On Aug 16, 12:44 am, Phil Addison  wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:49:28 -0700 (PDT), in uk.d-i-y meow2...@care2.com
> wrote:
>
> > On Aug 15, 11:07 pm, Phil Addison  wrote:
> > > To correct this is simple:
> > > "Wiki Subject Categories" at the very bottom of the page, needs renaming
> > > to read "Contents" and moving near the top of the page, and ""Wiki
> > > Contents" needs renaming to read "Index" and putting just beneath
> > > Contents.
>
> > > Phil
>
> > Sounds good, just done that.
>
> Hasn't appeared as yet
>
> > > As a specialist contributor, you appear to be seeing it from that POV> > > step back and think about the needs of the wider readership.
>
> > I cant agree. Unless I'm mistaken, most people find the wiki by a link
> > in a ukdiy thread,
>
> I think you're mistaken; grunff has said there is a large amount of
> traffic on it, so I assume that indicates significant hits from search
> engines.
>
> > and at that point what they want to read is just
> > that article. Then maybe they get curious, and want to see what else
> > is there. Allpages immediately shows the wide range of stuff the wiki
> > covers, and the amount of info there is.
>
> and on the 'against' side, it shows a disorganised mish-mash of titles.
> Personally it would put me off exploring further, in fact it did - I
> visited the allpages and categories page several times before I deciding
> I better take the time to see what is really in there, and still find it
> painfull navigating it.
>
> > Then there are those that find it by other means, and want a general
> > read up on diy. Again the same applies for allpages.
>
> > A person can get into the wiki from any page, whether its the present
> > main page, allpages, categories, anywhere. It seems from this thread
> > that diferent approaches suit different learner styles, so lets offer
> > them all, and give them a choice of all of them on the Main Page. Lets
> > point them to all of allpages, categories, and a structured page yet
> > to be written.
>
> Agreed, but please use conventional book terms, Contents and Index, not
> the obscure wiki terms Allpages/Categories. And retain the intro
> material on the page.
>
> When in a bookshop choosing a book (non-fiction) from amongst several,
> what order do you look at these - the back cover, the Contents List, the
> Index? Why do publishers put the index near the back? Is the contents
> list hierarchical?  why?
>
> > > No, the main page needs to remain as an introduction as Dave L
> > > describes, but it needs a much clearer link to the meat. At the moment,
> > > the location of the meat is concealed in the last point "5 See Also".
>
> > fixed hopefully
>
> not seen a change yet :)
>
> Phil

ok, fixed.

What you say just confirms one thing: different people have different
learning styles, and we would be best with all 3 approaches in place.


NT