What Could / Should be a Sticky?

Post your links and suggestions for structure?

We have a few sticky's and I don't want twenty, but how can we better group a few vital links into a Sticky Thread...as Rahz suggested....

Do we need to Ask to sticky a certain thread, aka "A Thread on Tapping" in this example...or just someplace where someone can find it..

I don't want a clutter fudge of sticky's but one or two with all the links that have accumulated over the last 18 months or so would be nice.....

Abiqua said:

Post your links and suggestions for structure?

We have a few sticky's and I don't want twenty, but how can we better group a few vital links into a Sticky Thread...as Rahz suggested....

Do we need to Ask to sticky a certain thread, aka "A Thread on Tapping" in this example...or just someplace where someone can find it..

I don't want a clutter fudge of sticky's but one or two with all the links that have accumulated over the last 18 months or so would be nice.....

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I think the heat sink thread supra made is a good candidate, as well as the efficiency chart thread by nogod.

A wiki would be better. Stickies are annoying having to scroll past them all the time. Forums are for conversations. Wikis are for structured knowledge (which can be captured from conversations).

A RIU wiki would be great... but everyone would be arguing over what's correct.

I mean the average RIU member "knows" that silicon is a macro nutrient. Who do you think keeps changing the "plant nutrition - silicon" section on wikipedia?

churchhaze said:

A RIU wiki would be great... but everyone would be arguing over what's correct.

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The nice thing about wikis is that differing views (schools of thought) can be expressed. There are always "wiki nazis" who can't deal with that. It would take community involvement to keep things balanced. Maybe some members promoted to wiki admins over various subjects so a few people don't ruin things.

Maybe a general "how to DIY" would be good. Something with links to the most popular and used websites to get all the components needed.
And maybe also has general price to performance comparisons for the most commonly used COBs.
Active vs passively cooled.. Yada yada

Not that any and all this information isn't readily available for anyone ambitious enough to take on the task of reading it...

Just a thought so there aren't so many people cluttering up constructive threads with "how many lights do I need?" questions.

Props to all the folks who have already laid the path to build these fixtures. I give you guys many thanks for the knowledge and experience shared here.

az2000 said:

The nice thing about wikis is that differing views (schools of thought) can be expressed. There are always "wiki nazis" who can't deal with that. It would take community involvement to keep things balanced. Maybe some members promoted to wiki admins over various subjects so a few people don't ruin things.

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Different views and opinions work well in a forum setting, but a wiki (or encyclopedia in general) is supposed to be the de facto "truth" or consensus. When people go on a wiki, they're looking something up, not discussing.

EDIT: Forums can be integrated to a wiki software in a way that they use the same authentication. And, editing can be restricted to forum members of a "group." A daily process can promote members to that group based upon some weighting between how long they've been a member of RIU and how many posts they have.

That reduces the risk of spam and defacement.

Members promoted to admin over particular subjects can review reports (canned SQL queries) of changes to pages. It's low-maintenance to keep an eye on hot topics (and unpleasant editors).

It's really the way to go. Trying to use conversations as sources of topical, structured knowledge is like third-world "history tellers" who sing their country's ancient history. It's not effective of the subject-matter experts nor those they wish to enlighten.

There may be revenue issues. I'm sure the owner of this site would prefer people wading through 500 pages of a "start here" thread. Lots of banner advertising there.

Ads can be inserted into wiki templates too. It would still be fewer hits because, that's the nature of topical, structured information. You don't have to sit there for half an hour listening to the community singer get to the part your interested in.

This topic annoys me like calmag annoys @churchhaze. You don't use ca when you have an mg def. You don't use a forum to capture knowledge and make it accessible (just like you don't use a wiki to have a conversation).

churchhaze said:

Different views and opinions work well in a forum setting, but a wiki (or encyclopedia in general) is supposed to be the de facto "truth" or consensus. When people go on a wiki, they're looking something up, not discussing.

