'''What a wiki gnome does''' A Wiki Gnome works behind the scenes to tie up loose ends, correct misspellings, add categories, fix broken formatting and links, and turn ordinary words into Wiki references. The word originated at Ward's Wiki [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiGnome]. On some wikis, Wiki Gnomes also replace long threads of a dialog with a summary of the conclusions. Most people here at the Tcler's Wiki favor the practice of summarizing dialog, but such changes can be controversial as a few vocal individuals strongly object to having their words edited. A less controversial approach is to put a summary of the page at the top, followed by a '''Discussion''' section. Many users would prefer that the discussion be moved to a separate page, perhap with the name "Talk" in its title. See also [Cleaning up pages on this wiki]. ---- '''Discussion''' How how to clean? [LV] How to clean what? Be more specific, and perhaps we can help you. Someone want to write more about the meaning of this term? ''[escargo] 1 Feb 2006'' - I think the page creator was thinking that the cleaning up of wiki pages would be done by some ''gnomes'' who took it upon themselves to keep things tidy (behind the scenes). Conjoining the terms "wiki" and "gnomes" creates the new term "wikignomes." [AK]: See also [Cleaning up pages on this wiki]. ---- [KBK] I used the term on the chat, together with a reference to Ward's Wiki [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiGnome] where I first saw the term. From that site: A Wiki Gnome works behind the scenes to tie up little loose ends, adding [ISBN]s of books that people mention, tracking down the authorship of "someone once said" quotes, correcting broken links, fixing broken whitespace, answering [Ask, and it shall be given.], tirelessly replacing chat mode with content, fixing misspellings, and, when appropriate, making ordinary words into [Wiki] references. A very diligent Wiki Gnome regularly searches for EditHints (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?search=EditHint) left behind by MetaWikiGnomes and cleans them up or even takes on major projects, such as breaking down the barriers around Walled Gardens. Wiki Gnomes love to work in the shadows making what some would call Stupid Little Edits. Look at [Recent Changes] and you may even spot one! ---- '''Summarized discussion''' (details in this page's history): [WHD] Remarks that [wikignomes] of other wikis "tirelessly replace chat mode with content", but that does not happen here. He seems to be in favor of such practice. [LES] is totally in favor of content rewriting, but is afraid to do it himself and tread on toes. [DKF] also sounds favorable to content rewriting, only conceding that it's too much work for him to undertake. [Robert Abitbol] has had very negative experience in aggressive refactoring in other wikis and opposes aggressive content rewriting quite strongly. Since all versions of a page are kept anyway, he does not mind refactoring done '''in good faith''' and suggests summaries should be kept on the top of a page. Another writer believes that: his (Abotbol's) message is weakened by repeated errors in terminology which cry out for correction. This summary is '''experimental'''. ---- [WHD] Cute! However, rather than simply summarizing everyone's views, I had something more like the following in mind: ''Begin Experimental Summary'' A Wiki Gnome works behind the scenes to tie up loose ends, correct misspellings, add categories, fix broken formatting and links, and turn ordinary words into Wiki references. The word originated at Ward's Wiki [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiGnome]. On some wikis, Wiki Gnomes also replace long threads of a dialog with a summary of the conclusions; here at the Tcler's Wiki, such changes can be controversial as some users object to having their words edited. Others are generally in favor of the practice, but do not have time or energy to do so. ''End Experimental Summary'' ----- '''Summaries belong to the top of a page''' This is [WHD] commenting again. I'd argue that summarized content belongs at the top of the page; discussion should take place at the bottom, following a heading like "Discussion". One can then edit the content at the top to reflect the discussion at the bottom, while leaving the discussion alone. (MediaWiki even has a separate "Talk" page associated with each content page, to make separating these easier.) ----- '''Add a discussion page''' [DKF]: If people want to add a discussion page to a particular page, they're free to do so. [Discuss: wikignomes], for example, holds the extended discussion which used to fill this page. ----- '''Summaries and discussion page''' [Robert Abitbol] Since all versions of a page are kept, in regards to adding a summary, I believe there are in fact two choices: 1) You can delete the contents of a page replacing it with a summary while sending the user to an old version where the full contents are located (not the best solution). 2) You can put the summary on the top of a page so the reader can see both versions (best solution). As for the discussion pages added to a page (as [DKF] wisely suggests) so that short positions are expressed in the first page and the long digressions-la-Abitbol are sent to the discussion page, this is an excellent idea. ---- [[[Category Wikit]|[Category Community]]]