Wiki project

Dear TNF regulars (+ lurkers),

Myself and a number of F1 personnel (current and past) are trying to set up a true knowledge base for F1 fans worldwide, that is free to access and openly available to all.

We plan to start an F1 Wiki, there are numerous reasons for this, but mainly Wikipedia itself does not cater to F1 enthusiasts and nor is it meant to as a general knowledge base, secondly there exists a few F1 Wikis on the net, but none are regularly updated or anywhere near detailed enough.

So we plan to change that, with articles on F1 personnel, teams, drivers and much more. However, one thing that is really difficult to capture is the history and heritage of racing and to do that we really need some old hands and veterans to guide us and provide information, etc.

So we ask whether any of you would be open to assisting us in the project, or if you have any thoughts and/or suggestions.

Thank you for reading.

Originally posted by F1 Engineer
So we ask whether any of you would be open to assisting us in the project, or if you have any thoughts and/or suggestions.

My first suggestion would be not to blatantly copy information from other free, informative sites & then post it on Wikipedia without giving any credit.

If you can avoid that, you're one step ahead of most other "free-for-all" sites, including the general & NASCAR versions of Wikipedia.

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins



My first suggestion would be not to blatantly copy information from other free, informative sites & then post it on Wikipedia without giving any credit.

If you can avoid that, you're one step ahead of most other "free-for-all" sites, including the general & NASCAR versions of Wikipedia.

Yes, that is annoying and you'd think the least anyone could do would be to use the standard referencing feature available in Wikipedia.

Not sure I can add as such.

The content should be unique, written for the Wiki, or clearly referenced if not.

Depending on the style it end up as, I think that several posters from Atlas will be able to contribute content.

Will this be the F1 world championship era 1950 and onwards? Or will it include all that is generally accepted as being F1?

i have come across at least two other goups trying to do this. Have you considered linking up with one of them?

Originally posted by KWSN - DSM
Not sure I can add as such.

The content should be unique, written for the Wiki, or clearly referenced if not.

Depending on the style it end up as, I think that several posters from Atlas will be able to contribute content.

Will this be the F1 world championship era 1950 and onwards? Or will it include all that is generally accepted as being F1?

We'd hope for it to be everything concerning F1 and would also welcome "opinion pieces" such as "My Trip to the Monaco GP" which will be in the wiki but clearly differentiated from purely objective and non-personal content. This could also include things like personal tales and/or photos.

Originally posted by D-Type
i have come across at least two other goups trying to do this. Have you considered linking up with one of them?

Which groups would these be?

If you are referring to some of the present but inactive F1 wikis then we've considered teaming up, but decided instead of joining an inactive wiki it makes more sense to start afresh. We also hope to add a new slant by providing information on F1 personnel.

If you are referring to others, then we'd be interested in knowing whom.

Thank you.

Originally posted by F1 Engineer

We also hope to add a new slant by providing information on F1 personnel.

Again, hardly a new slant - I've been doing this for a good two years.

Sorry for my negativity so far, but Wikipedia has been (and continues) copying from our site for years - F1 personnel gives even more reason to.


A more constructive comment, however - would it not make sense to delete the inactive Wikis before starting a new one?
I say this as otherwise search engines are going to be clogged up with either Wiki or Wiki-type sites, which is going to make searching for new information extremely difficult. It'll also not help your Wiki distinguish itself from the inactive ones, surely?

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins



Again, hardly a new slant - I've been doing this for a good two years.

Sorry for my negativity so far, but Wikipedia has been (and continues) copying from our site for years - F1 personnel gives even more reason to.


A more constructive comment, however - would it not make sense to delete the inactive Wikis before starting a new one?
I say this as otherwise search engines are going to be clogged up with either Wiki or Wiki-type sites, which is going to make searching for new information extremely difficult. It'll also not help your Wiki distinguish itself from the inactive ones, surely?

Is the site linked to from your profile? We have no intention of ripping off information and would welcome working with an established site if one already exists.

Well, the inactive ones arne't ours, so we have no control of them being continued or deleted.

Originally posted by F1 Engineer

We'd hope for it to be everything concerning F1 and would also welcome "opinion pieces" such as "My Trip to the Monaco GP" which will be in the wiki but clearly differentiated from purely objective and non-personal content. This could also include things like personal tales and/or photos.

Cool, then there is room for me. I have an opinion on most F1

Originally posted by F1 Engineer

Is the site linked to from your profile? We have no intention of ripping off information and would welcome working with an established site if one already exists.

Yes.


But I wouldn't have time to help another site en-masse, I barely have time to keep updating my own. However, I'm happy to say "Yeah, use as much of the information there, as long as it has a clear link". It may be however, that the new proposed F1 Wiki goes into a different area, away from the black & white information, and more into the stories behind the history & memories, in which case my information is minimal and there are many others here who will be of far more valuable input.

So, this is formula one and not grand prix that you are contemplating?

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins


Yes.


But I wouldn't have time to help another site en-masse, I barely have time to keep updating my own. However, I'm happy to say "Yeah, use as much of the information there, as long as it has a clear link". It may be however, that the new proposed F1 Wiki goes into a different area, away from the black & white information, and more into the stories behind the history & memories, in which case my information is minimal and there are many others here who will be of far more valuable input.

Thank you, thats very kind.

We hope to combine the two, have a healthy amount of pure factual information and then another helping of more personal input - both will be equally important we feel.

Originally posted by HDonaldCapps
So, this is formula one and not grand prix that you are contemplating?

To be honest, we haven't entirely decided. The forum will be based around F1 primarily and that was the aim for the Wiki too, however, if there's a lot of information about grand prix that is relevant (as it would be) then we see no reason why that should not be incorporated.

It is simply that we are playing to our strengths and we are all quite young current F1 personnel; we're certainly not against broadening our horizons however.

I think it might be prudent to start with WDC races. If you truly want to document all Formula 1 races though, here is something that will be very hard to find. All the data that Australian Motor Sports could provide me from Australia's first Formula 1 race.



An interesting aside:

Much laughter was caused after Eldred came in from gaining third place in the Formula I race. He stopped the motor in the pits, raised the bonnet, and with a pair of pliers released two tins of pork and beans that had been wired to the exhaust manifold - his hot dinner: the original a la carte.

Nice one, David!

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins
I say this as otherwise search engines are going to be clogged up with either Wiki or Wiki-type sites, which is going to make searching for new information extremely difficult.

Search engines are already clogged up with Wiki or Wiki-type sites, which is why I am going to fight all Wiki-stuff until the day I die! Rot in hell!