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Obviously there are limits. But, differing views can be presented on a wiki. It simply has to do with how they are presented. For example molasses is sure to get in there. One section might say "Controversies" and note that there's no science for sugar being uptaken by plants.

it seems like it would be hard to rule out a very popular practice just because it's incorrect (or it's adherants don't realize how it's beneficial in different ways). In that way, the truth is born out by letting people weigh both sides and choose.

It's less antagonistic than a forum. Maybe that's what you mean. But, the point of a forum is to make the info readily available so people don't have to wade through multiple pages of name-calling and insults to find out what the prevailing views are. If views are prevailing yet perhaps based on ignorance (like calmag, etc.) it doesn't hurt the truth to describe those popular views and let readers make up their own minds.

It's about accessibility. Accuracy is how you define it. If a lot of people do something, there should be room to present that by those who wish to present it. Denying that because "it's not accurate" doesn't accurately reflect reality. If what they wish to present isn't realistic, that will be born out by no references to science, etc. It will stand out as a urban legend.

And then, in forums (as we converse) we can refer to those standardized sources of info to make our points -- instead of multiple pages of insults and name calling. "It's an urban legend. See the wiki topic. Notice no references to support that claim. If you find one, edit the wiki and improve that viewpoint."

A wiki is only as good as its admin(s). Being realistic doesn't have to undermine the truth. It is the truth.

Please delete @sunni

sounds like a fuck ton of work for somebody

@salmonetin once said consensus not possible in Led section. I agree.

I vote for these as new sticky:
'Post pics of your DIY lights'
Supras 'heatsink for DIY LED'

the old stickies will stay they dont get removed.
we can add a new sticky.

riu currently xenforo software does support a wiki to be made i cant physically make that happen. so im sorry but that option is unavailable

i think theres been a miscommunication between the OP and i , he got quite offended today when i explained our sticky process and ask for his account ot be removed/closed and this thread as well. Im not sure if this is because he asked for his own thread to be stickied and felt offended that i was going to fact check and clean up so let me explain how being stickied works

in order to make a sticky, which i am totally happy to do for you guys there are just a few requirements needed first

first , once a thread is requested to be a sticky
we the mods read through and double check some facts to make sure everything is right , and non biased so (dont say this way is shit or not right and my way is perfect)
well written and informative and as little as possible spelling errors or broken links or easy to read format.
It doesnt need to be perfectly harvard essay style, but it needs to be legible for most riu users to understand and easy to read format.

it needs to have a lot of information so it cant be a short 2 paragraph
if it includes photos and detailed explanations the more the better (i just need to save photos and make sure they are properly backed up on MY end as you all know the stickies from the old website the photos didnt import over from 2006-2008 era which really sucks. because im trying to fix them )

than i look at the comments on the stickies, so user violations of TOS , arguments that kinda thing i clean up , now usually when someone requests something to be a sticky it has 100 + pages , now thats A LOT of reading to do on my end. and i have a personal life as well so it takes me time to go through it. and during that time people are continually posting.
I try to read a huge bulk every week or few days but it can be mentally draining im sure you can all see that

than once ive done all that jazz, i ask the main mod staff if they feel /agree to it being a sticky they usually say yes no problem this way no one claims i was biased and didnt get 2nd opinions
and than we sticky it.

i suggested to OP to give me 1 months time, in order to review the thread he /she suggested, because i have previous request before this one.
keep in mind i have to actively mod the board as well and i have a real life too, so not using that as an excuse but just trying to give myself a realistic time line of 1 month inorder to get a yes or no answer it is also christmas time so please understand that i have holiday parties and family things to attend as well
ive never said no to a thread requested unless it was really outrageous.

so if you guys wanna go ahead and suggest or create a thread together thats great and i welcome it, but it does have to be properly looked through and reviews.
so if you guys wanna co-collaborate on this do so someone start it up or suggest it.
and hopefully OP can come back and see that this was not meant to be offensive to him in anyway its just the way we do the process to make it fair and educational

sunni said:

riu currently xenforo software does support a wiki to be made i cant physically make that happen.

