From Flu Wiki 2

Forum: Index of Forum Topics Sorted by Subject

18 March 2006

DemFromCTat 18:59

ricewiki has been working hard on the new index, manually put together. You’ll find the link on the Forum page above.

Use it, comment on it, add to it.

Kim – at 19:01

LOVE it!!!! Makes it soooo much easier to find what I’m looking for. THANK YOU!!!!

DemFromCTat 19:02

Add whatever you want to it. No restrictions. ;-)

Nikolai---Sydney – at 19:16

I find it so much easier to find work for others than for myself, and so

Would it be useful to have a “Welcome Newcomers” section with a very condensed overview (one page each) of the threat; flu histories; general prep philosophy, reasons; basic items nedful; etc?

Obviously, this is impulse, not thought through, but idea of a lead-in to the far more complex content and background needed to understand and use most strands…

Just a thought… Half a thought? <grin>

DemFromCTat 19:19

Nikolai---Sydney – at 19:16

  1. Main page
  2. ‘tours’
  3. add
  4. ;-)
Kim – at 19:23

Question, is it possible to add sub-headers to a category? For example, under “Prepping Tips & Lists”, to break it further into sub-topics such as, Food, Water, Shelter, Heating & Cooling, Medical, Sanitation??? That would simplify things even more.

DemFromCTat 19:40

sure!

where it says edit, add a *, only all the way to the left:

*

and it will sho up as

aziraphale – at 19:42

Brilliant! Thanks DemFromCT and RiceWiki :-)

lottasoxandshoes – at 19:43

Thank you all for your hard work!! This is so great:o)

Floridafleur – at 19:46

Thanks ricewikki!

How about a sub-header--- on how to get started prepping--- with concise lists of essentials for a few weeks home prep?

In the coming days and weeks more and more people will be checking this site and others. Topics are great, but when you are shopping you just want a simple list? If one already exists I apolgize in advance.

I mainly read the forum (and not other areas of site) & thank all for their input. It has been a big help to me.

DemFromCTat 19:50

Heh. You really ought to try other areas. Like, for example, here, or any of the topics in the Left bar.

And folks, the Forum index is easy to learn. Anyone can add! Subtopics (as Kim suggested) were added to prepping.

lugon – at 19:53

Forum.Re-useAndEditThreads? is where this thread started. Now we have two threads. Please, DemFromCT, consider closing one?

DemFromCTat 19:58

Other is closed.

lugon – at 19:58

It’s great that we are into “consolidation mode”. This was much needed. I’ve been using the spreadsheet I compiled from the list of all topics, and it’s something that can be done. I need a list or an outline of basic “headings”. I’ve found that I can use a column with things like “NE news” and then everytime I type “NE” the whole text appears. Same for “PR preparedness” or maybe “PC preparedness community” and “PP preparedness personal”, etc.

I’m sending the spreadsheet to DemFromCT. If anyone wants it, please ask! Or maybe it could be an uploaded file if there are many requests? It will be temporary anyway, as the number of topics (2076 so far) will grow anyway!

Floridafleur – at 19:59

Sorry, Dem.

I mean this: I mainly have time to read the forum and not the additional info---which I am starting to read. I had prepped some but not enough. A new person, coming to this site, in a hurry and panic, needs to find a quick and simple resource.

That is all I meant. I appreciate all that this site does.

lugon – at 19:59

Ok, thanks! Sending so place your hands apropriately!

DemFromCTat 20:03

Floridafleur – at 19:59

;-) No criticism meant of you, either.

This forum index is my secret plot to:

  1. get people to read and explore the rest of the wiki (many people don’t), then
  2. get people used to adding to the Index
  3. turn everyone into wiki users, adders, explorers, etc.
lugon – at 20:06

And yes, after we’ve consolidated the threads (it will be an ongoing business) we may even start “wiki proper” (=“structured space”) pages for all that, in summary format or whatever. Or we may have “one thread to summarize them all” - then someone else may turn that into a structured page.

Whatever works!

(Dem, just sent you the file, in two formats.)

DemFromCTat 20:07

Floridafleur – at 19:59

I added that link on the Forum Index page. Does that work for you?

