StartingPoints

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This page lists some useful places to go for readers interested in a particular aspect of online communities, and for those considering writing here with us.

: 1. For journalists
: 2. On founding or leading a community
: 3. On wiki technology
: 4. On security
: 5. On conflict
: 6. On blogging
: 7. On joining MeatballWiki
: 8. On becoming a wikizen
: 9. LangueFrançaise

1. For journalists

Journalists wanting a good introduction to the site should start with MeatballBackgrounder. More generally, ask someone, such as SunirShah.

2. On founding or leading a community

It's not easy. A new community needs a lot of SeedPosting. For an established community, being the FirstServant is hard work, but rewarding. We'd like to help you in that - if we can. Two pieces of advice: DevolvePower; OpenProcess.

3. On wiki technology

WhatIsaWiki, exactly? For wiki developers, try CategoryWikiTechnology for how to do common features well, CategoryUncommonWikiTechnology to keep up with your competitors, and CategoryUnimplementedWikiTechnology to boldly lead the way. We also maintain a list of WikiStandards, and the canonical list of IndexingSchemes.

4. On security

SoftSecurity is like water. It bends under attack, only to rush in from all directions to fill the gaps. HardSecurity is like rock. It's strong until broken, when it shatters into unrepairable pieces. We prefer softness here. We also have a preference for CommunitySolutions: our mantra states "people and people and computers and people".

5. On conflict

In theory, we believe in focusing on the positive, on BarnRaising and AwardRituals. But we've still written a fair amount about ConflictResolution and TrollingTactics. You could also browse through CategoryConflict and CategoryDifficultPerson.

6. On blogging

Start with the comprehensive WebLog, and browse from there. You could also move on to CategoryWebLog for lots more. Meatball's take? Blogging is sadness.

7. On joining MeatballWiki

Meatball's a little different from other places, so better to lurk before you leap. Read MeatballMission and see how much you can buy into that mission, those values, this culture. For some folks UseRealNames or MeatballWikiCopyright will be deal-breakers, in which case one of the MeatballAlternatives are definitely worth exploring. For practical tips on editing here, start with HowTo. Many people make their first signed edit to RecentVisitors.

8. On becoming a wikizen

There is the vision of an overall wiki community and its members, the wikizens. Typically users make their initial wiki experiences in a single community (e. g. c2, WikiPedia) and need some time to appreciate that there are many communities that have a variety of goals and cultures. Contributing here and there where ideas fit best, knowing different cultures, acting in different roles, building relationsships and collaborations, adds another interestion dimension to ones wiki activities. For alternative communities look into WikiNode, the TourBus or CategoryOnlineCommunity.

This page is not a complete index, and is not intended to be complete. Instead, this page should give samples of the many different topics that Meatball contributors find interesting. See MeatBall:action=index for a list of all pages. StartingPointsDiscussion to discuss.

older version

Meatball:

MeatBall -- A description of MeatBall.

QuestionsAndAnswers -- A place to put questions.
RecentVisitors -- A list of recent (and not-so-recent) visitors.
MeatballOpenQuestions -- Questions we'd like to solve.
MeatballWikiSuggestions -- Suggestions for improving this site.
MeatballToDo -- Plans for Meatball.
MeatballMailingList -- The mailing list. Mostly announcements.
MeatballWikiCopyright -- The nasty legal bits.

Help and tutorials:

TextFormattingRules -- Explains wiki formatting used for editing text.
TextFormattingExamples -- Brief examples of the formatting rules, minus explanations.
QuestionsAndAnswers -- Ask your question here. Someone may already have answered it.
SandBox -- A page for testing and trying out the formatting rules.

Lists of pages:

IndexingSchemes -- Different ways to find interesting pages
MeatballBibliography -- Index of books and authors recommended by visitors.
OtherHypermedia -- Online/hypermedia projects not associated with Meatball.
MeatballWikiSuggestions -- Points to several areas of suggestions.

Projects of local interest:

HyperPolis (http://www.hyperpolis.com/) -- Hypermedia explorations by the principal founder of Meatball.
UseModWiki -- The software running this site.
ViewPoint -- A planned wiki-like system which allows multiple "views" of pages. Related pages include:
- GradualViewPoint -- A plan for developing a wiki into a ViewPoint system.
- PersonalCategories -- Allows multiple systems of categories to coexist.

Computing history and nostalgia:

FidoNet -- One of the largest federations of BulletinBoardSystems.
BulletinBoardSystem -- Pre-Internet dialup online communities.
HackingAtNight -- MIT lab lore, NM Tech 3am club
IncompatibleTimesharingSystem -- Stories of an "anarchic" operating system.
LucasfilmHabitat -- A graphical multiuser "cyberspace" of the late 1980s.

Government and economic issues:

BackDoorProtectionism -- Unintended effects of enforcing standards in developing countries.
BetterForBusiness -- Who benefits from laws, "social corporate charter" links.
ClassStriation -- Stability of economic class differences.
CorporateGovernment -- Criticism of power centered on shareholder value.
CorporateWelfare -- Governments as tool of corporations.
CreationOfMoney -- How money is created in modern banking (with links).
EconomicIndividualism
EconomicRiddles -- Links to pages about creating money and value in general.
FirstAmendment -- Of the US Constitution.
GovernmentSanctionedMonopoly
MicroCredit -- Small loans to help people out of poverty (several outside links).
MinimumWageParadox? --
NaturalCapitalism -- Environmental issues presented as crucial for future capitalism.
PowerStructures -- Examples and discussion about organization.
SocialCapitalism -- Attempts to equalize opportunities.
SocialWelfare -- Related to risk-avoiding behavior.
WageSlave
YuppieSocialism -- Talkers, not doers.

Other "social" issues:

MilgramExperiment -- Study of obedience to authority.
StanfordPrisonExperiment -- Extreme shaping of behavior by environment and peer pressures.

Communities in general:

Security and communities

HTML, browsers, and other "web" issues:

User Interface Design

Several other topics have been popular, and might be added to this page soon:

CategoryWikiTechnology (PageRedirect, WikiSyntax, etc.)
VirtualReality (VplResearch, Cosmo, avatars, etc.)
AI, Singularity, and related?

9. LangueFrançaise

Merci de visiter la page PointsDeDéparts

CategoryRoadmap