text:
Technical writing/Tools

back to Technical Writing Level 2

Tools are only tools...
This Technical Writing course focuses on methods and processes that are tool-independent. Organizing writing, editing, and graphics in a usable manner is your primary task and is essential to the user experience. The primary tools a technical writer needs are:

 * Interpersonal skills. If you cannot get along with people, you have no chance of succeeding as a technical writer.
 * Language skills. Your English (or other language) must be of a very high level.  You must be constantly reading, learning, and improving your writing style.
 * Curiosity. Technical writing is about learning, and then passing on what you have learned. You must have an unending desire to know new things.
 * Organizational skills. Unstructured data is useless.  You must be able to take a mass of facts and turn them into understandable information.

There are a number of tools that have been developed over the years specifically for the job of technical communications. In this section we will discuss these tools.

The Value of Screenshots
Visuals in technical writing are important.

 * According to "a study on learning using a 94-page manual versus using 25 flash cards....people learned more quickly with the flash cards that covered key ideas and hints, and [not by] step-by-step instruction."

 * This anecdote from Kim Nathans illustrates most users' reaction to documentation:

"I got my first actual feedback from a new employee (Director of Development) and he was disappointed that I didn’t include a pictorial storyboard of the process flow. It turns out that he didn’t so much read any of my documentation as he just glanced at it. I started thinking about how many of the consumers of this documentation will be like him, and was depressed to realize that there will probably be a lot more like him than like me (a compulsive reader who will read every word in front of her face).

I asked a marketing intern in our office for his opinion, and he pulled out a very dog-eared and obviously well-used document that he had printed out. It was nearly all screen shots with certain UI items circled sloppily (like they’d used a mouse to do it freehand). He enthused for a couple of minutes about this being the most useful piece of documentation he’s ever had, because he can quickly refer to it and easily find the steps he needs to take to accomplish whatever task it conveyed."

 * Tom Johnson comments that:

"In communicating conceptual information, it’s extremely important to reinforce concepts with visuals. Not just screenshots, but diagrams. This is one reason I’m dipping into Visio more heavily. Diagrams, not just screenshots, help users understand concepts much better."

 * All the quotes in this section are taken from Rethinking the Importance of Screenshots by Tom Johnson. Used with permission.

Why use a Screen Grab Tool
When writing technical documentation you will often need to take screenshots or screen 'grabs' to embed into the document. This can be for a variety of reasons, whether to provide a visual reference for the documentation or to provide visual step-by-step instructions for the user.

Where to download
Several tools providing all the necessary functions for making screen grabs can be used for free. For example:
 * MWSnap (Windows)
 * Wink (Windows, Linux)
 * ScreenHunter (Windows)

How to capture an area using MWSnap
MWSnap uses a simple interface and should be familiar to anyone with Windows and Office applications. When you start the program the main functions can be found on the left of the window which includes various options:
 * Fixed rectangle - allows you to grab small areas of the desktop such as icons
 * Any rect. area - allows you to select an area for grabbing by dragging a box over the area
 * Windows/menu - allows you to automatically select and grab any window or menu on the desktop
 * Full Desktop - grabs the whole desktop screen
 * Repeat last - grabs the same desktop area as previously defined

How to store files
To store the grabs you require you can use the standard 'save as' option in the application's file menu to select the directory path.

How to add a graphics file to a Word document
Once you have saved your picture you can place the image into Word by using the "Insert/Picture/From File" option in Word's standard toolbar.

How to add a graphics file to a Wiki
Graphics to be added to a Wiki must be in the PNG format or a JPEG format. When saving a grab with MWSnap you have the option to select the picture format that you desire. Save it as a PNG in the 'save as' window. Upload it to the wiki as you would a normal image..

Exercise 1 Adding a screen grab to a Wiki

 * 1) Create a page
 * 2) Grab a section of your desktop
 * 3) Save the graphics file as a uniquely named .png/.jpg
 * 4) Upload your file to wiki
 * 5) Create a reference to the file on your page
 * 6) Save the page

Help File Authoring
Help files may range from small, simple "read-me" files with very limited information to hypertext-based complete system documentation. Considering this, the most important aspect of a help file is accessibility of the information it contains. The most common reason for a user to look at a help file is to seek an answer to a specific question. In order to make this easy for them, it is important to reflect a while before starting to write.

First steps

 * Identify topics
 * Make a structure
 * Make a design

Identify topics: Help files are designed to work in conjunction with other types of documentation. The differing types of documentation, including the help files, should work together to form a complete information package. A help file may not need to contain all of the technical details. It is the task of the developer or technical writers (or developer-technical writer team) to identify the topics for the help file. The best way to accomplish this goal is to analyze the product. Then, once you have identified all of the topics, separate them into related groups.

Make a structure: Once the topics have been identified, it's time to start structuring the help file. Keep in mind that the main purpose of the help file is accessibility. Although the structure may well depend on the software itself, there are some rules that are widespread and often applied. The content tree of the help file usually does not exceed 3 nesting levels. Often, 2 levels are used for small files that contain short chapters and sub-chapters, as is also the case with the help file. The help file doesn't need to have a narrative structure. It is not the manual, nor is it the guide book. Its main purpose is to provide quick access to specific information about the software. This goal is achieved by a simple content tree, and keywords that build the help file index.

Design: Design a structure that does not change often, even if specific information for a specific topic may change. This makes it possible to create a modular and flexible help file that can be used for the next version of the software. Keep in mind that HTML file names should remain stable. If the help maker tool allows it, it would be good to have a method of differentiating the various HTML files of the same name.

Making a Help File

 * Access
 * Content
 * Hypertext
 * Keywords
 * Size

Access: make important information accessible in many ways. A help file is not a book that needs to be read in the order it is written. The introduction page may well never be read, while the other information may be searched for by index and accessed directly without using the content tree. If a specific topic is discussed in another part of the file, make a link that helps the user reach the related page directly.

Content: the most important part of a help file is its text content. Even if the graphics and formatting are attractive, the help file will be ineffective if the text content is limited.

Hypertext: if the information is standard-related, not specific software related, and the source is reliable, it may be useful to use hypertext to provide a link to content for those users who may be interested in knowing more about a specific topic. The most important rule is to use links where they really may be considered useful. However, it is probably better to use too little hypertext than too much.

Keywords: prepare a list of keywords that are related to the specific HTML pages that the help file consists of. Some users prefer browsing the content tree, but others go directly to the index and seek for the topic of interest by keyword. If the help file is comprehensive and the keyword list is well prepared, it saves a lot of time

Size: it does not make much sense to make a smaller file by limiting the information included in it. A help file should be a file that helps. It should contain everything that is needed to help the user operate the software and solve simple, typical problems. This means the size may vary from very small up to 15 MB and more.

Help Authoring Tools
There are a lot of Help Authoring Tools described in Wikipedia. Follow the link to read more about the tools.

Integrated collaborative systems - Content Management Systems
This section describes basic types of collaborating tools - CMS systems, wiki pages and so on.

XML-based
XML is a professional way to make a collaborative system with a single source. XML allows separation of source text and its appearance and layout.

Most of these systems are based on one of the following XML formats:

 * DocBook
 * DITA

DocBook was designed to contain documents such as books, manuals and the like. Documents in DocBook look like a Microsoft Word document; they are divided into sections, subsections, chapters and so on. A typical output format is PDF.

DITA was developed by IBM to contain information in small sections that are relatively independent of each other. Thus DITA is suitable for manuals, help pages, technical specifications and other documents. DITA is a relatively complex format that is universal for many industries.

DocBook is a more suitable tool for writing a novel, while DITA is more suitable for a set of help manuals. Typical output from a DITA system is HTML Help or PDF.

There are several other systems on the market that are based on proprietary formats. Those formats can sometimes better fit the actual needs of customers than the universal DocBook or DITA. As an example, the DocuManager format used in Schema ST4 falls in between DocBook and DITA. It is not too complex and enables production of strict topic-based documentation.

HTML based
There are lots of CMS systems on the market that use HTML as their source language.

CMS systems based on HTML are widely used in company web-sites.

Printable documentation production is not the primary purpose in most of them.

Wiki based
Wiki systems are based on special wiki-markup. This is simpler than HTML, so conversion to HTML is easy. (Of course - you are writing in wiki-markup but when saved, it is shown in HTML in your browser.)

Wiki based web-pages are not primarily intended for production of documentation. Wiki pages are mostly used in corporate web-pages, community web-pages or any web-pages that will be frequently edited manually.

PDF output of wiki pages is complicated since it requires conversion from HTML to PDF.

Revision control software
Revision control software allows a group of people to share the workplace.

