In my opinion, the SRB2 Wiki is a nightmare.
Well, at least STARS was renamed to the SRB2 Wiki. That was a start. Though, looking at the articles, there are some very serious flaws. (Do note that as the articles linked here are fixed, I'll replace the links with the old revisions I intended to reference to.)
First off, the formatting from page to page is all too inconsistent. This page looks too different from this page, which also looks too different from this other page. This inconsistency in formatting makes the wiki harder to read as a whole. This is a sign of a lack of structure. There are currently no guidelines to regulate page layout, when there absolutely should be.
Also as a result of lack of guidelines, there are some pages where the presentation is just bad. This page is a good example of good presentation. The information is presented fluidly and understandably, due to good pacing and grammar.
This page is an example of bad presentation. This also suffers from bad English. The "sentences" in this article are too technical. How am I supposed to know what "lower linedef, 1; texture: eggtrap1 above linedef, 2; texture: eggtrap1" means?! This snippet of information is not even presented in a complete sentence.
This page is badly presented because the bullets in that page are not of the norm. Rather than actual bullets, they are dashes. This makes the information look awkward.
This page is badly presented because it doesn't use sections. I like to see headings, with the information broken up.
This page is badly presented because the English is just awkward. The information here is not presented in a coherent sentence. This, therefore, makes it hard to understand.
I also noticed that some of the people who edit this wiki obviously do not know how to use Wiki markup. This page could've used bigger headings, consistent with other good pages in the wiki. This page could've used actual bullets. I bet this guy didn't even know how to make headers.
Moreover, there are a lot of holes in the information that the wiki is established to cover. For example, there are information pages on Sonic, Knuckles, and Eggman, but there isn't one on Tails. There's an article on Special Stages, but there aren't any established articles on Greenflower Zone, Techno Hill Zone, or the multiplayer stages. Sure, there's information on each on the SRB2 article, but if the Special Stage has its own article, then the other levels deserve to have their own articles as well! Oh, and don't get me started about Thing Type/Linedef Type/Sector Type pages. Because each type has their own page, it looks as if there's too much information to cover. Therefore, it's not being done!
Speaking of the Thing Type/Linedef Type/Sector Type pages, I find that the wiki as a whole is poorly organized. Why do Sonic, Knuckles, and Eggman have their own individual pages? I find a single "Characters" page to be more appropriate. I think that having all the Thing Types under one page, for example, would be more appropriate. That would make each Thing type easier to access, since it's all in one page. You wouldn't have to click a link, go back, click another link, and go back!
Also, the wiki lacks accessibility. Look at the main page. Only a few pages are linked out of the many more that are as significant. There is no Table of Contents.
Oh, did I mention that the information is also outdated?! The front page still calls the wiki "STARS". Look at the SA City article, which refers to SA City as "now being recreated in SRB2JTE", when the latest version of SRB2JTE is already released. This is a sign of lack of commitment from the community as a whole to this wiki. In fact, the wiki is more or less a ghost town at times. Not a lot of people edit it, you know.
So what do we do about all this?
First off, add structure to the wiki. That is, establish some rules and guidelines to editing pages, since there obviously are none if all the pages are inconsistent to each other. These guidelines should include use of headers and use of good English. Also write up a page on good Wiki markup, or use Wikipedia's article as a guide and link to there.
Second off, start adding information within these rules and guidelines. There are some holes in the wiki that desperately need to be filled. There are also pages which could very easily be considered "stubs" in the world of Wikipedia. Let's fix those up too.
Third off, reinvigorate interest within the community. Obviously a lot of the community doesn't really care about the wiki, other than with the Emerald Token and Emblem guides on there. This also goes with adding structure to the wiki. If we assign committed moderators to overlook the wiki, then perhaps the information presented within the wiki could be whipped up into shape by a moderator if someone doesn't post within the guidelines, for example. Assign more moderators to the wiki, since Spazz and Hotdog are not around all the time. And they're certainly not committed enough to overlook what exactly goes on the wiki.
This brings up another point, actually. Is the SRB2 Wiki worth it to fix? Would people actually be interested to see anything more than an Emerald Token and Emblem guide? Do people actually care? Because if they don't, then what's the point of fixing up the wiki? Maybe we should just forget about it?
And finally, some minds think that the wiki in its current state is not worth going to. What new content would make the wiki worth going to?
For starters, I made a Table of Contents page to make the wiki more accessible. I can start changing up the flaws in the individual pages I brought up in this post as well.
Or, as I said, maybe we should just forget about it if the community doesn't care.
