I read the help page and do not see how to make proper use of the database concept. I am not quite sure if it helps to make more categories, because most articles are related to several different categories at a time. Probably we could agree to use a set of simple rules on how to interconnect articles.
A Wiki like the Wikipedia is crosslinked more like a web, less like a list or spreadsheet. Because the screen is flat, we use a list to show the contents. A table is helpful to find a point to enter the system, but it usually is not a representation of the actual structure of a database. We might have a template for any article to support an extensive use of crosslinks in a unified manner. This template should be flexible in a way to add features on demand, afterwards.
Example for a page that already exists, the structure is like:
PowerBook 180
-History
-Full Specs
-More Information
This is well, but there could a lot of more stuff be available at a glance. Let us say, we have a PowerBook 180 and want to know how to connect this specific machine to the ethernet. At least two different makes of SCSI to ethernet adapters are available, and a LocalTalk Bridge in software and in hardware as well. You would be happy to find a link from the PowerBook 180 page to any of those solutions. Following one of the links you might enter the Asante EN/SC page in the Wiki. This page should include a link to any Mac's model page that could be connected successfully, in return. Also some rules should exist, how to interconnect both pages (PB180 _and_ EN/SC) with information about the Software you need (System version, driver, cp etc., oldest possible, most recent available, any working variety) as well as a tutorial to install and configure both hardware and software on this specific machine. Some space might be left for hacks that are probably involved to get a working setup (like ResEditing things or where to apply some solder on the pcb or which phase of the moon would be best to apply some hex ;-)
There are ways to avoid any contributor inventing a new scheme on each page. I would like to take a list of useful optional links, just like the TOC on the Wiki main page, and attach it as a suffix to any article and create a default stub for a set of useful crosslinks, each. Then, when you look at the PB180 page, given that someone already originated the PB180 specific article on PB180 network connectivity, you will find a list of everything you need.
I am not a programmer (used to several programming languages, but never learned this stuff as a profession), least of all a database programmer. So I might not be the person to set up article templates in a way that takes care of technical needs and restrictions a wiki software probably suffers from. But if the gentle reader knows how to produce a set of appropriate templates to organise information, please do it (I think a finite set of optional links should do well). The goal is to have a uniform structure of crosslinks in every article, allowing to use any article effectively once you caught onto it (just like the beloved Mac user interface is unified the way we are used to). But probably someone has a far better idea. I know there are even scientific courses of studies for information specialists. Can we benefit from this kind of research ?
A Wiki like the Wikipedia is crosslinked more like a web, less like a list or spreadsheet. Because the screen is flat, we use a list to show the contents. A table is helpful to find a point to enter the system, but it usually is not a representation of the actual structure of a database. We might have a template for any article to support an extensive use of crosslinks in a unified manner. This template should be flexible in a way to add features on demand, afterwards.
Example for a page that already exists, the structure is like:
PowerBook 180
-History
-Full Specs
-More Information
This is well, but there could a lot of more stuff be available at a glance. Let us say, we have a PowerBook 180 and want to know how to connect this specific machine to the ethernet. At least two different makes of SCSI to ethernet adapters are available, and a LocalTalk Bridge in software and in hardware as well. You would be happy to find a link from the PowerBook 180 page to any of those solutions. Following one of the links you might enter the Asante EN/SC page in the Wiki. This page should include a link to any Mac's model page that could be connected successfully, in return. Also some rules should exist, how to interconnect both pages (PB180 _and_ EN/SC) with information about the Software you need (System version, driver, cp etc., oldest possible, most recent available, any working variety) as well as a tutorial to install and configure both hardware and software on this specific machine. Some space might be left for hacks that are probably involved to get a working setup (like ResEditing things or where to apply some solder on the pcb or which phase of the moon would be best to apply some hex ;-)
There are ways to avoid any contributor inventing a new scheme on each page. I would like to take a list of useful optional links, just like the TOC on the Wiki main page, and attach it as a suffix to any article and create a default stub for a set of useful crosslinks, each. Then, when you look at the PB180 page, given that someone already originated the PB180 specific article on PB180 network connectivity, you will find a list of everything you need.
I am not a programmer (used to several programming languages, but never learned this stuff as a profession), least of all a database programmer. So I might not be the person to set up article templates in a way that takes care of technical needs and restrictions a wiki software probably suffers from. But if the gentle reader knows how to produce a set of appropriate templates to organise information, please do it (I think a finite set of optional links should do well). The goal is to have a uniform structure of crosslinks in every article, allowing to use any article effectively once you caught onto it (just like the beloved Mac user interface is unified the way we are used to). But probably someone has a far better idea. I know there are even scientific courses of studies for information specialists. Can we benefit from this kind of research ?