Abbreviations

[TorbenBeta]

This is a list of some words and abbreviations. If you have more then say it and I will update.
http://chaosrealm.net/w/Abbreviations is the list in the wiki

Ccg = Collectable card game

Influence = life/health

Mtg = Magic the Gathering
#the most played ccg.
Naima = name of a faction of WT. #Consists of the Elves and Merfolk.

Orc/ORC = Original rules concept

Threshold = means that you need at least x of f to play y.
Where X is amount of f. f is the race/faction and y is the card to be played.
Example: You want to play elvish archer (y) which has a threshold of 2 (x) elves (f). So you need to have 2 elves in game already. Does function like coloured mana in Mtg.

Wotc = Wizards of the coast #A big company in the ccg market.

WT = Wesnoth tactics #The name of the game

Xrc/XRC = Xcho Rules/ xchokeholdx rules concept http://chaosrealm.net/w/Xcho_Rules

[snowdrop]

Great initiative Torben!

I think it would serve the world better in the Wiki, and maybe have a link in your original post in here to the wiki would also make it easier to find from the forum.

[TorbenBeta]

Thank you for the praise.
I never worked with a wiki before but I will try. Can you sticky this so that it can be seen rather easily?
Torben

I did it my first page on a wiki http://wtactics.org/wiki search for Abbreviations as I do now know how to change the front page.

[Ravenchild]

I changed the frontpage.

It's not difficult. Just click on the "edit"-link on the top of the page.

[snowdrop]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia: ... Editing%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia: ... matting%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia: ... a_links%29

...covers the wiki basics, I think.

Stickie threads: Will usually be avoided in here as it's often the wrong way to spread/host info (i.e. rules section in red could be used instead and so on). I think however that we should include a link to the wiki in the original post, if you edit it, and that I should link to the list from the FAQ as well. I'll fix the FAQ soon(TM).

[TorbenBeta]

Ravenchild: Thank you for helping me with your edit.

Snowdrop: I linked it to the wiki in the main post. It is your choice with stickies but most people are used to it. But we go new paths so why not here too.

All: Do you think I should update both (forum and wiki) or just the wiki?

[snowdrop]

Snowdrop: I linked it to the wiki in the main post. It is your choice with stickies but most people are used to it. But we go new paths so why not here too.

I agree that stickies are used frequently around the net for hosting either static info or nearly static info maintained by the author of that thread. Anyone that's been around plenty of forums should have come in contact with that phenomenon by now.

My issue with it is simply that I don't believe it's the right way to host the info and that stickies should be avoided as long as it's possible. Why? because:

• Layout issue 1: With every sticky added, even just a single one, the user has to always scroll/read further down the page to get to where 99% of all the content will be in the forum - posted as usual threads.
• Where to store what info: The above seems illogical, especially since most stickies are static and the user only needs to read them once or maybe twice a year. If so, why on earth should they always be there? Answer is that new forum users should easily see them. That could be a valid point in some rare cases where the stickies had something to do with the forum in itself. Most of the time they don't though. One might also wonder why, if we want to inform the user of something, we choose to do it via the forum and not a regular page where one would expect to find the info.
• An example of this is the ORC or the General Design Document: They are both frequently referred to in the forum, but we don't see them being posted in here as a sticky. Why not? Wouldn't it make life easier for the forum visitor? Well, same arguments apply here of course. In the long run, it wouldn't make life easier on anyone. On the contrary. Especially since stickies stick in chronological order as well.
• Layout issue 2: Screen estate. Not that it matters much and is a huge argument, but with mobile devices and netbooks becoming more and more popular, screen estate matters somewhat more. Now, this forum won't ever be layouted especially for them alone, but even so, stickies cause even more grief on such devices.
• Right tools for the job: In this particular case hosting the abbreviations list as a sticky only makes it all depend on one single person - you - since no other normal user (meaning, non-mod/admin user) will be able to edit your post and add/improve upon it. This is of course also a good thing - that's a way we'd expect a forum, that's made for discussion and debate, to work. It guarantees the integrity of our posts. It is however bad if we want a collaborative document. So, I installed the wiki not too long ago, just for that purpose alone - to allow anyone to easily contribute to the project any way they want. By hosting the info there we can be guaranteed that the thread doesn't live or die with just on person's presence as anyone can improve it. We also place it where plenty of other documents already are.

But we go new paths so why not here too.

*smiles*

Yeah, heheh.. well, I wouldn't say that's an argument in itself or makes my attitude towards stickies a good one but I honestly think stickies - from the frequent forum users experience/perspective - makes very little sense most of the time. As one might deduct I also believe that most admins of the forums around are often heavily mistaken in their usage of the stickies. I know they mean well and all, but I don't see it as the best method for conveying something, and most often than not the stickies are a result of them lacking other/better tools than the forum itself.

In my estimation the internet forum user is quite often a person that has some experiences of the internet and also experience of forums before coming here. In essence all WT visitors can be divided into two camps:

Non-forum users, that have only used a forum 1-2 times in their life and then only made 1-5 posts. (I.e. their OS broke and they wanted help...)

Forum users: People that quite often register on forums and actually use them to post from time to time and are sometimes even interested in other peoples posts.

The forum users-group can of course be analyzed and divided into further groups depending on their amount of activity and type of it: Are they regulars? Weekly users? Monthly ones? Moderators? Social users? How do they contribute etc etc, but we won't go into such exercises quite yet as they won't matter much until WT is released and starts to get a following. When that happens the forum sections etc will probably also need a re-structuring to accommodate the needs of the public and our own purposes.

For now, let's just say I believe that the people that actually do use a forum regularly are also the ones that have the least usage of a sticky due to the stickies usually static nature and the fact that they will read it once and that was that - yet it still continues to be there.

All: Do you think I should update both (forum and wiki) or just the wiki?

A good rule of thumb in life, and when dealing with open source projects in particular, is to always avoid duble-work if it is possible. I'd advise you to not maintain the forum thread and only link to the wiki page from the original post.