Wiki

[Simon]

I am thinking of creating a Wiki to replace the TIT. Does anyone here edit Wikipedia? Any thoughts on this being a good or bad Idea.

Please provide feedback...

-Simon

Please PM me if you like this idea and would be willing to help build the new Wiki by copying and editing useful info from the forum into the new Wiki.

[toygrunt]

Why replace the TIT?

The TIT is merely an index to organize information already existing on the site. A WIKI sounds like the start of a whole new project, like writing a book or something. That should be helpful in a few years. I need information right now. That's why I took the initiative to make something happen now. Why start from scratch?

If it's a choice between one or the other, it's a no brainer. There's already ton's of useful info on the site. It's just a matter of organizing it in such a way as to access it. The TIT is an index. A wiki won't show you everything at a glance. It's another kind of search tool. Apples n oranges.

[Simon]

I agree that the TIT is a useful tool to find topics all in one place. The reason that I posted this is that several people have suggested a Wiki.

Keep in mind that the TIT could be contained within the Wiki so that everyone can edit it, and it would still link to the forum. Also, I don't care if it stays on the forum also. I just thought it could help so that one person does not have to do all of the work. If we started copying pertinent info into a Wiki from the forum, I think that it would eventually be very useful to filter out a lot of the chit-chat that takes place here.

-Simon

[skyflyer9]

YES YES YES to a wiki!

Toygrunt, a wiki would just be a commonly editable database for everyone to be able to contribute to. The entire TIT as it stands could migrate to a wiki with nothing lost...we would gain immensely in functionality.

We wouldn't need mods to delete our previous posts...the wiki would be self-updating...it would be like the TIT but everyone would have 'mod' abilities to edit and add to it. If people get crazy and posted nonsense, we could back-track and reinstall the last good version...it's a self-policing format.

I vote YES YES YES!

[toygrunt]

I really know nothing about a WIKI. I know that editing the WIKI has lots of rules and everything must be fact checked and so on. I don't know if "a" WIKI is the same as "the" WIKI. The TIT was never intended to replace a (or the) WIKI. I just wanted something to be able to find particular postings without having to search and dig every time. The TIT meets that need. I've put enough effort into it that I don't particularly see myself contributing to anything else, organizational. I don't care if it's located on a WIKI. I just want an index of links that I can reference for later use.

I have never considered the TIT as my sole domain. In fact, I have tried to create something that anyone could follow and edit, but like anything, it requires a structure and procedures to work properly. There were none, so I made some. It's all laid down in the "How To" thread. Anyone who cares to update it is most welcome. I suspect there are a few in here who could add a ton of great links to it, but, for some reason, they don't. If participation in the TIT is any indicator of participation in a WIKI than I should think it would be quite low. I hope I'm proven wrong.

I think it's all great. I'd just appreciate not having all the work done here tossed away. I'm not convinced that a WIKI will be any better than the TIT, primarily because the TIT came out of my own way of thinking (dirty), which I fancy better than some unknown quantity like a WIKI. Who knows? When all is said and done, this is already working now and improving by the day at a rapid pace. Nothing is stopping anyone from making it even better. A WIKI might be fine or it might not. I don’t know. I only know that the TIT is worth having a nibble at.

I like the chit chat here. It’s an informative social group. If I wanted just the dry data I could collect repair manuals.

[Simon]

toygrunt,

Sorry, I know that you have put a lot of work into compiling the TIT. I guess that it was kind of an A-hole thing for me to say "Replace the TIT." I am not sure why I said that. I think that you should continue to use and update the TIT as you have been doing; I think that everyone is impressed with it. The Wiki can remain independent, and as you update your TIT others can add the new info to the Wiki as well. After all "More ways to access info are better than less."


-Simon

[llamavan]

I personally see an eventual Wiki and the existing, evolving TIT being highly complimentary.

The Wiki has obvious advantages, and I am guessing it would end up being like a super-illustrated, phenomenally-detailed shop manual.

The TIT, on the other hand, links to things like scans of existing Toyota manuals (whole or in part), and also indexes our conversations about troubleshooting and repairs. These conversations certainly can be tedious to wade through if you're looking for one tiny piece of info on how-to-do-it while you're van is half taken apart — that would be where the Wiki would eventually shine. For troubleshooting, though, the interactive threads help me a lot when trying to determine if my rather individualized van is acting more like this or that or the other thing is the real culprit, and the tales of how other people have tracked down solutions help me avoid wasting time with the van and usually get a few chuckles from reading y'all's exploits in the bargain.

The TIT's thread indexing also helps us access more of our collective experiences ... like how long did your first whatever take, parts availability and differing fabrication solutions that fit a variety of needs, general encouragement, and VERY important information such as "four people always use a BFH for that without problems and the fifth wouldn't have had a problem if his thumb wasn't in the way". Unnecessary indeed for some, but for others (like the rookies and just plain chicken mechanics) it's juuuuuust right.

