I'd like to revisit the idea to move the puzzle database to a MediaWiki. Previous discussion has been here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8546
viewtopic.php?t=5095&highlight=cube+wiki

Of course, this can't begin until Sandy is available. I'd like to raise a few points on it.

1) I would create a MediaWiki skin based on the twistypuzzles theme.
2) Being MediaWiki, accounts unfortunately can't be shared with the forum, so users would have to create separate accounts.
3) Community members would be required to move all the puzzles and information to wiki pages. A standard template should be followed.
4) Having an account means you are willing to help with the effort, so it wouldn't be helpful for many user accounts to be created for any sort of status, ie don't create an account because it's "cool".
5) There would be an overall moderator (not myself) but all account owners would moderate.
6) Being a MediaWiki, we can easily roll back from vandalism, or accounts would have to be approved by the overall moderator.
7) There is lot of information to move and years worth of new puzzles to add.

This would be a massive community effort to achieve. Do we agree this would be the best way forward for the database?

I like the style of the puzzle data base here. Would this wiki one be as easy to navegate? Do the puzzle pictures need to be "cleaned up"? i.e. all background taken away. I still have problems doing that. I've learned to crop and resize, but getting rid of the background is very difficult for me.

The navigation and arrangement of the pages would hopefully be closely modelled on the old one, so it should be essentially the same tree structure.

As for the images having to be cleaned, I don't think we should be this strict this time around, as this was a bottleneck to people contributing. If we have bad images of a puzzle, we can still use them until someone contributes a better quality image. That way, the community continually improves the quality of the database.

Much in the same way the Wikipedia slowly improves over time.

I would be willing to write articles and publish pages for a wiki.

Thanks, Noah. Most of it will be simple cut and pasting from the existing database which would remain in place until all data is published.

Taylor, I'm not familiar with Frank's site. Can you pop me a link?

Great news.

It's not that hard to do - plus Frank is always at communications reach.

I have contributed the pics I have from my collection (sorry it's not all of them, but all the pics I have taken he has).

I agree, provided that the member collections are ported, too.

Thanks for the link.

Ah the member collections, that could be a sticking point. They feed off the original database. I'll have to think about that one. I would have to somehow script out that data into wiki data.

While it would be a pain to have to enter my collection in again, I think it would be more than balanced by having the ability to add to the database.

So while having both would be ideal I wouldn't think that auto-transferring the member collections should hold up creation of a more open database. These days mine is pretty out of date, largely because the number of items in my collection with no database entry keep growing so at some point a collection of things I can't show looses its value.

Dave

I wouldn't mind entering my collection again. But without member collections at all it wouldn't make any sense.