NEED INPUT:In the process of setting up a wiki

First Stop Announcements
#1

During the last few weeks or so I’ve been experimenting with adding a Wiki to this site. I’ve had the idea for a while but Rotorage really pushed me into implementing it. For those who don’t know a Wiki is a website in which users can add or edit information, the biggest of which is Wikipedia.

I am happy to say that I have worked out the initial technical bugs but I am now in need of your input!

Aside from regular informational pages I thought it would be great to also have the wiki be a materials database! This way once someone uses a resin, for instance, they could add a page about the resin and their experience.

In addition though I am going to add extensions that allow us to filter based on properties. For instance we could look for all resins under 700 cps.

What I need from you guys is suggestions on what to add. So far here’s what I’ve come up with.

Categories are in bold
Properties are in plain formatting

Fabric
Material Type
Supplier
Datasheet URL
Price/Yd
Weight (oz/ft^2)
Weight (g/m^2)

Resin
Viscosity (cps)
Pot Life

Cores
Thickness (in)
Thickness (mm)

Let me know if there are any other properties or categories that you would like to see! I’m extremely excited about this and once it gets going I think it’ll be a great addition to this site!

#2

I’m sure there will be alot more to add but this was just off the top of my head.
FABRIC
Manf. of material
Weaver
Thickness

Resin
Cure temp/time
Quantity availble in.
TG

Bags
Width or shape like tube or v-fold bags
Thickness
Service Temp

Bag Tape
type (Tacky/extra tacky)
thickness
Service temp

Thanks for taking the time to do this Canyon I think your right and it will be a great adition to the site.

#3

Hey I can’t edit my post! Soon as I hit sumbit I thought of
Vacuum pumps
Vacuum level
Duty Cycle
Oil/dry

#4

Would it make sense to also include some info on finishing techniques, I see a lot of posts about how to finish the infused/wet lay-up/overlay piece. If there was a section to highlight how to wet sand carbon, common issues to expect like pin-holes and the like as well as how to fix it - well, it may help to reduce the same type of posts coming up all the time as we could just post a link to the wiki.

Just a thought…also some application info, common methods of infusing or over-lay.

^ Might end up being a lot of extra work but something down the road potentially.

#5

Standard informational wiki posts are definitely doable and my hope is that over time all of us can contribute a little bit to make it a quick and easy resource for newcomers so it eliminates threads like, How do I cut composites? And how do I get a mirror finish?

#6

Peel ply

coated, non coated, fabric style

lay up schemes/ cross section

helps with understanding a stacking sequence

lay-up book

how to proper write a lay-up book

darting
how to?

Just my thoughts, coming into my mind.

#7

I hope you succeed. I have a couple of WIKIs, but they are a nightmare to maintain. Be absolutely sure you have a good registration system (or better, use the userbase of the forum) or the WIKI will be flooded with spam.

As for properties: this is tricky, as there are so many testing methods.

#8

This is my BIGGEST concern, I hardly have enough time to moderate this site, moderating the wiki will be even worse, especially because it’ll be harder to catch spammers.

I do have a plugin that uses the userbase from here but this brings up another problem being that, if I upgrade either software the link will break. What wiki’s do you maintain? Do you plan on continuing in light of the issues?

#9

I have 3:

1 is for the company I work for. It is a small WIKI, which I use as a “notepad” for info that I need to access regularly. This WIKI is on a password protected server. No problems there.

1 is a WIKI that I had to collect data on Bugatti cars, except chassis numbers (only 8000 cars have ever been made). Think about books, car models, general history, history by date (chronological), “important” people, etc.
This one was publicly accessable, but in the end gave big problems with spam, and I shut it down.

1 is a WIKI that holds the chassis number database of Bugatti cars. Every car has its own page, with history, previous owners, pictures, etc etc. This one is still alive, but only accessable when logged in. (the only pages viewable when not logged in are the front page and the login page). No Google access thus…
I asked all members to leave their Email address, and I regularly swipe all user accounts without Email address. (which is always good for a couple of angry mails of members that fail to read)
This WIKI is mostly maintained by a French guy, who basicly hijacked the WIKI. He thinks he owns the place. Which can be another problem of WIKIs…