It is a relatively simple CMS system that keeps versions of files inside a directory tree.

It is very useful for sharing documents inside a group. Every change is stored in the database and we can roll back to any previous version.

Revision control software must enable the following:

 * Commits of new versions.
 * Renaming, copying, moving and deleting files must retain the full revision history.
 * Directories, renames and file metadata are versioned. Entire directory trees can be moved around and/or copied very quickly, and retain full revision history.
 * Versioning of symbolic links.
 * File locking for unmergeable files ("reserved checkouts").
 * Branching.

There are many revision control software products on the market as listed on Wikipedia:

Open Source:
 * Concurrent Versions System (CVS)
 * Subversion (SVN) - CVS clone, better in some way.

Proprietary:
 * Visual Studio Team System/Team Foundation Server, Microsoft
 * IBM Rational ClearCase

Raster graphics
Raster graphics, sometimes called bitmap graphics, is a basic graphics type. A picture is transformed into a group of pixels, and each pixel is saved individually.

If you enlarge a raster image, it will be pixelized and ugly. If you shrink a raster image, quality degradation is low.

There are plenty of raster graphics editors:
 * Free: Windows Paint, The GIMP.
 * Commercial: Adobe Photoshop, (Adobe Fireworks), Corel Painter ...

Raster graphics is great for photos and for screenshots.

Frequently used formats of raster graphics are:
 * BMP - large files, not good for embedding into documents!
 * JPEG - lossy format, great format for photos. Use quality setting between 70-92 for best performance.
 * PNG - the best format for all screenshots! Loss-less format.

Vector graphics
An example is sometimes better than a ton of theory:

If you want to make a simple black line through a white picture in Windows Paint, what it actually does is create black pixels lying between two points. If you add text to your picture - you will darken the pixels where the text should be. Once done, you cannot simply go back.

A vector graphics editor will save the following information:
 * a white picture
 * a black line from point A to point B
 * text "ABCDEF" in black Arial 12pt at position X/Y

Later, when you save your vector image as a raster image, the editor will paint your line and text for you as Windows Paint does!

You can later edit your graphics without needing to use the eraser.

The best feature of vector images is that you can resize them without ANY change in quality! (at least theoretically).

You can combine vector and raster graphics in a vector image but you will lose its great feature of free resizing.

There are plenty of vector/raster graphics editors on the market. Most of them combine both approaches.

 * Commercial products: Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Adobe Freehand/Fireworks, Zoner Callisto, Microsoft Visio...
 * Free and open source products: Inkscape is a good choice while it uses standardized SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format. Most graphic tools can import SVG and new versions of browsers (Firefox, Opera) can directly display vector graphics in SVG format (MS IE uses plugins such as Adobe SVG Viewer). So graphics created in Inkscape can be modified in other programs or even directly published on a web server.

Vector graphics are great for schemas, flow-charts, and most business and technical graphics

More info about vector graphics in Wikipedia.

Theory
When a technical writer is writing documentation, their work has to be saved to a file. There are several suitable formats for such a purpose.

From one point of view, the final document contains:

 * 1) Text content - this is the text that the author actually writes.
 * 2) Text appearance - this defines the size of the Header font, for example, font color, underlines, bold, etc.
 * 3) Page layout - this describes exactly where the header is rendered, place/size of pictures, size of tables, size of page-borders, page-breaks.

If we want to produce a "proper" document for printing, the document has to contain all three elements.

If we want to view it on a monitor, only content and appearance are needed.

So if we simplify enough, there are three types of format we can save our work into:

 * I.  Containing text - text file
 * II. Containing text + appearance - HTML, HTML Help, wiki, XML/DITA, XML/DocBook ...
 * III. Containing text + appearance + layout  - Doc, RTF, PDF, PS ...

If the author writes their work in a text file and wants their work to be printed, everything has to be set.

If the author wants to print work written in HTML, they have to set layout of the page.

If the author wants to print a Doc or PDF, they just print it.

Consequences
From this theory, there are interesting consequences:

Conversion from "layout" to "appearance" formats is easy. Conversion the other way around is not easy!

Doc --> HTML works.

Doc <-- HTML does not work fully.

Doc --> PDF works.

wiki --> PDF does not work fully.

HTML --> PDF does not work fully.

Doc <--> RTF works.

And so on...

PDF wiki

 * The best format for professional presentation of information: most companies use it as the output format of their user documentation. The on-screen representation is almost identical to the version printed from the .pdf file.
 * Easy to view: Adobe provides a free PDF viewer to everyone, and there are also a lot of free alternative PDF viewers.
 * There are several free and commercial converters from most formats. For example, Adobe's own product Adobe Distiller converts almost anything to PDF.
 * Not easy to convert from PDF to other formats.

Doc

 * Most known format - MS Word.
 * Relatively easy to convert into PDF.
 * Very rich format, lots of things are allowed, too much for mass production, unfortunately.
 * Not suitable for professional presentation of information - never the same rendering on multiple machines.
 * Very suitable for authoring.

RTF wiki

 * Functionally similar to Word Doc, Microsoft format.
 * Standard for exchange between platforms, may be used in e-mails.

HTML wiki

 * Format for WWW - very widespread format.
 * Standard for presenting information, but not printable.
 * Text based.

HTML Help wiki

 * HTML based standard format.
 * Used in "F1" help in applications.
 * Largely used as output format of documentation.
 * Standard for presenting information, but not printable.
 * Compiled from a set of HTML pages.
 * Not edited directly, after decompilation editable as HTML.

XML/DocBook wiki

 * Standard of OASIS.
 * Document oriented XML format
 * Suitable for mass production - strict format.
 * Content separated from appearance.

XML/DITA wiki

 * Special format enabling database-like storing of information -Topic oriented XML format.
 * Another standard of OASIS.
 * Suitable for mass production - strict format.
 * Content separated from appearance.

Text

 * Used in readme files for software.
 * Several types of encoding to support national letters like ěščřžýď or cyrillic.

OTHER FORMATS
There are many other formats for production or processing of help and documentation: FlashHelp, Oracle Help, WinHelp, Adobe RoboHelp, Sun Java Help ...

Editors
For each format there are lots of editors. Some of them are listed below.

Doc/RTF
These formats are best opened in Microsoft Office Word. An open source alternative is the Writer component of the OpenOffice.org (OOo) suite.

HTML

 * WYSIWYG editors - Adobe Dreamweaver, MS Word, MS Frontpage...
 * Text based editors with support - jEdit, PSPad, emacs, ...
 * Simple text editors - notepad, wordpad...
 * More info on wiki.

PDF
Adobe Acrobat Professional and Adobe Illustrator allow making some changes to PDF files, but if the file you want to edit is available in another format, it is generally easier to edit that file and then convert it to PDF.

CHM
CHM or Compiled HTML Help is a popular and proprietary Microsoft format used for Windows desktop applications. Popular CHM generators or editors are
 * HTML Workshop (free software)
 * Adobe Robohelp
 * WinCHM
 * Doc to Help
 * Help and Manual

back to Introduction to Technical Writing

back to Technical Writing Level 2

title: Technical writing/Tools


text:
User:Bentong Isles

For faster response, please post messages at w:User talk:Bentong Isles.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User:Bentong Isles


text:
BCP/Nepeta x faassenii

Nepeta x faassenii

title: BCP/Nepeta x faassenii


text:
BCP/Nepeta x faassenii/Logs

2007 Logs

 * SB_Johnny-LM May 13 2007 (from photographs)
 * SB_Johnny-LM 27 April, 2007 (from photographic log)
 * SB Johnny-LM 12:53, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 10:55, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 00:11, 6 August 2007 (UTC) (from a datestamped photograph)
 * SBJ 18:24, 4 September 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 09:30, 8 September 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 20:57, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 18:30, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * SB_Johnny-LM 13:43, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 11:05, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:20, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Nepeta x faassenii/Logs


text:
BCP/Cornus amomum/Logs

This page contains recent bloom logs for the plant Cornus amomum (Silky Dogwood).

Recent Logs (flowers)

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 17:26, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:52, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:00, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Recent Logs (ripe fruit)

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 12:44, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

=====Archived Logs=====

(If there are more than 5 signatures under the recent logs heading, move the oldest logs to under this heading (generally leave the 3 most recent).
 * (no archived logs yet)

title: BCP/Cornus amomum/Logs


text:
User:MA Shiekh

Mohammed Abdullah Al Shiekh. Born in Riyadh on the 5th of Dec 1985.

Currently studying at the University of Birmingham (UK). Majoring in Electrical & Electronic Engineering (EEE).

