Prius Wiki?

I'm definately interested in this, and would be more than happy to contribute in as many ways as I can. I definatly like John's site as well, but you're right that the more interlinking format would be helpful for all Prius owners.

I could contribute in the form of articles as well as doing the interlinking, proofreading/moderating, and so forth.

 

I agree, a Wiki is an excellent way to organize large amounts of information without requiring a big time commitment from any one person. If a site has a large number of active users it can quickly evolve into a comprehensive and intuitive reference, seemingly all on its own.

Seems like a good fit.

 

I think another worthwhile idea is a good collection of Prius-related links. I like GreenHybrid's links to the variety of different related sites, but on all of the Prius sites I've visited, there isn't any good collection of links to other Prius sites. Maybe I've just missed them, though, hehe.

 

Sounds like a good idea to me, though I have only a sketchy idea of what it would be. But more information is always good.

 

I have posted the vast majority of stories, reviews, tests, and Prius websites on my page. If there is anything missing, let me know.

Jeff

 

I think this would be a great idea. I would even post the link on my prius as another decal. It would be a place where prius owners and other people who know nothing about the car can go. It would be an all-in-one package for prius info. That is hard to find. One one webpage would be awesome.

 

That's a really great collection of links there, jkash. With the wiki format, each page could also have a related links site that could feature posts on the yahoo groups, posts at the various forums, and also maybe reviews and conceptual websites.

So yes, the information is out there...but it's just not all that easily accessable without a lot of digging. Compiling it would take some work, but it'd be well worth it if done right.

 

I would advise against linking anything to a chat group. especialy yahoo. I don't use yahoo. It has problem with my pc. To see a page that links to yahoo.. and i try it.. discourages me to read on. I don't like to deal with problems of something not working.. and neither does anyone else. Priuschat.com and priusonline.com seem to work for anyone. At most, like to those. But if you have to log in, it's no longer "free" info. it's work. :mrgreen:

 

Quite a valid point.

 

i agree with linking to yahoo. they are nice but too much BS...

id rather see something like John1701A's little "factoid" flyers he made up that has condensed info that is concise and to the point.

chat groups are nice, but even the best of em requires wading through a lot of BS to get to the meat of the subject.

it would be more work, but to take a subject, read the available info on it, then condense the important info into a report would be the ultimate. (i know, it sounds like your 8th grade history class)

also, i think what Danny has done with the FAQ's here is excellent. very concise and easy to follow.

 

Also, there could be a condensed version, and then a link that brought the reader to a more broad version, catering to both kinds of readers. We don't have to compromise if there are enough people willing to make it happen.

And as for how to handle information from the yahoo groups, while it would take some good work, the useful snippets could be taken and placed into corresponding wiki entries, each entry having a page worth of comments from Yahoo group members. Some of this information would certainly be incorporated into the entry itself.

 

There already is a Prius article at the Wikipedia encyclopedia. It can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius

As with all Wikipedia articles, it can be added to.

I have added a link to PriusChat to the article this morning.

Jeff

 

A prime example is Wikipedia. It's an encyclopedia with over 300,000 articles built by its readers. Anyone can add to it or edit any article, no login required.

Here's the Prius article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prius

It already had a link to John's site -- I was about to add a link to this one and found that somebody just beat me to it.

EDIT: Ahh... didn't see your post in time, jkash.

 

Hi all.

My approach has always been focused on data gathering. Then once I have enough, the hope is that a pattern will naturally emerge. The most important info basically rises to the top all by itself.

It's like not laying any sidewalks at a new park. Just let them establish themselves. Allow the people to walk where they please. Eventually, the wear pattern in the grass will reveal where the sidewalk should be. And it will obviously appeal to many, since that is the path they have beeen walking all along.

As for the website, it was blatantly obvious that people enjoy a variety of photos. So that's what I have strived to deliver. The "blog" phenomenon really caught me off guard. I had no idea so many would care about details like that. But they do. So I have done my best to fulfill that need too.

The INFO-SHEET and USER-GUIDE were my attempts to summarize, to take the best info our combined minds had come up with and put it into a pleasing format that could be used offline. That non-web (printout) format was very important. It is a tool we can you to stimulate interest, to draw people online... enough to get them to try out a discussion group like this!

I'm constantly filling a notebook with topics of hot items, things that require more attention than just an few updates. My latest effort was completely rewriting my misconceptions page. The week before, I finally did a large set of updates to the USER-GUIDE. Another on the way (eventually) is a brand new summary document, called OWNER-EXPECTATIONS. But the catch with this is lack of data. It takes a long time to gather enough... hence my approach.

I try to be as proactive as I can, to keep ahead of the need wave. So I really appreciate the assistance some offer toward that... like with alternate tires. The discussion here revealed the desire for a better choice. Now I am 1,701 miles into testing. As a result, a few others will likely try them later too. So by the time that data is requested by the masses, while'll have a bunch available.

If a new tool emerges that will help with that purpose, keep us informed. It may later be added as a resource... but not necessarily right away. I fought pretty hard against the PDF format back when version 3.0 was still ubiquitous. It had a number of technical problems that would have impaired our efforts. But then when the much improved 5.0 version finally became available, I jumped on board and took full advantage of PDF. And by the time 6.0 was released, I had already prepared to take advantage of it. The format had proven quite valuable.

In summary, I'm going with the flow, building upon what we come up to help solve our emission & consumption problem.

 

Similarly, I should hope my interest wouldn't be taken as a slight against your site, John. I absolutely love your site, and I think it's the best Prius site out there. I'm simply interested in this wiki format and the large amounts of centralized information it can bring. No large quantity of contibuters will ever beat the quality of your site, though!