a legitimate entry or change reversed, with the exception of one site link (to the only on-line edition of a long out of print book) which turned out to be selectively quoting from it to make a political point - I'd put in the reference without realising that large and important parts had been cut.

Hmm, interesting idea.. if you guys are still interested and if posting on the main wiki creates problems, here's an interesting development platform (based on the wiki).. Twiki

(It is a structured Wiki, and from what I could gather, the software is free so we'd just need a web space and host... I think )

Just a thought..

I think it is a nice idea. A lot of sites have wiki's that are soley dedicated to the series. They have much more information on them than normal wikipedia sites. Some examples:

Battlestar Galactica
Firefly Wiki

Many many shows have them. I can't see anything but good coming from a fan compiled one and the wiki software is opensource and free.

It seems to me that there is enough interest to actually do this. So, yea! I am excited.

Six people besides myself responded that they would be interested in being on the setup committee. I think I know who some of you are based on your replies, but I am not completely sure. Please email me if you're interested, and sometime next week we can start talking about how we actually do this.

Thanks to everyone who replied to the poll!

There's also 1 or 2 sites dedicated completely to Harry Potter knowledge.

And Lisa, I'm totally in on the setup idea--but I have to move and get settled in the new place first, so I won't be e-mailing you for another week or two, at least.

No problem, Darcy. I figured even before I put up the poll that you'd want in, so we can wait!

I'm definitely interested in a Lois & Clark Wiki
But I think it would be better to make a whole new wiki instead of just filling in Wikipedia. On a new wiki, we can have our own rules, and can monitor who has rights to edit pages. That way, we can make sure it's only fans who are making changes.

I have already set up two wikis in the past, but that was with the Wikka Wikki system . The other systems mentioned above seem to be better and more advanced. Also, a class mate of mine isn't that found of Wikka Wikki anymore, he says the security isn't optimal. So I don't think we should use that

I would be willing to contribute to the system by helping to set it up and adding content, but I'm very busy with schoolwork until mid February. After that, you can count me in

Also, before someone builds it, maybe we should brainstorm about what we're gonna put on it, so we can define a good structure. It's better to have a large flexible structure beforehand, instead of just building extra things and making a maze out of it

There is the obvious content like information about the show, episode descriptions, cast information, featured songs,... But also information about the fans, fanfic, music videos, folcfests,...

On most wikis (as far as I know), users can also make their own profile page. So everyone can use that to showcase some of their fanfics, vids, arts,...

So, what else can we put on it?


EDIT: I was thinking about what Marcus posted. If we have the info on our own wiki, a few people could just transfer some of the more general info to the existing wikipedia. And we could link from our wiki to wikipedia (for the non-L&C info) and from wikipedia to our wiki if someone on wikipedia wants more information.

An, you're officially on the setup team. You've made some great suggestions, thank you!

It's no problem to wait a few weeks, Darcy is busy for a while too.

A structure is a good thing. The question is what it is supposed to contain.
Do you want to have a part about "Superman in other media" - this could focus on the differences between LnC and the other media (comic books, Smallville, Superman movies, etc); Fan pages for Dean and Teri (and others), including their other projects; something like "famous mistakes" like Lois' apartment changing location and so forth.