WC Poll: A WinCustomize Wiki?
Trying to make the community a better place.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 by Zoomba | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Back in December of last year, we solicited user feedback on how to make WinCustomize a better resource to the skinning community on the article "How Stardock Failed the Skinning Community in 2006". If you haven't read the original article and the subsequent discussion, it's worth your time to check out. And your cries haven't fallen on deaf ears, we are in the process of addressing the issues brought up by the community. To start with, we're trying to tackle one of the most common complaints: Documentation.
A number of times, users said they would love to see a Skinning Wiki, a central source of documentation that users themselves could edit and update. Internally we talked it over and thought it would be a good idea and something worth investing some of our time and effort into.
So this week's poll is "How would you participate on the WinCustomize Wiki?" I'm trying to get a feel for if enough people would be interesting in acting as contributors and helping grow the wiki as the definitive resource for all information skinning, or if the interest is largely limited to those who want to read but not necessarily contribute.
Vote in the poll above, results posted next week.
Reply #2 Tuesday, March 27, 2007 1:43 PM
Sounds like fun.
Reply #3 Tuesday, March 27, 2007 1:52 PM
Reply #4 Tuesday, March 27, 2007 2:35 PM
It sounds like a good idea for tutorials, but the one issue that is utmost in my mind is the constant state of change in the Stardock 'point' programs (e.g., WindowBlinds, IconPackager, etc.). This constant state of change makes it harder for anyone outside of the Stardock crew to know exactly what will and will not be accurate information.
One example:
I installed WindowBlinds 5.5 - both the stand-alone and via Stardock Central - released this year after the aforementioned article and found that the included "documentation" is a previous version modified by placing an image over some text and that some of the images are inaccurate for the current version (e.g., user overrides). Unfortunately, this did not strike me as a professional document.
I don't want to be an ass, but it seems like the current documentation is not being addressed properly (perhaps being dismissed in favor of the upcoming releases such as WB 6?).
As I have mentioned before, I design and produce documentation for a local manufacturer in the Seattle, Washington area and therefore know that it can be a significant undertaking. Unfortunately, if you do not start to design and produce it accurately, the first to suffer are the customers who want to use it without having to contact support or go to a web site to find the latest information.
Corky steps off his soapbox......
On a positive note, I do know that the issues can be overcome if effort is put forward now instead of later, and that the overall impression of the products can be improved greatly by simply adding accurate and thorough documentation illustrating how to use all of the functions of said products.
A 'Wiki' would be great step for the community in any case, assuming the product changes are not so large that the volunteers become overburdened with catching up.
To answer the primary question of this post, I would be willing to update (or re-create) my mini tutorials once the main product I focused on (ObjectDock Plus) is finalized (waiting for the 'ObjectDock library' issues to be resolved in the next maintenance release). I do not know if these are considered a part of the 'Wiki' (perhaps not), but I can at least help with that much of the issue. 
Reply #5 Tuesday, March 27, 2007 6:02 PM
Reply #6 Tuesday, March 27, 2007 6:04 PM
Reply #8 Wednesday, March 28, 2007 6:14 AM
Ditto for me.
Willing to help in any way I can.
Great idea, if the wiki is diligently updated.
Reply #9 Wednesday, March 28, 2007 6:34 AM
I must admit though that I am one of the "lost boys" when it comes to the Stardock products. I buy them (on and off) with the intent to be a creator but find, once again, that the lack of clear documentation and consistent, helpful support makes me abandon the effort. Mostly I have been a user.
I do have several sketches gathering dust of completely non-functional, but highly artistic (I hope) interface elements. Maybe if this effort succeeds I can put them together finally. (Note: These are "art for art's sake" skinning; not "functional for daily use" skinning.)
Reply #11 Wednesday, March 28, 2007 2:22 PM
- User verification
Editors should be WC subscribers and should have to use their WC credentials to edit
There should be a way to see history of user actions (approved, rejected articles - Certified editors
All articles should be uncertified until a Certified editor approves them
Certified editors should be promoted from the general pool after [x] number of certified articles submitted
The wiki should have a setting to show beta (unapproved) articles or certified.
The Stardock devs need to be active in the authoring and approving of articles
Oh one mnore thing . . I should not have to worry about spelling.
Take a look at http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Main_Page, they have the above features and it seems to be working ok.
What makes us different?
We're glad to have you here and hope you'll join our friendly little (but growing!) community as an active contributor. What makes us different?
Well, for one thing, we're contributing under our own real names. We take responsibility for our own work, and we like to think we're a lot more civil than your average Internet community. If you didn't take our real names policy seriously, you've made a mistake, because we will permanently ban you from the website if we discover that you are using an unapproved pseudonym. To apply for a pseudonym, please ask the constabulary. Note, we don't permit pseudonyms on privacy grounds that apply to everyone.
For another thing, there are editors working right alongside authors. Editors can make decisions about articles in their areas of expertise, but for the most part, we collaborate just as folks do on Wikipedia--only, perhaps, with more collegiality. Editors also have a special task here that doesn't exist on Wikipedia: they can approve articles in their areas of expertise.
Reply #12 Wednesday, March 28, 2007 5:37 PM
This means for all skinnable apps right? Not just Stardock apps? If so I could help with a few non-stardock apps.
Is this also going to be a "History of Skinning" record? A catalog of all skinnable apps past and present? A record of "Trends in Skinning" through cooperation with other skin sites a display of the frequency of skin releases over time, as well as the frequency of "new skinners". etc...
Just trying to see where this thing might be going...
Reply #13 Wednesday, March 28, 2007 5:40 PM
If you do create one it should be a very limited set of publishers to begin with.
Reply #15 Thursday, March 29, 2007 12:42 PM
Never mind, Island Dog has already written one.
Reply #16 Thursday, March 29, 2007 4:02 PM
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Reply #1 Tuesday, March 27, 2007 1:28 PM