Interested in: Technology, Music and Relegion.

title: User:MA Shiekh


text:
BCP/Medicago lupulina/Logs

2007 Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 14:34, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:52, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 14:08, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 17:10, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 11:28, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 14:24, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 14:37, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

2008 Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 16:51, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 11:58, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:39, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Recent Logs

 * --Turnvater Jahn 20:49, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:15, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 14:38, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny talk 09:06, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Medicago lupulina/Logs


text:
BCP/Lonicera japonica/Logs

2007 Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:09, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 16:16, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 15:33, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 10:16, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:22, 30 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:47, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 13:54, 11 August 2007 (UTC) (this is a distinct set of flowers from those seen in June/July)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:57, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 11:31, 4 October 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 13:44, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 13:19, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * Duiarmia 20:47, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:56, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:00, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Lonicera japonica/Logs


text:
User talk:MA Shiekh

Hello MA Shiekh, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --JWSchmidt 13:17, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:MA Shiekh


text:
User talk:Theverymadcow~enwikiversity

Hello Theverymadcow, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --JWSchmidt 13:19, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Theverymadcow. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Theverymadcow~enwikiversity that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:45, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:24, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Theverymadcow~enwikiversity


text:
File:Baby Bear Sleepy.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Baby Bear Sleepy.png


text:
File:Baby Bear Sad.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Baby Bear Sad.png


text:
File:Baby Bear.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Baby Bear.png


text:
File:Baby Bear Happy.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Baby Bear Happy.png


text:
File:Papa Bear Hungry.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Papa Bear Hungry.png


text:
File:Papa Bear Sleepy.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Papa Bear Sleepy.png


text:
File:Papa Bear Angry.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Papa Bear Angry.png


text:
File:Papa Bear.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Papa Bear.png


text:
File:Papa Bear no cloths.png

Used to illustrate the WikiU Film School Lesson on how to Film scoring with melodies

title: File:Papa Bear no cloths.png


text:
User:Thogo

de:Benutzer:Thogo el:Χρήστης:Thogo it:Utente:Thogo

title: User:Thogo


text:
User:Brasidas~enwikiversity

I have a BA in Political Science and have also attended graduate coursework towards a PhD. I would like to contribute more to the schools of Political Science, Peace Studies, and Strategic Studies.

title: User:Brasidas~enwikiversity


text:
Chinese for children

Welcome to this learning project about !

This is a suggested list of headings to organise a learning project - please see Directions for use for more information. Please delete any headings (etc.) if you feel they are not relevant, and rearrange as you see fit.

Learning Project Summary

 * Project code:
 * Suggested Prerequisites:
 * as much curiosity as a child has
 * Time investment:
 * Assessment suggestions:
 * Portal: (List main portal/s here)
 * School: (List main school/s here)
 * Department:
 * Stream
 * Level:

Content summary
A fun way to inspire Chinese learning for kids is crucial. This page will give you an introduction of the Chinese language, Chinese characters etc.

Goals
This learning project aims to..

Learning materials
Add learning materials here - see also the box below

 * s:zh:Category:唐詩

Readings and other resources
Each project/lesson/activity may have a suggested reading selection, eg:

 * Wikipedia article:
 * Wikibooks textbook:
 * etc.

Lessons

 * Lesson 1: "Quiet night thoughts":靜夜思(s:zh:作者:李白)

Activities

 * Activity 1.
 * etc.

Tests and Quizzes

 * Quiz 1
 * Quiz 2
 * Test 1
 * etc.

Subpages
Subpages can be created - like /concepts (for concepts involved in this learning project)

Active participants
Active participants in this Learning Group

{| width="100%" style="background:#FFFCCF; border:1px solid #DAA520"

Learning materials
Learning materials and learning projects are located in the main Wikiversity namespace. Simply make a link to the name of the lesson (lessons are independent pages in the main namespace) and start writing!

You should also read about the Wikiversity:Learning model. Lessons should center on learning activities for Wikiversity participants. Learning materials and learning projects can be used by multiple projects - and you are encouraged to cooperate with other departments that use the same learning resource.

 * }

title: Chinese for children


text:
User talk:Brasidas~enwikiversity

Hello Brasidas, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --HappyCamper 04:09, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Brasidas. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Brasidas~enwikiversity that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:31, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:04, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Brasidas~enwikiversity


text:
User talk:Thogo

Hello Thogo, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --HappyCamper 04:09, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Thank you. As you see on my user page, I'm not here to contribute (this I do in German only) but for administrative purposes. --Thogo 08:50, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Thogo


text:
Talk:Introduction to Reading English

I think the various grammatical subpages of this could probably be merged here. The Jade Knight 05:53, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Introduction to Reading English


text:
User:Jean-Loup/Learning to program at Wikiversity

Learning to program at Wikiversity
Did you learn to program by reading wise tomes or by going to lectures?.. I did not. I also have a clear impression that IT students of brick-and-mortar universities do not learn programming this way either. Of course, they go to lectures, they read the textbooks. It does help them, they would not obtain their degrees otherwise. This is not however the way those who get to like programming, who become great programmers learn to code.

Pursuit of a dream
Those who end up hooked were pursuing a vague project, an idea of a great little program that they would have liked to put together... They had no idea of where to begin, but they were sure that such a thing was feasible.

They then might have grabbed a programming book that looked promising, scanned a couple of articles in specialised magazines. Of course, they would have had a fair deal of trouble cutting through the jargon, but the titles seemed to have a relationship with the project of their dreams. They had installed a compiler on their PC and tried a few exercise programs. Later they copied a few more interesting examples from the internet, modified them.. and got hooked.

The addicts
It's not difficult to become a programming addict, it is one of the most creative activities. Obviously it is a very tough job, and it requires a completely different way of thinking, but the pleasure when the result at last pops up on the screen is huge!

Frederick Brooks describes it perfectly in The Mythical Man-Month: "The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination."

Programming is difficult, there is no doubt about this, but it is creative, satisfying, and the end result can be useful to many people. It does not matter then whether the pleasure comes from the intellectual challenge or from finding one's place in a community of peers.

The others
The others are not in the slightest programming addicts. They are many in IT courses of brick-and-mortar universities. They study programming because that's what one has to do to obtain that blasted degree. One goes to lectures and lab sessions. It's the only way to pass.

Will they learn to program?.. well, yes, at least some of them: There are those among them who will get a taste for it and may become addicts in their turn, but many others will never really like it. They will suffer, will learn the steps and the moves, sufficiently to be able to talk coherently about it. When they graduate, they'll find a job in software development and will fulfill their duties. They may not be inventive or keen, but in large development teams it is probably better not to be too keen. It is important to follow the rules, not so important to be inventive. Let's wish them a great career.

What about Wikiversity, then?
Brick and mortar universities deliver degrees that lead to careers. Not so Wikiversity.

Who then will participate in a Wikiversity course in order to learn IT? I do not want to over-generalise, but I imagine that they will be people who are already programming fans or on their way there. People of all ages attracted to IT who want to take it up seriously. These people realise that the way to heart of IT goes through learning to code.

If they are already seriously interested, what can Wikiversity offer them, or if they are only seriously curious, how can they be made to discover this pleasure? This is the central question: the teacher/learner participants are already programming adepts who have reached various levels of expertise. They want to deepen their knowledge and help others discover and share their source of pleasure.

A learning process suitable for Wikiversity
Learning by practicing is one of the principles of Wikiversity. Coding practice is also essential for learning to program. Let's then put programming practice up front.

Theory, of course is essential, but let theory be introduced by examples. These examples mut be motivating pieces of code that are part of complete and functional programs. This will be much more stimulating than in brick-and-mortar universities where theory is put forward, then illustrated by code fragments which often appear artificial and boring.

Learning for pleasure
Let us place play at the centre of learning, together with challenge, the awareness of progress, and the pleasure of thinking that one is doing really well

Learning is not linear
Course notes, lectures, textbooks all follow a linear progression: One writes a first "Hello World!" program, then immediately the sections on keywords, types, operators, constants and variable, loops, conditional structures, functions or subroutines, classes and objects, etc.. follow. A boring world of jargon and definitions that compete for their sleep-inducing power with the most powerful general anesthetics of contemporary medicine.

Stuff it!

Learner or not one want to write striking programs, programs that do interesting things. Available data types, functions, loops, etc.. yes, that very useful. We will learn them in detail when we need to in order to get the computer to do what we want it to do. We are impatient, we do not want to wait until the fifth week of course to learn how to use operations or function, or classes. we need them now.

Programming subjects at Wikiversity can break the de-motivating shackle of linearity: In programming practice, let us first present complete and entertaining programs (of course very simple code at first) accompanied by a textual explanation which explains the primitive data types, or looping structures used in the program. The explanation page may directly provide the associated theory or make reference to the relevant pages on Wikiversity, Wikibooks or others.