The only thing that intimidates me about the TIT is I can envision making an addition while someone else is doing the same (regarding something different) and that one or the other addition/revision — especially if there is more than one revision at a time in different parts of the TIT by the same person — won't get completely picked up and incorporated into the master TIT. Maybe I'm just being ... chicken.

[toygrunt]

I personally see an eventual Wiki and the existing, evolving TIT being highly complimentary.

The Wiki has obvious advantages, and I am guessing it would end up being like a super-illustrated, phenomenally-detailed shop manual.

The TIT, on the other hand, links to things like scans of existing Toyota manuals (whole or in part), and also indexes our conversations about troubleshooting and repairs. These conversations certainly can be tedious to wade through if you're looking for one tiny piece of info on how-to-do-it while you're van is half taken apart — that would be where the Wiki would eventually shine. For troubleshooting, though, the interactive threads help me a lot when trying to determine if my rather individualized van is acting more like this or that or the other thing is the real culprit, and the tales of how other people have tracked down solutions help me avoid wasting time with the van and usually get a few chuckles from reading y'all's exploits in the bargain.

The TIT's thread indexing also helps us access more of our collective experiences ... like how long did your first whatever take, parts availability and differing fabrication solutions that fit a variety of needs, general encouragement, and VERY important information such as "four people always use a BFH for that without problems and the fifth wouldn't have had a problem if his thumb wasn't in the way". Unnecessary indeed for some, but for others (like the rookies and just plain chicken mechanics) it's juuuuuust right.

The only thing that intimidates me about the TIT is I can envision making an addition while someone else is doing the same (regarding something different) and that one or the other addition/revision — especially if there is more than one revision at a time in different parts of the TIT by the same person — won't get completely picked up and incorporated into the master TIT. Maybe I'm just being ... chicken.

Good points llamavan! (No pun intended) Not to hijack this WIKI thread with matters of the TIT, but we will soon be addressing your concern in the "how to" thread. At the moment I am the only one backing up the technical forum TIT, over here in the admin (this) forum. The technical forum TIT is one currently subject to update by the membership). That way, nothing gets overlooked. I think it's probably best to have members nominate additions by paste links into postings into the technical forum TIT thread. Once these are incorporated, the post would be deleted. Again, we will get into this further in another post.

[slosurfer]

Yes to the wiki and the TIT. I just wrote a longwinded explanation why and then somehow hit the back button and lost it, doh! I'll take that as a sign to keep this one short.

Basically the TIT is tremendously helpful with troubleshooting and pointing you in the correct direction where you can post and get feedback on your problem. Then the wiki steps in as a place for a good "how to" with pics, but without all the weeding through of posts for the technical.

For example: Let's say I have a slight high temp problem at certain times.

I go to the TIT and after awhile, through its direction, I figure out that I either need a new fan clutch or rebuild it with new oil and gasket.

Then I go to the wiki, where someone has already done a great "how to rebuild your fan clutch" writeup, complete with pics, needed supplies, tips and tricks not in the manual, steps that can be skipped from the manual, etc... All in one concise spot that can even be printed out if need be and taken out to the van with me to work on it.

Here's a real example that I did, I took my Lightforce 170's and retrofitted them to fit 35watt HID's, I first made a thread about it and then put it in the wiki.

Lightforce HID Thread You will see that it is 4pages long, with pics, comments, etc... and while not too bad, you have to look for the "how to" part.

Here is the wiki, which has actually been edited once by another member, who fixed some of the wording and fixed some of the code that I didn't have quite right. It also saves the different versions, so if someone goes in and messes it up or adds something untrue, it is easy to go back to the last version. You will see that it is purely a "how to" and is easy to click to the step you want, tools needed, etc...

Lightforce HID Conversion Wiki

Sorry for the post to another forum, but I thought it would help for those that don't know what a wiki is or what it can do.

[gushaman]

The TIT should stay, but there should be a wiki as well. There is nothing wrong with the tit and getting rid of it would waste alot of time and effort that folks have put into it. A wiki is just a different way of searching the info. It would be best to have both.

[timsrv]

I believe everybody here acknowledges the benefits and usefulness of the TIT. I don't think anybody is suggesting we do away with it. We are only talking about adding a WIKI. Tim

[future_spiegel]

well seing as how there is no more tits i guess we should start working on the wiki.

[gushaman]

the search feature works well for me. i was thinking it may be easier to just start having sub forums for engine; trans; body; etc...that way if you need engine help, you do a search in the engine threads. maybe set it up like 1st toyota parts' drop down menus

[SeanDirk]

I think the wiki is a good idea. It would seem the task would not be too difficult to cut and past from pre existing post to begin the process on common tasks. I think that the orginizational structure of the wiki might be better than scrolling through posts but I'm not sure exactly how it works.

Sean

[harbilly]

the search feature works, but if I use less than perfect terms and need to search a few times quickly I can't, and I accept that limiting the number of searches in a given period is a good way to stop malicious users from bogging down the system but it makes relying solely on the search less than perfect. i would rather see a TIT format than a wiki but will take whatever we can get and not complain.

[RawbSpear]

I love TITs