Atlas of Mystara Wiki

[Thorf]

I've been experimenting with MediaWiki the past few days. It seems like it could be a very nice way of presenting the Atlas in its ever-changing but most up-to-date form. The version history makes updates quite easy to spot, and of course it keeps track of file histories and such too.

http://mystara.thorf.co.uk/wiki/

There is a ton of work still to be done, but it seems promising so far. I have ported over data from my Iciria mapping thread to make an example region page, although I think the format needs changed a bit. I will also need to decide how much to include here and how much at the Wiki, because duplication of information would only result in more work, which is a definite no-no.

http://mystara.thorf.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Iciria

Let me know what you think.

[agathokles]

Cool and very readable. I'd just use subsections to divide updated maps from replica maps.

GP

[Thorf]

Thanks for the suggestion - done! I agree it looks much better. Much clearer.

[Havard]

Very cool!

I will be following this wiki closely

-Havard

[Hugin]

Very nice and clean presentation! I like!

[Chimpman]

I like the format Thorf. For the references, I realize that you are referring back to previous posts, but it might also be nice to list any real references - for example any text taken from a Gaz that describes the map in some way. This would be especially useful for updated maps as opposed to the replica maps (which are just pure copies - complete with errors and all).

[Thorf]

I like the format Thorf. For the references, I realize that you are referring back to previous posts, but it might also be nice to list any real references - for example any text taken from a Gaz that describes the map in some way. This would be especially useful for updated maps as opposed to the replica maps (which are just pure copies - complete with errors and all).

The references you speak of are included in my Notes sections - except that I only started to quote the actual text quite late on in my project, so most maps don't have that level of detail in their Notes yet. It's definitely part of the plan, though, yes.

The References section is really supposed to give links to online resources and relevant pages rather than offline works, although I'm open to revising that. Currently I have all of these things split up into three sections: Sources, which simply lists the primary sources for each map, with links going to the source's page in the Atlas Wiki eventually; Notes, which lists the specifics of all changes made to each Updated map, ideally including quotations of relevant texts; and References, which lists links to other sites relevant to the area or map in question.

[Thorf]

I won't be making any permanent changes until things start taking a more permanent shape, but it seems likely that eventually I'll transfer all images over to the Wiki, and delete the older versions. It's a matter of server space, but also of not wanting to maintain two separate collections of map files - I would have to update both every time I want to update a map.

The negative side of this is that the Wiki stores the maps in such a way that it's very hard to link to them directly from elsewhere. That in theory is good, but in my case I link to my maps from the Piazza all the time. Changing the location of the files would make all these links dead, and reduce my ability to post maps inline. It would instead be necessary to post links pointing to the appropriate page of the Wiki.

Any thoughts?

[karameikos]

I won't be making any permanent changes until things start taking a more permanent shape, but it seems likely that eventually I'll transfer all images over to the Wiki, and delete the older versions. It's a matter of server space, but also of not wanting to maintain two separate collections of map files - I would have to update both every time I want to update a map.

The negative side of this is that the Wiki stores the maps in such a way that it's very hard to link to them directly from elsewhere. That in theory is good, but in my case I link to my maps from the Piazza all the time. Changing the location of the files would make all these links dead, and reduce my ability to post maps inline. It would instead be necessary to post links pointing to the appropriate page of the Wiki.

Any thoughts?

I like to occasionally use a site downloader to download all of the maps on a site (I also do an update about once every 2-3 years of the Vaults of Pandius via the same). Would the Wiki setup in any way impair one's ability to do this?

[Thorf]

I like to occasionally use a site downloader to download all of the maps on a site (I also do an update about once every 2-3 years of the Vaults of Pandius via the same). Would the Wiki setup in any way impair one's ability to do this?

I don't know - it likely depends on the download software you use. MediaWiki is very commonly used, so I would imagine there will be software available to at least get all the files.

On the other hand, the Wiki format makes it much, much easier to see exactly what has changed with each map since you last looked. Right now the dates are all quite meaningless, but from now on they will become very meaningful, as each map will clearly show when it was last updated, and I will endeavour to include details about how it was updated too.

You can check the Gallery of new files page to see which maps were last uploaded, too. This allows you to see reasonably easily what has changed since you last visited.

[Thorf]

Incidentally, I currently have things set up so that anyone can register but I have to assign editing permissions manually to each user before you can make any edits. It seems like the safest set up, and frankly this is not a Wiki that would benefit from allowing anyone to edit it.

If anyone is interested in helping out, please let me know and I'll set you up with editing permissions.

[Thorf]

I've done some work on the Wiki.

• The Main Page now holds some useful navigation links.
• The Community Portal page has a growing To Do List.
• The Iciria page has become my template for regional pages, and I want to get it as complete as possible before starting to create other regional pages. (It may be worth turning it into an actual MediaWiki Template, which would allow limited revisions to be made after the fact without having to go and manually edit each individual page.)
• The Sources page is up and running. It's a list of all the primary sources, and the Official section should be complete. This is the Wiki version of my Bibliography threads here. Please have a look and let me know if I missed anything. (Of course the links don't work yet - again, I'll need to establish a firm Template before starting the laborious work of creating all those pages.)

There is going to be quite a bit of manual work to be done filling in the details on each page. Once the Templates are set up, I'm definitely going to need some help from the community.

[Havard]

This is so cool

-Havad

[Chimpman]

Incidentally, I currently have things set up so that anyone can register but I have to assign editing permissions manually to each user before you can make any edits. It seems like the safest set up, and frankly this is not a Wiki that would benefit from allowing anyone to edit it.

If anyone is interested in helping out, please let me know and I'll set you up with editing permissions.

Hey Thorf, would you be interested in cataloging some of the other mapping projects here as well (I'm thinking mainly BC 2300 and Matera/Hollow Moon)? If so I'd love to help out with those portions. Unfortunately I don't have pdfs of those maps (nor do I currently have a way of creating them), but I do have png files.