Another observation (wiki stuff)

[steve]

Hi Pad,

Many thanks for the message - and all your hard work as well on assorted things, particularly re the wiki. Also forgot before to give a big shout to Adam in Turkey for setting the wiki up in the first place.

Yeah, Pad, I had the same worry about the wiki for a while, particularly given the concern that someone might notice that there seems to be a certain amount of links to files of dubious copyright origins on there. In fact, it's hard to imagine this won't happen at some stage. Another dread possibility is of course Wikia going belly up at some stage, as you say.

But panic not! 

First thing is that you can download the whole site as a a single file for backup to prepare for future disasters (I do this every week or two). Go to the following page and check out how to do this and please feel free to make your own backups (in case of earthquakes in Tokyo or something):
http://peel.wikia.com/wiki/Special:Statistics

It's also possible to export the whole thing to another wiki site, so the backup can be used to do this if there's a sudden disaster. Anyway, all the information so far won't suddenly vanish completely and can continue to be used one way or another. Also, at some point, some alternative database may be set up with all kinds of wonder features the wiki doesn't have - but this would be able to make use of all the data that's currently going up on the wiki.

One alternative that I've been thinking about recently is to adjust the structure of the date pages of the wiki, essentially by taking out the download links, sticking these all in a separate file and uploading this to Google Docs or somewhere else altogether, and/or the files section of the mailing list home page at Yahoo (for additional backup). Links updates could then be done via the Google Docs site, leaving that open to all editors (as the wiki is), with the wiki itself used for all other Peel reference stuff (including tracklistings, show writeups, artist pages, etc). 

It would be a bit of work to set up, given the amount of wiki pages with download links at present, but I think it might have advantages in the long term for the wiki site itself. To an extent, I've been happy enough remaining kind of "underground" in terms of not linking to assorted Peel-related social networking things, etc (including the main Wikipedia site), due to concerns of coming to unwelcome attention. A separate links site/file would eliminate this potential problem and the wiki could go more "public" as a Peel reference and information site - with the Google Docs thing carrying on in parallel (and links to it up on the wiki). In my opinion, the more info there is on the wiki site, the more likely it is that people will stumble on it who may have hidden stashes of old tapes, etc, which could then be shared to the group here (there's no shortage of links to the newsgroup on the wiki - and I don't see any reason why this would change).

In terms of possible disadvantages for the change, people would have two sites to check - one for general info and the other specifically for links. This obviously wouldn't be quite as convenient, but it already happens to an extent, as I've avoided putting up direct torrent links up (eg, the 17 volume compilation). 

The whole thing would also have to be set up, which would take a bit of time (and be very boring to do), but would be far from impossible. 

I'd like to know what other people think about this, so will set up a forum link over at the wiki if anyone would like to discuss it. Then get back to you all here at a later date with conclusions.

Sorry for rambling on at length.

Cheers,

Steve W



--- In peel@yahoogroups.com, patrick smith <postscriptxyz@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Steve,
> 
> And a big thanks from me to you (and Steve TK) for all the hours you seem to devote to the Wiki. It's growing into a fantastic reference, even if we are still scratching the surface.
> 
> One thought.  Has consideration been given to what would happen if Wikia, Inc. went belly-up ?  I'd hate to think that all our hard work could simply be "switched-off".
> 
> Pad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: steve <saipanda@...>
> To: peel@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, 8 October, 2009 10:44:52
> Subject: [peel] Re: 400 Box and other observations
> 
>    
> Rocker knows the full story and I'm sure will update us, but think several batches of the tapes have been ripped and returned to him but not yet shared online in mp3 form yet, as mentioned in one or two recent messages here.
> 
> But yeah, it's been really brilliant - with the promise of more to come (plus the next box of 90s stuff). Many thanks indeed to Rocker for most excellent organization and all the rippers!
> 
> Incidentally, if people can't contribute directly in the form of ripping shows or financially, please feel free to help flesh out the 400 box show pages on the wiki in terms of extra information on the tracks, corrections, comments by Peel, etc. Similarly for non-400 Box pages if the urge strikes. Just click on the "Edit" section on the relevant part of the page, add your info in the editing box, preview, and save the page. Should be quite straightforward, hopefully.
> 
> For me, getting involved in the wiki has been an unforeseen side effect of the 400 Box project that has expanded in all kinds of unexpected directions. Many thanks indeed to all those who have helped out so far. In some ways, think we're only scratching the surface so far - so please feel free to dive in. Contact me or Steve TK offlist if you'd like to contribute but are not sure where to start.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Steve W
>