MegaDrum Wiki

[BiggerNoise]

As helpful as the folks are around this forum and as much information as can be found here; I think it would be helpful to have a place where the best information, tips, and advice can be gathered and organized for easy access.

(I did run this idea by Dimitri a while back)

To show what I have in mind, I have taken the liberty of starting a wiki over at wikia (http://megadrum.wikia.com/wiki/MegaDrum_Wiki). Currently, it has a link to this site and to Zourman's "Poor Man's TD-20" blog post as well as some things I have started writing about Megadrum's Theory of Operation.

Regarding this, I have a few questions:
I would really like to see a consensus that this is a good idea to do. The chief advantage that I see is organization. The chief disadvantage is that it might dilute contributions from the very helpful people on this forum.

Assuming that people generally think that this is a good idea, there are a couple of nuts and bolts types of questions before getting too far into things:

1. Hosting. I created this on wikia because it was free and I didn't have to set much up. Wikia is ad supported and the ads are somewhat distracting. There are a couple of other free versions and a few that are paid at a nominal level. I could also set up a project on Heroku and host it there. If anyone has experience with other Wiki hosting options, I would love to hear it.

2. Licensing of content. Wikia content is creative commons, which I think makes the most sense.

I am sure that there are other questions that I haven't thought of, so please ask away.

BTW- I am in the Central Time Zone of the US and probably will not be able to respond to anything before tomorrow night.

[airflamesred]

If I recall it's a bit of a PITA to edit but I do think it's a great idea.

[BiggerNoise]

It's definitely a pain to edit, and the WSIWYG tools are awful. I honestly just work in the source view and edit the markdown directly.

I'd be happy to do this on Wordpress or Joomla if it would lower the barriers to participation.

[airflamesred]

Yes, I think the problems arise with trying to add vids and pictures. Now, the big question is, what do people need?

[BiggerNoise]

I develop software during the day (except when I sneak away to post on forums) so dealing with the pictures and the markdown is really no difficulty. However, I would want to make sure that it wasn't too off putting to other contributors. I can't answer that one.

I administer a Joomla site for a non-profit and one thing I do like about that is that based on the keywords associated with an article, it will suggest related articles. I think that search works a bit better, but I couldn't say for sure. I would assume that Word Press would work the same way. On its face, that would appear to be an improvement over a wiki for consumption.

I would love to hear what people think about the ads on the wikia site. Too distracting?

[ignotus]

I think this is a good idea. The possibility of centralising information would be very helpful for newcomers, who otherwise have to wade through the forum searching for information.

Now, the big question is, what do people need?

There could be detailed pad setup sequences for different types of pads, more in-depth explanations of what each parameter does/how important they are when setting up pads, what possibilities there are with certain parameters (stuff like dampened note, altnote, pressroll note, etc.); a section explaining the different types of DIY builds and commercial options there are (hi hat pedals, cymbals, pads, etc.) how they are done, which work/don't work (polls?)... This is just off the top of my head; I'm sure there's loads of stuff scattered around the forum that could be very helpful.

The ads are slightly annoying, but I don't really mind them that much.

[angr77]

A very nice initiative, which of course should be tested!

There are some sequences available when dealing with the drums that should be up there!

Here is one page: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1968
I have made a manual of some of the information: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9vjdjgtf054huqy/MegaDRUM.pdf

There are also some nice videos that also should be mentioned! Airflamesred has created a nice one for MDM and there is some great stuff in there also which could be written down in the wiki.

Best regards

Angr77

[BiggerNoise]

One thing that I should mention is that this isn't my wiki. Anyone can make updates, create pages, etc. You don't actually even need to create an wikia account.

However, I would prefer that people do create accounts and edit while logged in so we can see who is creating/changing what. I think it will also streamline discussions if there are disagreements on how something should be presented.

As long as we don't get too heavy into cross-linking pages, we should be able to move things around pretty easily.

[airflamesred]

I think for this to work we are going to need a blessing from Dmitri and a high profile link from the site here.

The complaint I see, over and over, is a perception that MD is too complex and has a steep learning curve. This perception is what needs to be addressed to make MD your first choice when choosing a TMI. Now most are swapping to VSTs this site should be much busier.

Good idea with the log in - I have one from another software app.

The other thing that has occurred to me is that not everyone has English as first language so visual explanations can be useful there.

[dmitri]

There was a failed start to a MegaDrum wiki awhile back - http://www.megadrum.info/wiki/.
If a new wiki will have a useful content and regularly maintained by someone but me (I hardly have time for this since I spend most free time on MegaDrum firmware and MDM improvements and helping on the forum) I will certainly place a high profile link to it on the web site and the forum.