DemFromCTat 20:15

lugon, here is your list. I resorted the column with the categories. ‘’ list removed - flaws’‘ ;-(

lugon – at 20:16

Yup! “Secret plot”. Heh!

Floridafleur:

So what we’re trying to do is to:

This is all happening bit by bit, step by step, person by person.

I think we can allow ourselves to smile while we push on, right?

lugon – at 20:22

Dem, another message for you - please correct the small detail - thanks! :-)

DemFromCTat 20:43

bumped for visibility

lugon – at 20:45

I can still access the old file. The new I emailed you.

Floridafleur – at 20:48

Dem, thanks. All of you seasoned preppers do not know the impact you will have on the future, so I thank you now. I am glad there is a forum such as this to read of other ideas and similar concerns.

Hate to show my lack of knowledge of this site, but did you move it to “where to start” on the main index page?

I realize everyone needs to prep for individual families and lists are different.

If we are without power in the dead of winter, for example, we won’t freeze.People in North Dakota probably don’t need as much sunscreen and bug lotion as us Florida folks.

I feel the most important prep lists involve food, medicine and water.I am mentioning a request for a simple list for food/OTC medicine,first aid lists to get started---a simple list to copy,paste and print. This would save a lot of time and distress if I was just arriving at this site the day the pandemic began. Perhaps people could contribute to create a master list that is concise for a beginner? The lists I see for the government deal more with prep for a few days---the normal emergency plan. Mindset for survival for several weeks is the new norm.

I am now prepping for the long haul after the emergency, so my needs are different than they were a few months ago.

Again, thanks to all.

ricewiki – at 20:51

Wow! So much has happened in the few hours I was away:)

The updated subheads work well.

I agree that consolidation of our knowledge is good at this point, too. Also, seeing all the threads/topics together like that can help our thinking re: what else needs to be addressed, and what we have begun to address but still need to develop/work on.

Anyone can help the project by scrolling back through the old threads (starting back in September) and weeding out the informative threads from ones that didn’t go anywhere, or, ones that just diverged completely from the topic. Good idea? I don’t think we need to recatalogue ALL the threads, since they probably aren’t all of equal value. But that’s just my opinion….

ricewiki – at 20:53

Thanks everyone, for helping!

lugon – at 20:58

ricewiki - I hope DemFromCT will be able to reupload the file with all the threads. (He must be busy in other threads etc.) Many things can be binsorted with it. To be honest, I don’t know if it will be easy to copy-and-paste from the spreadsheet onto the indexpage, but we can try - Dem can email me and put us in touch if you like!

Also, seeing all the threads/topics together like that can help our thinking re: what else needs to be addressed, and what we have begun to address but still need to develop/work on. Exactly!

DemFromCTat 21:02

Someone with real ambition can also cross reference to the wiki proper or the main index. ;-)

DemFromCTat 21:03

Floridafleur – at 20:48

i don’t know if there’s one master list that everyone agrees on, but folks can contribute their opinions.

DemFromCTat 21:07

Floridafleur – at 20:48

may I recommend you to Will Stewart’s Guide, an all-in-one good place to start? Check the other guides like rich erwin’s on the same page.

Floridafleur – at 21:08

Ok, thanks.

Index looks great. Great job!

Just thought I’d throw out that suggestion (master list to begin prepping) as I think more and more people will be starting to prep as the news starts getting out---hopefully before the pandemic! I keep hoping I will have a lot of mac and cheese to give to my college kids, or to a food bank, and never use it.Ideas such as buying a few extra items on sale every time you go to the store is really helpful and does not put such a dent in your wallet.

lugon – at 21:13

Floridafleur, we also want to look at “blindspots”: things we can do and which are not under everyone’s radar - write to neighbors or local politicians or local water-system people, think about issues that are not solved yet, create templates that can then be used by many (example: Consequences.WaterSupply?), etc.

I once heard AIDS has been contained (where it has been contained) by “a handful of memes”. We’re trying to see what would be our best possible reaction, collectively and as individuals. So we want to look at how we see things in case it’s “our perception” that is part of the problem!

lugon – at 21:19

Floridafleur has a good point: in the index page we may want to put some things first, then the others. Call it “subjective priorization”, but so be it. Things we want the world to notice. Not so much talk about antivirals and such!