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See: https://www.google.com/search?q=xenforo+wiki+integration

There may be reasons such maintenance effort, administration, contentious community, ad revenue reduction, etc. But, it is possible.

Another option is for enthusiasts of a particular subject to create their own wiki at one of the free wiki hosts. The benefit would be that information can be revised, extended -- not a long-running conversation. That could be desirable for some contributors who'd like to have a definitive reference which can be referred to in conversations (as well as collaborated, shared editing among whomever the subject-matter owner chooses to permit.).

@sunni

Give me a break, now its drama

I merely suggested that members in the LED thread would be the way you "vett" the information...and help to guarantee accuracy...Not circumvent the process....Remember the 1st thing you mentioned before all of this was that you were pregnant and didn't have time to "deal with it" at the time....

So i suggested using members who know the Specifications, that is all...

I still wish for my account to be deleted with these kind of actions, thanks.

To suggest what you suggested is an OUTRIGHT LIE! Relying on people who have validated the facts in the past, in this thread only....IS now circumventing some Free Forums policies?.....gawd

We have written a majority of the LED information threads ourselves, what better way than to rely on the community who you will need to help you "fact check" anyway....Just putting that out there. I appreciate your response and not worried about a timeline.
Yesterday at 2:25 PM Edit Delete Report


Abiqua ...We just need a sticky information post that can recap about 18 months worth of past knowledge....the users will provide that and we will "pre" vett if you will, regardless.....Thanks again.

az2000 said:

See: https://www.google.com/search?q=xenforo+wiki+integration

There may be reasons such maintenance effort, administration, contentious community, ad revenue reduction, etc. But, it is possible.

Another option is for enthusiasts of a particular subject to create their own wiki at one of the free wiki hosts. The benefit would be that information can be revised, extended -- not a long-running conversation. That could be desirable for some contributors who'd like to have a definitive reference which can be referred to in conversations (as well as collaborated, shared editing among whomever the subject-matter owner chooses to permit.).

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you guys could certainly make your own wiki off website and put it into a thread on here.
A wiki on our end, the owner im going to be real straight up is probably not going to do it, that requires the web dev, and so on
its sadly hard enough to get things fixed around here

Abiqua said:

@sunni

Give me a break, now its drama

I merely suggested that members in the LED thread would be the way you "vett" the information...and help to guarantee accuracy...Not circumvent the process....Remember the 1st thing you mentioned before all of this was that you were pregnant and didn't have time to "deal with it" at the time....

So i suggested using members who know the Specifications, that is all...

I still wish for my account to be deleted with these kind of actions, thanks.

To suggest

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that is not at all what i said i said
at the moment i am currently pregnant so my doctors appointments and irl will take over first priority i did not say at all that i would not or could not do it.
here is a screen shot proving what i said to you


there is no reason to embellish or lie about what i said

I am sorry you do not like or agree with our sticky process, and im sorry this is causing you to want you close your account if you really want your account closed i will do so but please note you cannot get it back once its gone.
but there is 0 reason to embellish and lie about what i said,

Abiqua said:

I still wish for my account to be deleted with these kind of actions, thanks.

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Now you're punishing the rest of us. That's not fair.

You're passionate about LEDs and want to make the information more accessible, discoverable. Why don't you (and 3-4 others) do an offsite wiki? And then a sticky could refer to the community'ish wiki. (It wouldn't be entirely a community wiki. It wouldn't suffer from the contentiousness @church mentioned because someone would have to own it. That person would include others from the community as editors or admins. It wouldn't be wide open like a wiki here. I see it being yours, Supra, Greengenes, Captain, 4-5 others?).

No embelllisment No lies...I am sorry I am pissing off a pregnant woman today, that was my last intention, but to turn this around like you have, leaves me Bummed out....

No worries I guess.