while we are at it, the double-pipe C style OR still breaks a post completely… bad for C/C++/GLSL snippets.
I think those changes could also promote the more code being written in the posts. 
Please everyone make sure to comment on the TWO PROPOSALS!!!
Cheers!
Rod
Hello all,
I just wanted to drop in for second to thank those who have made some great comments and to those that have been busy pushing the envelope my way. We are listening and hopefully we will see some positive changes very shortly.
Anyone who has some constructive critisms, ideas and suggestions, please let us know here. We want your input!
For <code> blocks, check out nvidia’s dev forum for how they do theirs. Font size is at least the same as normal text. Possibly a font other than courier? Fixed-width san-serif fonts look quite nice, although I know code convention in written texts is courier.
The one problem i see with this is that it is splitting the information between two separate systems.
This could lead to duplication of the same information (and hence problems with keeping them both up to date and in agreement).
It also makes it harder to find information as you dont know whether to search the forum or the wiki.
To make it work you would have to have a clear specification of what sort of information should go in a forum and what should go in the wiki.
The wiki is far superior in terms of formatting (especially math equations), and its link-based structure makes it the best choice to search for a specific piece of information.
Hi Simon!
Thanks for your comment. It’s very important that all users take part in this discussion.
Even I understand your concern, I don’t see the problem you are specifying, as for me the wiki is more of a source of reference information, tutorials, and how-to’s, while the forum is to face date-to-day problems that are either not in the wiki, or that the newbie didn’t know that the wiki existed and didn’t do a search (or didn’t find it).
And remember that if you are concerned about the “duplication of information”, the forum contains lots and lots of duplicated answers and questions if do a search from years ago. Specially in the begginer’s section.
I think that the wiki will lead to the good thing that is happening in most communities:
- If someone asks about something that is already in the wiki ==> Answer will be: "Hi! You can find that answer is in the wiki here [link]. Let us know if you have any questions after reading that. "
or even “That question is covered in the wiki [link], but is not enough complete to answer your question. I have just updated the wiki so that it answers your question. Have a look here [link]”
- If someone asks about something that is not in the wiki completely ==> People will answer in the forum and then someone will write the wiki page. Even more, the one that asked could be encouraged to write the solution he found using the community’s responses and the posterior experience in implementing the solution or the other way around- the experts would be encouraged to write about this new topic.
3)Anyways, I think that there are many questions that will never get to the wiki and will stay in the forum, since they belong to a discussion and not mere referencial material. Such as: “Do you think OpenGL 3.0 is better than 2.0 in such such and such?” … and many more discussions that involve opinion or discussion of latests trends and uses.
4) Or posts that are related to a specified code: “I can’t get this code to work… can you help me?”, “I am trying to accomplish this and that and I don’t know how to face this problem…” (guidance), etc.
So that’s why I think the wiki and forum they must coexist together.
So I think the wiki will definitely complement the forum, making it easier for begginers, avoiding having repeated answers over and over again from intermediate/advanced users, and hopefully -what I am looking for- providing a space for sharing information about the latest OpenGl techniques and tutorials for intermediate/advanced level users.
I think the main concern is the rough learning curve that intermediate/advanced users face when trying to develop more advanced and complex OpenGl developments, as graphic techniques are changing constantly, and the user doesn’t know which one is the best and which one is up to date.
I hope the wiki provides a solution to this, by letting us write up-to date tutorials, information, and how-to’s for intermediate and advanced topics, apart from begginers too.
What you guys & gals think?
Cheers!
Rod
In my previous post, i didn’t mean the existing discussion forums, i was talking about the idea of having special “tutorials” forums.
@Rodrix:
These are the news:
1)James is proposing now the following idea to be implemented shortly, which sounds real good to me:
In his words:
“A lot of sites these days use the forums for Tutorials too. Perhaps
it would make more sense to add a Tutorial and how-to section on the
message boards.”
I am quite happy with the discussion forums as they are, it is the Tutorials and How-to articles that i think should be in the Wiki and not in a new forum section.
Thinking it over again…
Yeah! I think I totally agree with you!
The best place for tutorials for organization, easiness, and format, is the wiki.
However I think that Everyone (or almost everyone) should be granted access to the writing tutorials section on the wiki if it is not done on the forum, as in the forum everyone would have been able to ‘post’ a tutorial.
Anyways… wiki writing access should be eased up…
What do you think?
Cheers!
Rod
Hello,
We have eased up on the wiki access for all. If you feel you have tutorials and how-to’s that are well written and tested, you are welcome to open an account on the OpenGL.org Wiki.
We have been testing the new simple registration and login for a few weeks now without issue and would like to get more people contributing.
As long as the wiki stays relatively clean and accurate and we don’t have many issues with spammers etc, we will keep them open. If we find the amount of bad content is too much we will be forced to tighten up a bit on the access again.
Feel free to share your feedback and comments on this thread.
This is a very good idea, the reason that a wiki is different from a forum are very well-thought outlined in Rodrix’s post above.
It’s good that there is an official OpenGL wiki.
Please don’t stop with OpenGL but make an official wiki of all Khronos stuff.
And why would the information restricted to a official wiki?
Please do add the information also on Wikipedia.
And choose a very free licence for all wiki material.
For the rest, do continue, it’s a wonderful, very usable idea.
its really nice 2 hv modification in the system…