DemFromCTat 21:21

That can be reorganized after it’s more filled in, or it can be done like the Influenza News Sites And Resources page with those little links up top.

DemFromCTat 21:25

Folks, I know ricewiki appreciates it, but look how rapidly something like this can be built. That’s what wikis are for.

lugon – at 21:25

try that new file? i’d really like to let that ball roll b4 i head for bed

DemFromCTat 22:24

got it, lugon. Still buggy.

Monotreme – at 22:58

I like this very much, but I’m not sure the Opinions page is the best place to put it. How about putting a link to it from the Forum page?

DemFromCTat 23:38

The link is from the Forum page, right on top. Forums are opinions.

19 March 2006

DemFromCTat 00:11

bumped… I’d like everyone to take a look.

Melanie – at 00:51

Dem,

GO TO BED! We have to do another conference call tomorrow. Geez, get some sleep.

DemFromCTat 08:38

bumped

DemFromCTat 09:27

New day, new readers, new contributors.

Wayne – at 09:31

DemFromCT – at 23:38

The Forum index is VERY useful, and thanks to ricewiki. However I haven’t been able to get to it by clicking at the link at the top of this page - it just delivers me back to this page.

DemFromCTat 09:34

The link is on the main Forum page, not the top of this page.

gs – at 09:40

I usually put everything into one big file and then do keyword search. I’ve got the fluwiki-forum until February - about 10MB, I should update.

fredness – at 09:57

Finally. Actually I felt long ago that the examples of better programming media for discussion forums are easily found. Making pmwiki into something it is not takes more energy than necessary. Would you want your lifeguard to use a paddle board or a motor boat?

To be honest I think we already passed a window of opportunity. The ease of constructing a useful forum can be seen in the popularity of other discussion groups such as the Agonists DiseaseOutbreaks, FluClinic, AvianFluTalk, and FluTrackers. The topics here can be just as easily crosslinked to discussion threads. The wiki format is useful for wiki pages but the forum has nothing to do with editable wikipages. It is a wasted resource if better tools are available. We are all about coming together for great ideas but you are overlooking obvious weaknesses in our own infrastructure. It is obvious that people need an easy interface to discuss their concerns. I think the discussion group structure should complement and reflect the structure of the main fluwiki. I am certain that any of the moderators of the other groups could help educate the moderators here on how to set-up a board. Alternatively they could work together. I always felt the FluClinic and FluWiki should work together more directly on an administrative level. I know there are only so many hours in the day. This relates to my larger complaint that everyone is trying to do everything and we are not making as much progress as we could as if we divided the labor as businesses and organizations do. I thing the conference call is a good example of teamwork and brainstorming.

Looking at the implementation of the other discussion forum sites…

Disease Outbreaks http://discuss.agonist.org/smf/?board=6 uses a flat structure with no subheadings or organization. It is still a much better user interface. That has been a major complaint of the FluWIki is people can’t find things here. It seems the moderators (no offense) have spent more time in the discussion groups lately than on the wiki proper. I haven’t seen any activity of the index of the main wiki.

www.TheFluClinic.com has resisted change by the moderators possibly due to pressure of the members of the larger board of www.CurEvents.com. The site owner Aelph Null has slowly expanded the main flu discussions to a confusing structure of the main room, discussions, and flu prep. They have been resistant to expanding the FluClinic subroom of the main site. Any pandemic related threads about non-traditional flu topics like the economy are moved by moderators to the main site.

http://www.avianflutalk.com/ and www.flutrackers.com use multiple levels of discussion topics.

This is a great sign that the fluwiki is continuing to evolve. We all know the virus is doing the same as we speak. We must use the best tools at our disposal to facilitate discussions and resources.

fredness – at 10:20

I didn’t mean to ignore the obvious, Great work ricewiki and everyone that keeps this site going and growing!

