Talk:Wiki instructions

People, please, no advertising on this wiki, as noted - Marcin

Needs: It would be really useful to have .dxf file uploads to the wiki as supported file types. - MJ 5/11/11
 * Just added dxf and svg. --Elifarley 16:26, 22 May 2011 (PDT)

Is it worth laying out a basic category structure and asking users to adhere to that? And perhaps pointing them to the special page for categories so they can see what already exists and try to include relevant information in pre-existing categories?

If the wiki grows the current state where there are 3 or 4 categories for steam, a dozen different fab categories etc etc, is only going to get worse and make rectifying the problem that much more difficult.

Yes, good idea! I will make a small start.

Email from Conor 2011-04-30

 * Articles on various appropriate technologies are fine, but only if they focus on open-source or DIY aspects. There's no point explaining the benefits of, say, basalt fibers, unless you give instructions on how people can get them and use them. There's already a perfectly good appropriate technology wiki - Appropedia - and it'd be a waste of time to just reduplicate their efforts.
 * Our first priority should be documenting hardware and how to build, but there is also room for other kinds of pages
 * We need to clarify whether self-improvement topics like meditation are relevant
 * We need a category for handling essays on sociology, economics, guiding philosophies etc.
 * If we are archiving old conference calls etc., we need a better system for categorizing them.
 * We need to make a clearer distinction between Factor e Farm housekeeping stuff and stuff relevant to people offsite

> 3 or 4 categories for steam

I've tried to rationalize that a bit recently. - Mark

LaTeX formatting
Unfortunately, upon testing, this doesn't seem to lend itself well to mixing in fractions with LaTeX and normal wiki-formatted text. Allow me to demonstrate ...

Plain formatting (no LaTeX): On the six-foot piece of angle steel to become the left arm, you need to punch the following holes, each centered 1 1/4” from the long edge on the 4” inch side of the angle steel:
 * Two total 3/4” diameter holes at 2” and 70” (or 2” measured from the right edge) from the left end of the angle steel.
 * Seven total 13/16” diameter holes at 15”, 31”, 37”, 39 5/8”,  48 3/8” (23 5/8” measured from the right), 51” (21” from the right) and 64” (8” from the right) from the left end of the angle steel.

LaTeX-formatting the fractions using sfrac: On the six-foot piece of angle steel to become the left arm, you need to punch the following holes, each centered 1 \(\sfrac{1}{4}\) ” from the long edge on the 4” inch side of the angle steel:
 * Two total \(\sfrac{3}{4}\) ” diameter holes at 2” and 70” (or 2” measured from the right edge) from the left end of the angle steel.
 * Seven total \(\sfrac{13}{16}\) ” diameter holes at 15”, 31”, 37”, \(39 \sfrac{5}{8}\) ”,  \(48 \sfrac{3}{8}\) ” (\(23 \sfrac{5}{8}\) ” measured from the right), 51” (21” from the right) and 64” (8” from the right) from the left end of the angle steel.

LaTeX-formatting the fractions using suggested exponent/subscript formatting: On the six-foot piece of angle steel to become the left arm, you need to punch the following holes, each centered \( 1{}^1/_4\) ” from the long edge on the 4” inch side of the angle steel:
 * Two total \({}^3/_4\) ” diameter holes at 2” and 70” (or 2” measured from the right edge) from the left end of the angle steel.
 * Seven total \({}^{13}/_{16}\) ” diameter holes at 15”, 31”, 37”, \(39 {}^5/_8\) ”,  \(48 {}^3/_8\) ” (\(23 {}^5/_8\) ” measured from the right), 51” (21” from the right) and 64” (8” from the right) from the left end of the angle steel.

I think this is because LaTeX only works with its own fonts. It would probably look better if I coded everything in LaTeX instead of just attempting to use it for inline fractions that are mixing with non-LaTeX-formatted text including the " and non-fraction numbers right next to the LaTeX formatting.