It matters little if an early program resorts to using several structures that would appear later in a classical linear progression. Let's not attempt to force learning to follow a straight line, let us start with a general view, forcibly blurred and incomplete, of many basic elements available for the building of programs. Little by little, while working on further programs, some areas of the general picture will come into focus, understanding will become sharper and the general picture will become more clearer.

Active and interactive learning
Complete and entertaining code examples, well presented theoretical explanations would be good, but not enough. Let's not forget that the imagination of the programmer apprentice is racing. She wants to create her own programs.

At Wikiversity teachers and students are on the same footing. Everyone is a student, everyone is a teacher. If the beginner creates another example program that covers the same domain as an existing example, let her publish it.

Since she does not have the same depth of knowledge as an experienced programmer, the beginner is more likely to make mistakes of design or of style. She is also likely to fail using simple and elegant idioms that a more experienced programmer would employ instinctively. Someone will tell her, this is the role of the discussion pages. Coding issues will be debated there, and alternative solutions will be shown. After the debate, there will remain only to amend the original program, either by changing the code or adding a small comment referring to the discussion.

One can be sure however that before publishing an example, any participant will polish it fastidiously, just for the pride of a job well done.

Learning to manage complexity
Sooner or later (in truth very early) one will hit the issue of complexity... A program grows incredibly fast and become impossible to manage very quickly! One will then reflect that there must exist techniques that make the code easier to write and its maintenance or modification easier. One will then be ready to progress to the next stage of reflexion about software engineering, about modularity, structured programming principles and object-oriented design and programming, design patterns... a whole new world.

Let's not jump ahead of ourselves. Systematic study of the development process and of software engineering will come later, when we will have acquired the bases of one or two programming languages. While writing even the simplest program, the experienced programmer will choose idioms most likely to favour intelligibility and reliability of the code, and to improve maintainability and potential extensions of the software.

On Wikiversity, discussion pages allow presentation of alternative solutions and for the justification or debate of the design decisions, or of style and idiom. These debates will often defy the comprehension of learners, but even so, they will have a beneficial learning outcome. They will bring about the realisation that these choices exist and that they are important, that the notions of code reliability and maintainability are essential.


text: Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/box-header


text: Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/box-footer


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Intro

This portal (under construction) serves as a gateway to knowledge and resources for learning about Social Entrepreneurship.

The aim is to collect links to web sites, books, university courses, experts, and other sources to enable collaboration among aspiring social entrepreneurs.

Over time we will collect the learning from case studies around the world and develop a curriculum on Social Entrepreneurship.


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Featured learning resource

In time we will feature a range of specific Social Entrepreneurship resources.

For now, we include some resources that can help you plan and design a course for Social Entrepreneurship at your institution.

See:

 * The main portal and its
 * featured learning resources


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Related portals

Join the Social Entrepreneruship Discussion Group

Tertiary Institutions
Gauteng
 * Vaal University of Technology
 * University of Witwatersrand
 * University of Johannesburg
 * Tshwane University of Technology
 * University of Pretoria
 * University of South Africa
 * Gordon Institute of Business
 * CIDA City Campus

Non-Governmental Organizations

 * Ashoka
 * Junior Acheivement

Minutes of Meetings

 * December 2006
 * June 2007
 * August 2007
 * November 2007

Related Portal

 * Social Entrepreneurship on WikiEducator


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/WikiProjects

 * Social Entrepreneurship Curriculum
 * Collaborative Project for Social Entrepreneurship
 * Course Planning

 * Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC)
 * Tourism
 * Entrepeneurship
 * Life Skills Development


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Quotes

 * Several here


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Selected biography

 * RISE
 * London business School


text:
Template:Social Entrepreneurship Tasks

 * Test incorporation of this text into another page.

 * This text is in Template:Social Entrepreneurship Tasks

 * action a
 * action b
 * etc.

title: Template:Social Entrepreneurship Tasks


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Social Entrepreneurship Network news

 * We have a few sample test portals in the making ...
 * A new university has joined the network ...
 * New course released ...
 * /Activities/


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Social Entrepreneur Case Studies

 * South African Projects
 * etc.

... more /Community Projects/


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Did you know

Did you know,

 * etc.


text:
BCP/Saxifraga stolonifera/Logs

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * SB Johnny-LM 09:37, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 09:37, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 08:39, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 11:33, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 11:21, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 10:30, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Saxifraga stolonifera/Logs


text:
BCP/Allium schoenoprasum/Logs

2007 Logs

 * SBJ 19:25, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 23:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:47, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 16:16, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 15:33, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 20:04, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-NHAMP 08:46, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Recent Logs

 * Cormaggio talk 15:43, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:39, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:02, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:49, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 12:20, 14 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --Clarinetguy097 (discuss • contribs) 01:09, 3 September 2021 (UTC)
 * --Clarinetguy097 (discuss • contribs) 00:33, 24 September 2021 (UTC)

title: BCP/Allium schoenoprasum/Logs


text:
BCP/Cirsium arvense/Logs

2007 Logs

 * SB Johnny-LM 09:37, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 15:33, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:52, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:08, 24 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 19:59, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 19:32, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 08:48, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 10:51, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --Luai lashire 02:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Recent Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:02, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
 * --Luai lashire 01:27, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
 * --Luai lashire 00:52, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 11:09, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:49, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 23:39, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Cirsium arvense/Logs


text:
BCP/Matricaria discoidea/Logs

2007 Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 17:31, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 23:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:47, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 14:34, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:52, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:10, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

2008 Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:39, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 14:48, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --Jomegat 01:52, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 08:50, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 17:11, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 12:32, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

2009 Logs

 * Jomegat 22:42, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 00:28, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Recent Logs

 * Jomegat 22:58, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

title: BCP/Matricaria discoidea/Logs


text:
BCP/Stewartia pseudocamellia/Logs

This page contains recent bloom logs for the plant Stewartia pseudocamellia (Stewartia).

Recent Logs
=====Archived Logs===== (If there are more than 5 signatures under the recent logs heading, move the oldest logs to under this heading (generally leave the 3 most recent).
 * SBJ 10:16, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 10:56, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * (no archived logs yet)

title: BCP/Stewartia pseudocamellia/Logs


text:
BCP/Anthemis cotula/Logs

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 11:55, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:13, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 09:12, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 09:34, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:59, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 22:24, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny talk 10:30, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Anthemis cotula/Logs


text:
BCP/Lactuca serriola

Lactuca serriola

title: BCP/Lactuca serriola


text:
BCP/Lactuca serriola/Logs

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 13:10, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 09:15, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 10:46, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --Jomegat 16:02, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 19:02, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 02:55, 15 July 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:01, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 17:14, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny talk 09:34, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Lactuca serriola/Logs


text:
User:KTucker/testhierarchy

/test2/

title: User:KTucker/testhierarchy


text:
User:KTucker/testhierarchy/test2

edi it

title: User:KTucker/testhierarchy/test2


text:
BCP/Conyza canadensis

Conyza canadensis

title: BCP/Conyza canadensis


text:
BCP/Conyza canadensis/Logs

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 10:35, 23 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 09:21, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 09:52, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 10:44, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:10, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 05:57, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny talk 09:35, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 21:26, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Conyza canadensis/Logs


text:
BCP/Arctium lappa

Arctium lappa

title: BCP/Arctium lappa


text:
BCP/Arctium lappa/Logs

2007 Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 09:26, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 10:49, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --Jomegat 00:36, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --Luai lashire 02:16, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:22, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
 * --Jomegat 01:57, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
 * --Jomegat 00:39, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
 * --Jomegat 17:57, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * Jomegat 12:43, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:44, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 22:25, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 19:09, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny talk 13:36, 17 August 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny talk 08:22, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Arctium lappa/Logs


text:
BCP/Begonia/Logs

This page contains recent bloom logs for the plant Begonia (Begonia).

Recent Logs

 * SB Johnny-LM 19:59, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 08:43, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 09:34, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 18:36, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
 * HortMan 11:06, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:47, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

=====Archived Logs===== (If there are more than 5 signatures under the recent logs heading, move the oldest logs to under this heading (generally leave the 3 most recent).
 * (no archived logs yet)

title: BCP/Begonia/Logs


text:
Category talk:Filmmaking

Documentary Filming and Editing Techniques Video
The link below accesses a video of mine that relates to techniques I've used in Documentary Filmmaking. I thought it might be useful to present them in a Video Tutorial:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4223516475493964954

Move this comment
I think this should be moved to Talk:Filmmaking, not Category Talk:Filmmaking. Robert Elliott 12:14, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

title: Category talk:Filmmaking


title: File:TechWriting4.jpg


title: File:TechWriting6.jpg


text:
BCP/Hydrangea quercifolia/Logs

2008 Logs

 * SB Johnny-LM 08:11, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 13:51, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 20:02, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 08:41, 15 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:57, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

2009 Logs

 * Jomegat 00:55, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Jomegat 02:48, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Recent Logs

 * Jomegat 00:34, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

title: BCP/Hydrangea quercifolia/Logs


text:
BCP/Allium cernuum/Logs

This page contains recent bloom logs for the plant Allium cernuum (Nodding Onion).