DemFromCTat 10:40

fredness, you never seem to get the point of the wiki. The Forum is part of the whole. If all I wanted was the forum, I’d do it the way you suggested long ago. But whatever. ;-)

DemFromCTat 10:41

Don’t mind us, folks. fredness and I have had this debate since forever. ;-)

gs – at 10:54

but earlier Dem said: however the forum is what it is
The wiki is also what the readers make of it. And when you look at the “50 last changes” then 90% or more entries are in the forum.


we had this thread:
http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Forum.DoYouWantThisForumToBeReplaced
and it turned out that most people here don’t want a change. While people at curevents started a thread with same title to ridicule about the fluwiki-forum…

DemFromCTat 11:28

Our intent was to create a wiki with a Forum, not a Forum without a wiki. More people post in the Forum than manage the wiki. More people read than post at all in either place. It is what it is.

The other excellent bulletin boards are also available (we don’t claim a monopoly). Nor do we claim to duplicate services. Nor do we claim to be ‘the best’ (although we’re linked by Science, USA Today, PBS, the Guardian, US News, WHO, Colorado and NJ local public health departments, etc). Nor do we ridicule people at other places. We are complementary, not competitive.

No one has proposed something that’s both better and achievable within our mission intent. Until that happens, we’ll do it this way.

DemFromCTat 12:06

Still, comments are welcome. Criticisms are welcome. Suggestions are welocme. Just don’t get annoyed if they’re not impemented, accepted or acted upon. That doesn’t mean we’re not listening ;-)

gs – at 12:15

but is this an argument why to avoid improving the forum ? Do you want to keep the forum small/bad _deliberately_, so to motivate people to concentrate more on the rest of the fluwiki ? Or do you think it’s too much work to change the forum ? (is it ?)

DemFromCTat 12:25

It’s nearly impossible to change the Forum at the moment. The Forum would have to fit into PmWiki structure, and at the moment we don’t have the time or resources. There’s not ‘plot’ to keep the Forum the way it is, it’s necessity.

lugon – at 12:37

VERSION 1:

What I like:

What I don’t like:

What we’re trying to do or would like to do:


It’s all the same wiki engine, but for the sake of clarity I’ll rewrite with “forum” and “wiki” instead of “structured space” and “conversation space”. Yes, it’s taking my time but I feel it’s worth it.


VERSION 2:

What I like:

What I don’t like:

What we’re trying to do or would like to do:


I hope this helps.

DemFromCTat 12:42

Excellent, lugon. Thanks!

Note that in building the index, you get to retitle the thread if you want. And if there is a specific comment you want highlighted and added to the index, email me. I can do it like this

ricewiki – at 12:52

Lots of good discussion here… not sure I can or should jump into any issues of more global design right now (time considerations etc.) but I’ll keep trying to add to the index where I can in the meantime…

I like the idea of keeping the possibly “more important” or “most wanted” items near the top of the index.

gs – at 12:52

The Forum would have to fit into PmWiki structure why is it ? legal reasons or you promised it or such ?

DemFromCTat 13:41

What, you think jumping platforms is trivial? Cheap? Without tech problems? ;-)

I’ll do whatever pogge tells me is feasable. But a change would have to be better, not just different. it’s not out of the question. It’s just not happening now.

pogge – at 14:02

I am certain that any of the moderators of the other groups could help educate the moderators here on how to set-up a board.

That’s appreciated but unnecessary. I already know how to set up a board. I have a copy of phpbb2 running on my local drive that I set up once just for the exercise.

But what it keeps coming back to is that a message board isn’t a wiki and a wiki is what we set out to build. The fact that there are many visitors who find value in the forum itself is great but it doesn’t change the fact that while there are a number of other message boards dealing with flu, there’s no other wiki like this one. We’re not going to give up on something that’s unique so that we can offer something that’s already being duplicated by others.

There’s also a technical issue to consider. A more robust message board would almost certainly involve a database engine which would complicate our administration and affect our overhead and server load. If we sacrifice performance on the wiki in order to improve the message board, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.

gs – at 14:15

the server problems are apparent already. I never saw this on other boards, like curevents,flutrackers. Don’t know what you mean with database engine. So the argument is, that another message board would not draw enough attention to the rest of the wiki ? Maybe because the left bar, which we have here and which BTW.contributes to sidescroll problems would be missing ?