Thoughts?
Well, at least STARS was renamed to the SRB2 Wiki. That was a start. Though, looking at the articles, there are some very serious flaws. (Do note that as the articles linked here are fixed, I'll replace the links with the old revisions I intended to reference to.)
First off, the formatting from page to page is all too inconsistent. This page looks too different from this page, which also looks too different from this other page. This inconsistency in formatting makes the wiki harder to read as a whole. This is a sign of a lack of structure. There are currently no guidelines to regulate page layout, when there absolutely should be.
Also as a result of lack of guidelines, there are some pages where the presentation is just bad. This page is a good example of good presentation. The information is presented fluidly and understandably, due to good pacing and grammar.
This page is an example of bad presentation. This also suffers from bad English. The "sentences" in this article are too technical. How am I supposed to know what "lower linedef, 1; texture: eggtrap1 above linedef, 2; texture: eggtrap1" means?! This snippet of information is not even presented in a complete sentence.
This page is badly presented because the bullets in that page are not of the norm. Rather than actual bullets, they are dashes. This makes the information look awkward.
This page is badly presented because it doesn't use sections. I like to see headings, with the information broken up.
This page is badly presented because the English is just awkward. The information here is not presented in a coherent sentence. This, therefore, makes it hard to understand.
I also noticed that some of the people who edit this wiki obviously do not know how to use Wiki markup. This page could've used bigger headings, consistent with other good pages in the wiki. This page could've used actual bullets. I bet this guy didn't even know how to make headers.
Moreover, there are a lot of holes in the information that the wiki is established to cover. For example, there are information pages on Sonic, Knuckles, and Eggman, but there isn't one on Tails. There's an article on Special Stages, but there aren't any established articles on Greenflower Zone, Techno Hill Zone, or the multiplayer stages. Sure, there's information on each on the SRB2 article, but if the Special Stage has its own article, then the other levels deserve to have their own articles as well! Oh, and don't get me started about Thing Type/Linedef Type/Sector Type pages. Because each type has their own page, it looks as if there's too much information to cover. Therefore, it's not being done!
Speaking of the Thing Type/Linedef Type/Sector Type pages, I find that the wiki as a whole is poorly organized. Why do Sonic, Knuckles, and Eggman have their own individual pages? I find a single "Characters" page to be more appropriate. I think that having all the Thing Types under one page, for example, would be more appropriate. That would make each Thing type easier to access, since it's all in one page. You wouldn't have to click a link, go back, click another link, and go back!
Also, the wiki lacks accessibility. Look at the main page. Only a few pages are linked out of the many more that are as significant. There is no Table of Contents.
Oh, did I mention that the information is also outdated?! The front page still calls the wiki "STARS". Look at the SA City article, which refers to SA City as "now being recreated in SRB2JTE", when the latest version of SRB2JTE is already released. This is a sign of lack of commitment from the community as a whole to this wiki. In fact, the wiki is more or less a ghost town at times. Not a lot of people edit it, you know.
So what do we do about all this?
First off, add structure to the wiki. That is, establish some rules and guidelines to editing pages, since there obviously are none if all the pages are inconsistent to each other. These guidelines should include use of headers and use of good English. Also write up a page on good Wiki markup, or use Wikipedia's article as a guide and link to there.
Second off, start adding information within these rules and guidelines. There are some holes in the wiki that desperately need to be filled. There are also pages which could very easily be considered "stubs" in the world of Wikipedia. Let's fix those up too.
Third off, reinvigorate interest within the community. Obviously a lot of the community doesn't really care about the wiki, other than with the Emerald Token and Emblem guides on there. This also goes with adding structure to the wiki. If we assign committed moderators to overlook the wiki, then perhaps the information presented within the wiki could be whipped up into shape by a moderator if someone doesn't post within the guidelines, for example. Assign more moderators to the wiki, since Spazz and Hotdog are not around all the time. And they're certainly not committed enough to overlook what exactly goes on the wiki.
This brings up another point, actually. Is the SRB2 Wiki worth it to fix? Would people actually be interested to see anything more than an Emerald Token and Emblem guide? Do people actually care? Because if they don't, then what's the point of fixing up the wiki? Maybe we should just forget about it?
And finally, some minds think that the wiki in its current state is not worth going to. What new content would make the wiki worth going to?
For starters, I made a Table of Contents page to make the wiki more accessible. I can start changing up the flaws in the individual pages I brought up in this post as well.
Or, as I said, maybe we should just forget about it if the community doesn't care.
Thoughts?