Recent Logs

 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:54, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 08:47, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 09:52, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | PA! 23:27, 17 July 2007 (UTC) (close to the end of blooming)

=====Archived Logs===== (If there are more than 5 signatures under the recent logs heading, move the oldest logs to under this heading (generally leave the 3 most recent).
 * (no archived logs yet)

title: BCP/Allium cernuum/Logs


text:
BCP/Yucca filamentosa/Logs

2008 Logs

 * (no archived logs yet)

Recent Logs

 * SBJ 09:34, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * SB Johnny-LM 19:32, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * --SB_Johnny | talk 10:58, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * SBJ 11:14, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

title: BCP/Yucca filamentosa/Logs


text: File:OrsanctBabyBearHappy.ogg

title: File:OrsanctBabyBearHappy.ogg


text: File:OrsanctBabyBearTired.ogg

title: File:OrsanctBabyBearTired.ogg


text: File:OrsanctBabyBearSad.ogg

title: File:OrsanctBabyBearSad.ogg


text:
User:Incelemeelemani

Başladık
İnşallah yakında türkçesine de kayıt olur ve kullanırız.....

title: User:Incelemeelemani


text:
User:Edmond Dantes AUT

Deutsch
Hallo!

Ich komme aus Wien und interessiere mich für viele Dinge, einige Wichtige sind: Politik, Geschichte, Chemie, Informatik und Sprachen.

Wenn jemand meine Hilfe bei einem Projekt brauchen sollte, stehe ich gerne zur Verfügung (solange es mein Terminkalender halt erlaubt).

Für Änderungs-/Verbesserungsvorschläge habe ich natürlich immer ein offenes Ohr.

English
Hello!

I'm from Vienna (capital of Austria) and there are many things I'm interested in, e.g.: politics, history, chemistry, informatics and languages.

If you need my help at some project, contact me and I'll do my best.

Men make mistakes - if you find one of mine please tell/correct me.

title: User:Edmond Dantes AUT


text:
User:Deepraj

Hi, you have reached Deepraj who is mostly active on the English Wikipedia.

title: User:Deepraj


text:
Talk:MOO Universities

Just a quick note - The idea of using moo muds is to compliment wikiversity, not replace it. The MOO is intended as a practical laboratory where students can blow things up (if they want) without damanging wikiversity. MOO does not require separate hardware as a sandbox does, and many MOOs can run independently (say for each school) on the wikiversity computer. Students connect to the MOO lab., wikiversity, and irc simultaneously, solving the communications and technology issues raised in the article. MOO already supports programming and customising the environment, whereas a wikiversity sandbox requires extensive modifications to support programming. PeterMG 14:59, 26 July 2007 (UTC)]
 * "MOOs can run independently on the wikiversity computer" <-- It is not clear that the Wikimedia Foundation developers would be interested in running MOO software on the server array. It seems more like this would be a good use for the proposed sandbox server. --JWSchmidt 16:10, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:MOO Universities


text:
User talk:Cuvtixo

Hello Cuvtixo, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --JWSchmidt 16:12, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Cuvtixo


text:
User talk:Harvey twyman~enwikiversity

Hello Harvey twyman, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --JWSchmidt 16:22, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Harvey twyman. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Harvey twyman~enwikiversity that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:37, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:10, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Harvey twyman~enwikiversity


text:
User talk:Charles Mwiyeretsi~enwikiversity

Hello Charles Mwiyeretsi, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --JWSchmidt 16:23, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Charles Mwiyeretsi. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Charles Mwiyeretsi~enwikiversity that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:29, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:04, 19 April 2015 (UTC)


text:
Category:Social Entrepreneurship

This category is for learning resources pertaining to social entrepreneurship.

title: Category:Social Entrepreneurship


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Social Entrepreneurship Network topics

 * etc.

Student Social Entrepreneurship Project Teams


text: World War II/Timeline

title: World War II/Timeline


text:
User talk:Edmond Dantes AUT

Hello Edmond Dantes AUT, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. When leaving comments for others to read, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone keep track of who is writing messages. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To help you get started:
 * Take a guided tour and learn how to edit;
 * Explore our learning projects;
 * Browse our portals, schools, and research pages; and
 * Read and help develop our community policies.

Also, don't forget to experiment with the links to your left. Be bold, and see you around Wikiversity! --HappyCamper 17:14, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Thanks! --Edmond Dantes AUT 09:28, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Edmond Dantes AUT


text:
Portal:Social Entrepreneurship Network/Values

The International Network of Universities Focused on Social Entrepreneurship subscribes to the values of Libre Knowledge Communities:

We value:

 * the members of our community and their diverse perspectives,

 * the learning resources produced and the freedom to use, learn with, enhance and share these resources,

 * the ability of our community to collaborate on managing the quality of shared resources, and

 * the opportunity this offers for networked communities to make a difference collectively, towards a sustainable world.

manifesto


text: File:Libre-emblem.png

title: File:Libre-emblem.png


text:
Talk:Introduction to Christianity/What is a Christian?

Preface
I like the article and think it could do with some unambiguous definitions on Christian, Christ, and Messiah, so readers understand these words the way Christians do. I tried the following as a preface to the article, but the references themselves may cloud, rather than clarify, the definitions:

 * Christian is English for the Greek "Christianos", which means "Follower of Christ". Christ is English for the Greek "christos" and the Hebrew "Mashiach" (Messiah), both of which mean "Anointed One". Christ and Messiah are a title, not a surname, so a Christian is a follower of "the Anointed One, Jesus of Nazareth", "Christ Jesus", "Jesus Christ", or "The Messiah". The meaning of "anointing" combines the Jewish sense of anointing a high priest, king, and prophet.

Any ideas? PeterMG 23:12, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

 * "Anointed" is a loaded term in Christianity, full of significance. To the average non-Christian (and even to some Christians) it means absolutely nothing.  Simply translating terms will not help the lay-participant.  I think "Christian" should be defined simply as "follower of Christ", with the Greek, perhaps, in a footnote (it would be preferable if non-Romanized Greek were included, as well).  Any discussion of the meaning of Christ/Messiah will need a (somewhat) lengthy explanation of why "the anointed" is significant, however, driving home the significance of the term.  I like the prophet/priest/king association, however.  The Jade Knight 06:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree with your assessment although I now think we should try to reach people using terms they _do_ understand. We could use a legal metaphor to introduce Christianity, such as Jesus making a "last will and testament", the new testament superceding the old, who can be appointed his executor, what does his will state the executor must do, and in this sense, Christians "follow Jesus" and "do his will". Describing the legal framework on which Christianity is constructed may be easier than diving straight into the spiritual meaning of these things. Do you have a metahpor you think would be better than the legal one, or could we discussed it further? PeterMG

Earliest Writers
"The earliest writers to record the teachings of the first century Christian community were the Gospel writers" - I'm not sure that this is an accurate statement. I don't have the source in front of me, but in A Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, it is established that the letters of Paul (and most of the rest of the epistles) were actually written before the Gospels. That is why one of the earliest attestations of Christ's divinity are considered the creeds embedded in Paul's letters. Just wanted to point that out, in case precision in the matter matters :-).
 * --Opensourcejunkie 20:38, 22 March 2008 (UTC)


text:
Informatic Communication Technologies/02a

Input Peripherals
tudo que entra


text: Informatic Communication Technologies/02b


text: Informatic Communication Technologies/02c


text: Informatic Communication Technologies/02d


text:
User talk:Just Another Insignificant Being in the Universe

Hello, I am just another insignificant being in the universe. You can call me Chris. I'm here to learn for free.


text:
User:Just Another Insignificant Being in the Universe

Hello. ¡Hola! Bonjour. Konichiwa. Kumusta. I am just another insignificant being in the universe, but you can call me Chris.


