The Western IslesBoard

So Dormill and Stiura and I have been working on an idea to create an onsite “TWIkipedia”, essentially an encyclopaedia which, through a system of categories and nation-specific navigation pages, allows users to jump between factbooks quicker and jump between the canons of different nations in TWI quicker. I’m just starting up getting my Ainslie, Keverai and Gresswell stuff on there so there’s some existing infrastructure and dispatches in the different categories. Just also wanted to talk about some of the concerns and questions around the idea I’ve heard in a central and easy accessible place like this. So here’s some of the stuff I’ve heard:

1. I don’t use wikistyle factbooks, does that mean I can’t contribute or I’ll be forced to change to the wikistyle format? Nope. You’ll be able to contribute and in no way have to give up existing or future formats. As I mentioned before, there will be a category for each nation who participates (which I call a portal page), regardless of whether it’s wikistyle or not - as long as you consent or are willing to have these pages. There, there will be a list of all factbooks and dispatches from any onsite source (IC government websites, IC tourist guides etc) and it will be marked as whatever source if comes from (including twikipedia if there is a mix on that category page). All I’ll ask is that you provide a link to your portal on that non wikistyle factbook and that you host the specific category page for your nation. Latter I’d like to happen regardless of whether you use wikistyle or not.
2. What happens if I use an existing wikistyle template? I’d encourage you to take up the new format and I willprovide templates, but the only things I’ll really push is a box at the top with the logo and title and a link to relevant categories at the bottom of the page. Beyond that, how you format it is up to you but I’ll provide a template if you do want to use it.

And now just a couple FAQ thingos
1. When will this be up? At the moment I’m sorting and working through my Ainslie, Keverai and Gresswell Island stuff so I can get that all sorted before I get other nations onto TWIkipedia. I’d say the basic cogs of it should be working by the end of the week. You’ll be able to see progressive changes on my Ainslie and Keverai accounts, whilst I’ve got a TWIkipedia Account I’ll be bringing in when I start accepting others into the system.
2. When can I get my stuff on there? Can’t tell you exactly when since it’ll likely vary between individual nations, but I can tell you how. I’ll be taking TGs from people who have wikistyle factbooks or want portals set up and they’ll be prioritised first. You can send them any time from now, I’ll just store them in a TG folder for when the time comes. All you got to do is tell me what you want and send me the relevant links. After that, I’ll likely put out a RMB announcement and a past two weeks classifieds thingo saying I’m taking links. After that, I’ll be going through individual nations and sending them TGs about possible integration into the TWIkipedia system.

I know this is complicated, but it’s probably because I am going into excessive detail about this all. Happy to answer any questions or concerns around this and feedback is welcomed.