text:
Wikiversity:Colloquium/archives/July 2007

Main page project
I wonder if we can get a rough idea of the number of Wikiversiters interested in upgrading our main page layout and design here? --HappyCamper 13:05, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * 1) --JWSchmidt 13:19, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * 2)  McCormack 14:12, 2 July 2007 (UTC)  (on condition that I can be called a Wikiversitarian ;-))
 * 3) -- Question:  What does "upgrade" mean?  The Jade Knight 04:59, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * See Main page design changes and Draft version for some ideas. --JWSchmidt 13:54, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * 1) Definitely. It's not bad now, but it could certainly use some work. AmiDaniel (talk) 18:04, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) Yep, it needs work - I initiated Introduction Overhaul Taskforce to possibly act as a coordinating space for improving the main page and other pages... Cormaggio talk 22:46, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * 3) I've chatted and (I think) left wiki comments and such. We should also think about the navigation stuff (links on the left side) too, in this context. Historybuff 14:38, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

OpenMoko learning projects
We've been talking about doing various openmoko learning projects over the past few months -- time to dust off those ideas and revisit them. The openmoko team have finally made solid contact with me and they are very enthused to work with Wikiversity/Wikimedia in developing the Open Source Openmoko software. We're going to try and see if we can have something ready for Wikimania, but if not, we'll have plenty of things to do around here with them. I'll post links to the current ideas later today. Historybuff 14:45, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

OpenMoko would be a primary resource; Open_projects is another top priority. As a Fundraising avenue, we've thought about a few projects, including the OpenMoko/Internet Kiosk. There was mapping (land maps), street maps, and some other apps that we've thrown around in various discussions. Feel free to poke in at any of these, or suggest new bits. Historybuff 23:19, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Differentiation from Wikibooks
Is there any page here where the difference between Wikiversity and Wikibooks is clearly laid out, i.e. what sort of material belongs there but not here, and vice versa? Angr 17:56, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Pretty much, if it belongs in a book, it doesn't belong here, unless there's some reason they don't like it at Wikibooks. If it's something that you couldn't print out and include in a physical book, it belongs here.  The Jade Knight 22:17, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
 * See Wikibooks. When Jimbo decided that Wikivesity should not stay as part of Wikibooks, he said that Wikibooks has a clear mission (textbooks) and that all the "other stuff" that was growing within the Wikiversity pages at the Wikibooks website did not belong there. Last year he described Wikiversity this way, "..... the idea here is to also host learning communities, so people who are actually trying to learn, actually have a place to come and interact and help each other figure out how to learn things. We're also going to be hosting and fostering research into how these kinds of things can be used more effectively" (source).--JWSchmidt 22:29, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

tourism
--202.163.109.177 17:58, 7 July 2007 (UTC)Dear Sir, I wish to know if an online degree on tourism is attainable. Thanking you Regards nads

 * Wikiversity does not yet confer degrees in anything. You are, however, welcome to check out the School of Tourism.  The Jade Knight 22:21, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

 * There might be an online degree on tourism, just not here. --Rayc 19:49, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

The Photoproject
Everyone is welcome to post and discuss photographs at the Photoproject Elatanatari 03:41, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

which picture is this
--59.95.219.224 05:27, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * What picture? You can find out info about the pic at the top of the page by clicking on it.  The Jade Knight 06:29, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Motto contest: wrap up?
The motto contest page has been mostly inactive for a month. The last motto discussion string in the colloquium has been inactive, Motto and slogan contests: discussion of outcomes.

It does not seem to be the time to start another round of the contest. The last round was to be a final polishing round. I want to check with folks about how to go forward.

At this time, I think two steps are a good way to proceed:
 * 1) Accept the selections with majority of support from the last round ("set learning free" for slogan & "open learning community" for motto) as the finalists of the current contest.
 * 2) Summarize the issues and criticisms that have been raised in the last few rounds. And, propose that, based on the evolving nature and understanding of what is Wikiversity, that sometime down the road (sooner or later) a motto and slogan discussion process (which includes people listing support for options) be held for revising or replacing the motto & slogan.

What do you all think of this? --Reswik 16:36, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Hi Doug - that sounds fine to me. It could even be that the discussion you envisage continues immediately from now, but that the proposals above are the decisions for now. Cormaggio talk 22:12, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree: "decisions for now" is good way to put it. More discussion soon would be good. I was supposing that we might not see very much talk, given the absence of talk recently. I hope a good discussion and possible further developments unfold some time. --Reswik 23:23, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Problem creating an account
I am totally unable to create account. I keep entering information and I am rejected. I am about to give up my level of fustration has been reached sveit@cfl.rr.com

 * What web browser are you using? Make sure you set the browser to accept cookies from Wikiversity. I can see that your account is created. If your browser is not accepting cookies, then you can create an account but not login to that account. You may have seen this message after you created your account:

--JWSchmidt 02:51, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Original Research
Wikiversity, or some other wiki project, ought to provide a way for interested people to conduct original research. For every subject, there should be a portal for research. It doesn't have to be groundbreaking stuff, just a place to find interested people and talk about a hypothesis with them, create a test, and log results. Anyone could do the tests and record their results, which would provide a great amount of data. If each "department" in wikiversity drew up its own form for experiments, then even a casual user could get involved in posing a hypothesis, planning an experiment, or conducting part or all of it. Then the users could post results, peers could review it, try it themselves, and all significant results could be published in a section in that department. The non-conclusive research would be good for learning what doesn't work. Wikis seem like the perfect place for people who have access to research tools to collaborate no matter where they live, and add to the general body of knowledge and get your name out to interested people, and get some experience and have fun, too. Evan Bacon Cal State Bakersfield
 * Wikiversity is open to original research projects. A good place to start is Portal:Research. --JWSchmidt 08:59, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

DeletedContributions
Just wanted to inform all sysops here that Special:DeletedContributions is now available to you on Wikiversity. It will hopefully be of use. AmiDaniel (talk) 17:04, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

FLOSS summer university
Hi all, I've been made aware of a FLOSS summer university (FLOSS is "Open Source"), which people here might be interested in. There's also a wiki, though I'm not sure where or how to get involved. Could be good... Cormaggio talk 22:54, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Can you rename me?
Where do you request renaming? If this is where, can I get renamed from Skunkmaster to Skunkmaster V?

 * The Skunk 04:21, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

 * It would probably be quicker to create a new account, and especially encouraged since your account does not have too many edits associated with it. However, if you would like to wait instead, I'm sure User:Cormaggio or User:Sebmol would be more than happy to help you! --HappyCamper 04:42, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Done. Cormaggio talk 11:06, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Great Effort
wikiversity is no doubt trying to do a great thing by encouraging ppl to learn through such innovative means but i was just checking the portal and most classes are inactive. are ppl not just taking enough interest? Monali6a 08:28, 12 July 2007 (UTC)monaMonali6a 08:28, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Associated with this observation, I would suggest that the WV convention of including participant's lists in the main namespace is an error. Participants are transient. Transient information turns into obsolete information. Obsolete information makes a page look "inactive" and of low value. It might be better practice to keep all transient information, and especially participants' lists, on talk pages rather than the main namespace, unless there is a high chance (as with blogs, or this colloquium) that proper archiving will be conducted. The practice of participants lists might have been drawn from VLE's, but WV is not a conventional VLE - it's something else, even if we haven't quite yet worked out quite what. McCormack 09:25, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Over at the School of History I've suggested transforming the participants list for this reason (among others, perhaps). The Jade Knight 10:31, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Lists of participants can become outdated, it is true - but I think it's still useful to have some indication for people who are just coming to the page for the first time as to who else might be interested in pursuing a learning project on this subject. Monali6a's question is quite complex, however - I think it's evident that we are still figuring out how to set up an "architecture for participation" in Wikiversity in order to see a portal/school/community flourish. On the back of another discussion, I wonder if this idea should be the underlying focus of this "great effort"? What practical steps can we take to truly create an architecture for participation? Cormaggio talk 10:53, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

 * That's a great question. The Jade Knight 12:09, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

 * "architecture for participation" <-- We could start with a new Main Page that invites participation and has links to other pages that explain how to edit and participate at Wikiversity. The current Main Page was made by Wikipedians for Wikipedians and does not serve the needs of Wikiversity. --JWSchmidt 14:15, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

 * I do not oppose a revision of the main page. At all.  The Jade Knight 01:15, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

 * I made Main page project today. It's a start at least. --HappyCamper 01:44, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Participants could periodically manually Update the Dates & Times of their presences on the various Participant's Lists so as to cause them to reflect Activity rather than let their Signing Up remain only a record of their First Contacts.

 * The Manual Aspect of such Updates would keep them a function of whether the Participant had determined that something had happened.

 * (s) Dionysios (talk), a Participant in the Wikiversity School of Advanced General Studies, Date: 2007-07-13 (July 13, 2007) Time: 1451 UTC

 * Can you explain what you mean? ---HappyCamper 15:13, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

 * When one Edits a Page upon which there is a Participant's List upon which one appears, one could Update the time.

 * Example: This Participant just visited The Wikiversity School of Law. In the Active Participants Section, the following Text appeared:

 * " *Dionysios (talk) 2007-07-10 (July 10, 2007) Time: 1534 UTC "

 * This This Participant didn't really do anything at The Wikiversity School of Law this time; but, just as a demonstration, he Edited the Test to:

 * " *Dionysios (talk) 2007-07-10 (July 13, 2007) Time: 1753 UTC "

 * just to show that he was still Active. {A minor edit: Summary: "(Update User Dionysios.)"}  This makes This Participant's entries on Participant's Lists reflect (at least minimal) Activity rather his letting his Signing On as a Participant remain only a record of his First Contact with a Wikiendeavor.

 * It is a small idea; but, it is conversation responsive to the above "Participant's Lists" Discussion. Your Main Page Project page is large; and This Participant is much more interested in that than in making Participant's Lists more useful (although he remains interested in making Participant's Lists more useful).  You may expect This Participant's participation in the Main Page Project .

 * Best regards, (s) Dionysios (talk) 2007-07-10 (July 13, 2007) Time: 1818 UTC

 * An interesting thought, but it would be somewhat of a hassle. If there were a way for this to be automated, it would be wonderful.  I'm not sure how that would work, however.  The Jade Knight 06:54, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Checking someone's contributions is a fairly straightforward way of checking if someone's active - this can be done by going to their user page and clicking the "User Contributions' link in the left-hand side toolbar. However, it isn't ideal when trying to find someone active from a longish list. On something "automated", I wonder if something could be coded for this (such as an extension that sees when someone has been inactive for, say, two months and flags them on the appropriate pages as inactive). I imagine it's possible... Cormaggio talk 10:57, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

 * If it could be automated like that, it's not a bad idea. Of course, someone could be "active", and not active on the topic in question.  The Jade Knight 19:36, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

New course: Introduction to Robotics
I'm working on creating this new course, but I don't know where to list it or advertise it. Should I list it in the engineering and technology portal? Anything else I should know about starting and maintaining a new course? --Whiteknight 14:25, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Some people who may go directly to Portal:Computer Science might want to see a link to your robotics content. I suspect that many Wikiversity participants go to school and topic pages to participate in content development rather than going to portal pages to look for existing content. I'd suggest trying to establish a way to link to your robotics content from School:Computer science. It seems like there should be a page such as Topic:Robotics that would be the central content development project for everyone who is interested in developing learning resources for robotics. Also, please take a look at existing pages such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory and Automatic Control and Robotics. I'm not sure what the "Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory" page is trying to be...it looks like an attempt to involve Wikiversity participants in some sort of robotics-related research. --JWSchmidt 17:50, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Article about Wikiversity
There's an article about Wikiversity online - it's pretty honest about what Wikiversity actually delivers in practice to a prospective student - worth reading. Cormaggio talk 15:40, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Quotation: The established MIT OpenCourseWare online archive of classes offers deep content and real courses on nearly anything under the sun, so perhaps sharing content with projects such as this could help broaden the offerings for Wikiversity.
 * This was the (only?) recommendation for improving WV in the article, the criticism being that WV has very big holes. For those not familiar with the issues, MIT OCW is published under CC-BY-NC-SA, which is not compatible with GFDL. That is the one and only thing in the way of a mass import (because permission is already given). iTunes University podcasts were also discussed - anyone know what the licencing is there? McCormack 17:32, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

 * As far as I can make out, iTunesU is simply an Apple hosting service for universities - the licensing is determined by the university/lecturers etc. Apple give guidelines (pdf) about copyright and licensing, but that's about it.. Cormaggio talk 12:53, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Wikimania workshop
Hi all, I'll be at the upcoming Wikimania conference in Taipei, where I'll be presenting around a paper and facilitating a workshop. I'd particularly appreciate feedback about the workshop - ideas for how to make it more engaging, useful, interesting, participative, etc. would be great. I'm hoping that it will be open to remote (ie online) participation - there will hopefully be live audio/video streaming, and I'll try to monitor IRC during the session so that comments there can form part of the discussion in the room. Comments about how to improve this aspect would also be very welcome. Cormaggio talk 12:34, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Colour problem
Another problem for me. I am having a few Spanish words and now I want to have them recorded. The problem is, that I am losing then the user color. Study it here: Spanish: An Introduction/Pronunciation. Is there a way, how to have them in different color, or would it be a problem for end users?--Juan 13:58, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Template audiobox needed
Hi, could anyone help. There is a need in Spanish cource of a template for audio articles. It would be nice to place on pages audio in a box, which would offer:
 * name of a file
 * info - how to play it
 * language flag - a picture of a flag to recognise language used.

For the future other info would be edited. Maybe the syntax to call this template can be:. Could you help. I would be glad. Many thanks.--Juan 13:33, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

 * We have Template:Audio: . Help with ogg file format audio play.
 * and Template:Listen
 * and Template:Listen

 * Which of these two do you like as a starting point for your version with a flag? --JWSchmidt 17:09, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Oh. Many thanks. Template:Listen might be usefull.--Juan 13:12, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Why the vote for a wikipedia's motto isn't enabled for the wikiversities in other languages?
I think we all should vote and decide it.--El Racionalista Prenihilista 14:14, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I think its beiing disscused on Wikiversity beta, which seems me enough.--Juan 11:58, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Imported template
I just imported FancyLink from Wikibooks, after discussing (i.e. griping about) some issues I've been having with templates lately with Whiteknight. It's a pretty powerful tool for anyone wanting to create "homogenous" pages within a learning project. --SB_Johnny | PA! 23:33, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

 * This template uses a number of special "features" to allow it to do some fancy things. For instance, it can:
 * Make a special "create" link instead of just an ordinary red link if the page does not already exist.
 * Preload a new page with a text template (useful for when multiple pages need to be formatted the same)
 * Display a custom message at the top of the screen, to provide additional instructions to editors specific to that page
 * Create an "edit" link instead of a regular blue link
 * If anybody has any questions about this, let me know. --Whiteknight 17:53, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

 * I've already requested a link to some documentation for this template on its talk page. I think it is better to document templates than to expect people hunt someone down for help. --JWSchmidt 23:14, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

 * That is true. I've already added a little documentation to it, i'll add more as i get around to it. --Whiteknight 23:35, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

 * "Documentation" <-- see also m:help:parser functionHillgentleman|Talk 08:25, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

Using categories, subpages, and DynamicPageList to keep track of policy and other discussions
As I've been experimenting with the use of DPL on the bloom clock, other uses for it throughout the wikiversity project have been coming to mind, and in particular the organization of our policy discussions and other issues that affect or represent the whole project (such as user-interface issues, slogans, and so on).

What I'd like to propose as a start is categorizing all policy discussion pages with Category:Policy discussions (we can add subcategories later). We could then have something like a "communal watchlist" using a DPL-generated page using the folloring code:

 category=Category:Policy Discussions order=descending ordermethod=lastedit

This list would then show anyone who loads the page what policy discussion was the most recently edited.

As a second step, I'd like to reorganize the colloquium archives into thread-specific subpages. Thus this thread would be archived to Colloquium/Using categories, subpages, and DynamicPageList to keep track of policy and other discussions, and categorized as a policy discussion, a technical discussion, archived Colloquium threads, and perhaps even as a discussion about DynamicPageList. This way, if (say) someone was looking for discussions about DPL, they could go either to the category, or to a DPL-generated list which would show which DPL-related topics were discussed most recently. The archives themselves could then be made into transclusion pages (for an example of this, compare Bloom Clock/White flowers seen in July in Southeastern Pennsylvania (a DPL-assisted transclusion page) with Bloom Clock/White flowers seen in July in Southeastern Pennsylvania/DPL (the actual DPL page... hit the edit button on each of those pages to see what's actually going on there, because what appears on the content page bears little resemblance to what you'll see in the edit window!)

I know this probably sounds rather confusing and technical, but I figured I't start the discussion with a brain spill and see where it can go :). --SB_Johnny | PA! 17:13, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

 * I think it is worth trying. What we really need is a threaded discussion system (that is easy to search) built into Wikiversity, but this (above) would be useful until we have a real threaded discussion system. --JWSchmidt 18:17, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Certainly worth trying, it would be useful to have such a "communal watchlist". How do you propose the archiving would be done? --Draicone (talk) 22:10, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I got a start on this this morning, but it's hard to decide exactly what colloquium threads are policy discussions, and what category to use for other discussions. Thus far the categories I've made are:

 * Category:Policy discussions
 * Category:Policy discussions/Vandalism
 * Category:Colloquium archives by thread

My suggestion is to use lots of categories, since we're going to be using DPL to organize this. So, for example, we could have a DPL page for Policy discussions in general (using "lastedit" as a way to track activity in policy discussions), but also one for vandalism discussions in particular (more of a research tool to see if a particular issue related to vandalism was brought up before). Keep in mind that even though one is actually a subcategory of the other a page on vandalism policy should be in both categories... when DPL is involved, redundance in categorization is actually not redundant, because each cat is serving a different purpose.

I only archived a few threads, and when I did I replaced the actual thread on the archive with a page inclusion (the categories themselves are not included).

Looking over the old threads, some categories that come to mind are "Community discussions/Defining Wikiversity", "Community discussions/Wikiversity structure", "Policy discussions/Research", and some sort of category for Wikiversity's place in the world (media reports, interwiki relations, etc.).

One final note: the earliest archive was fully protected. Should the subpages also be fully protected? Should the archive discussions be kept locked up for prosperity, or allowed to be picked up again and expanded? It's not as if we can't keep track of them with DPL (though I should point out that the lastedit function won't give accurate results at first, since the page creations are themselves edits). --SB_Johnny | PA! 11:11, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

 * Ahem. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing unless someone objects (I'm a Wikibookian at heart, and therefore perfectly comfy making up my own rules as I go along), but I really would appreciate some input about whether the community likes what I'm doing or not. OTOH, I suppose most of my mistakes will be bot-fixable :). --SB_Johnny | PA! 18:31, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I think for most people it is still rather theoretical when you say that you plan to make "DPL pages". --JWSchmidt 19:48, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

 * What it would do is generate a list of pages within a particular category (for example, Policy discussions, and automatically move the most recently changed page to the top. This way someone can track all policy discussions without necessarily having them all on their watchlist. --SB_Johnny | PA! 11:32, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

More Wiki Campus Radio sessions
After a bit of off-wiki work, I'm trying to rekindle the WCR stuff. We have a bunch of topics that should be on tap, anyone feel like doing a show or two about them?

I'm happy to talk someone's ear off, but more contributors would be better. See Wiki Campus Radio for the general idea, and Talk:Wiki Campus Radio for shows which have been proposed. Historybuff 23:26, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Maybe we could discuss how to propose the Sandbox Server to the Foundation. --JWSchmidt 15:46, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm up for it. --Rayc 20:35, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Cool. Should we discuss a time/date? Maybe we can decide on a block of time each week for shows? Historybuff 16:39, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
 * What is the best time/day for you? --JWSchmidt 18:00, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Right now, my schedule is pretty variable. I might be able to commit to a 10pm EDT session throughout the week. I could do earlier times, but my participation might not be constant during an earlier session. Does that work for everyone -- too late, too early, too blue? Historybuff 20:44, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
 * It may be useful to start meeting at that time in IRC #wikiversity-en and see what develops. --JWSchmidt 15:35, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm still up for WCR work, but since relocating to the New Orleans area, I'm not set up with audio yet. If all goes according to plan, we should have a complete music and audio production facility in due time. Please see the Across the Wikiverse page for some ideas for now. CQ 18:17, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

If someone names a day, I'll try and get everything organized on the server side and see if we can't fire it up. I'm thinking of doing some kind of a tech-review show on a periodic basis, if anyone is interested in that. (This is in addition to our topical shows, which we are far behind on). Historybuff 04:00, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

 * 10pm EDT Friday? --JWSchmidt 06:11, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

Talk about specific. Ok, 10pm EDT Friday is too early for me (the one day that it might be). Thursday, Sunday or Monday? Historybuff 23:29, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I only mentioned 10pm because that was suggested by you, above. If later is better for you, then pick a later time. Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday are fine for me, 10 pm or later. --JWSchmidt 01:39, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Good news and bad news -- first, the bad.

Our original host server has crashed, and it seems we might not be able to get the data, so all of the old users would have to re-sign up.

Good news - we'll have a replacement soon that will hopefully have a bit more policy flexibility, which might allow some more dynamic shows/content creation.

Lastly - Thursday might work for me this week. Would earlier work, or is 10pm EDT a good time for everybody? (And what should our topic be?) Historybuff 06:17, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
 * 10pm EDT is fine for me. "everybody" <-- The half dozen or so other past participants may not even be aware of the concept of doing another session this week. "topic" <-- I'd be up for brainstorming on how to submit the sandbox server proposal to the Foundation.

Ok - Thursday was a wash, but our topic is now set -- brainstorming the Sandbox server submission. I'm wondering if we might not even submit it to third parties, if we can garner board support. Now, when should we have the session? Historybuff 18:26, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Maybe we should have User:Cormaggio send an email to the special projects committee mailing list and see if we can get one or two people with SPC experience to join us for a discussion session. We could explain the proposal and they could give advice on how to move ahead. --JWSchmidt 18:47, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

 * Interesting - I'm only just back after my brain got fried somewhere between Taiwan, my resulting inbox, and RealLifeStuff TM . I'd be happy to participate in this discussion, though 22:00 EDT is probably too late for me. The SPC is effectively dead, but I like the idea of at least pooling thoughts and past experience. If we have a definite time/date then I will mail the list. Cormaggio talk 16:35, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

 * We had a test of the live voice chat system last night with participants from Germany, Canada and USA. The main topic was Wikimania and efforts to allow remote participation in Wikimania and Wikimania-like events. If you would like to experiment with voice chat, please join the fun. More live chat sessions coming soon via Wiki Campus Radio. --JWSchmidt 15:10, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

 * What time would work for you Cormaggio? Even if we don't regularly schedule for that time, we can do an exception for at least one session. Historybuff, 15:11, 7 September 2007

Successful test
JWS and I did an impromptu test session, and we had a third participant from Germany drop in for a short while. It was good stuff, and was just to get things restarted again. We're planning on having another session, but recorded this time, on the status and strategy for the Sandbox Server. Does anyone have suggestions for time/date? Historybuff, 15:11, 7 September 2007
 * I would like to join in again - have vacation also next week. Timezone is GMT+1, Germany. I think I could be in any time. Who needs sleep :-) Erkan Yilmaz ( evaluate me!, discussion ) 15:22, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * We can try to plan times and dates, but often what happens is that sessions start when a group of people happen to be available in the #wikiversity-en chat channel. Usually people are given the VoIP connection information via IRC chat, so if you want to participate in live voice chat, a good first step is joining in with the "old fashioned" IRC text-based chat. --JWSchmidt 15:32, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * This is something I'll be working on -- for now, people have to join the IRC channel (you can do this through the CGI-IRC link above from the chat link above), but we will be making this easier. I'm not sure if we'll require a Wikiversity account to join, but it'll be some kind of web based signup that I'm aiming for.

 * Maybe we can propose a date, and we can give a rough starting time, and we'll "start" when we have a good mix of participants? Historybuff 05:31, 8 September 2007 (UTC)


text:
Basic Government Systems/Communism

Communism and Communist States
What is Communism?

Communism is a socio-economic system based on the abolition of private property and the holding of the means of production as common property. It is essentially workers' ownership of the means of production. Proponents believe that this promotes equality and the eliminates the class system. However, there are many different approaches to communism, each leading to a differing community of practice:
 * Marxism
 * Leninism
 * Stalinism
 * Maoism
 * Trotskyism
 * Hoxhaism
 * Luxemburgism
 * Left Communism
 * Christian Communism
 * Anarchist Communism (Anarcho-Communism)

History
Jean-Luc Nancy claims that the term communism was used in 14th century Europe to mean “people having in common a property belonging to the category of main morte – that is, not being submitted to the law of heritage”. The first modern use of the term communist was by Restif de la Bretonne in a 1785 review of Projet de Communauté philosophe by his friend Victor d'Hupay (1777).

Many define the USSR, China, Vietnam and such as "Communist Countries"; this is not the case in the original idea of Marx. He envisioned a world where everyone is equal, much unlike that of the Soviet Union. Likewise when the USSR was founded, Lenin did not say it was Communist, but rather that it was a future they were striving for.

Experience of the 20th century also showed that social revolution, including the socialist revolution in Russia, conceived as a means of transition to the building of a communist society, led not to the annihilation of the state, but to its multiple reinforcement and expansion. As a result, under conditions of real socialism, the state essentially wholly subordinated and absorbed both societies and the individual was taken.

Discussion questions
What happens when communism and capitalism blend? As there are many different forms of communism with different structures its difficult to answer as is the lack of easily accsesable information in different communist styled economy not everything is the same, also don't get sucked in by those small minded James Bond movies.

Is it possible to have a country that advocates there should be no countries?

title: Basic Government Systems/Communism