DemFromCTat 14:17

gs – at 14:15

The L bar is a feature, not a bug. It’s staying.

Melanie – at 14:20

gs,

You are missing the point. We chose the software which was best for the wiki. PmWiki is what we are sticking with for now.

Please remember that we are all volunteers with busy jobs and that we don’t have full time help here.

author – at 14:52

DemFromCT and ricewiki: Thanks very much for the useful index! I have a suggestion/question about a possible addition. There have been public statements from WHO and CDC, etc., since the 1997 outbreak, regarding BF and Pandemic. I’m wondering if it is possible to see those statements through time? I know that there is updating that goes on at various science/med places, so the warnings and info to the public changes over time. I’m interested in subtle and not-so-subtle changes that have occurred in the wording of statements. My thought is that if/when skeptics have a chance to see the steady but quiet increase in alarm (if that is the right word to use) if it would make the seriousness of the situation more clear.

Mind you, I have only grasped this in small ways, thanks to tea-leaf readers who have pointed out changes in WHO drafts, for instance. I don’t even know if WHO/CDC/etc. keep former draft statements available when they update information. Further, reams of scientific jargon wouldn’t help anybody except other scientists and the bright people here who know this kind of stuff. Still, I suspect that there are differences in the degree of concern from 1997 to today.

If there is already a place to find such nuggets, please let me know! Thanks.

DemFromCTat 15:04

author – at 14:52

excellent idea. I’ll create a page for it.

gs – at 15:09

Melanie, where is the point ?
Apparantly there is better software. You keep saying you have few time as if I were trying to increase this. But I’m suggesting this because I think (I’m hoping) it’s easier and better for you (less work) as well as for us (more functionality,shorter delays).


If the current system were so good, then why do we always have problems ? Why does noone else use this system ?

DemFromCTat 15:17

WHO Assessment Over Time

author, this page will be added to.

gs – at 15:09

If the current system were so good, then why do we always have problems ? Why does noone else use this system ?

Always? noone? aren’t you the one who complains about imprecise language? Server problems are separate from platform and software problems. we’re okay for now, looking to improve. But not yet.

gs – at 16:37

you caught me with always,noone. Whenever I say always, I usually mean very often, noone - almost noone ,very few. But there must be some other secret reason, not to improve (yet)… Problems are not only with traffic - just now I had to edit twice because following the link deleted my post :-(

Melanie – at 16:44

gs,

No software is perfect, every choice includes tradeoffs. This platform is the one that we’re willing to live with. Constant complaining isn’t going to change anything.

DemFromCTat 17:51

author – at 14:52

WHO Assessment Over Time is still under constructionm. But note that the language

Monitoring of the evolving situation, coordinated by WHO, has produced many signs that a pandemic may be imminent. Jan 05

and

Recent experiences with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza have given the world its first advance warning that another influenza pandemic may be imminent. March 06

are pretty much the same. I haven’t yet gone back before January 05.

author – at 18:15

DemFromCT - Thanks! As noted in your new thread, it’s not because I am by nature suspicious, it’s more for the tea-leaf reading aspect. At some point, I need to share info with people close to me. If public statements continue to be more and more serious, I think it will help the otherwise casual observer to read between the lines. I hope.

Otherwise, we will have a record of how PTB move toward the precipice, and then go back to status quo as H5N1 dwindles to a case of the sniffles. I hope.

Owl – at 19:01

ricewiki, I would love to help sort the threads, but am lost as to how to begin to learn to do this…. Can you explain how to “lift a thread” and then paste it into the new Forum Index… Sorry to be dense.

lugon – at 19:10

gs

I think most of us are not in a position to decide which direction admins will take with the software. This is in exchange with our not having to invest ourselves as much as they do. :)

My first thought was, ah, well, I can look into other options and when we have something that we find compelling and pre-assessed, then we can suggest that to admins. Such a proposal would have to take into acount that it should be a good wiki, no database behind it (wikimedia, used by wikipedia, uses a database and makes it much “heavier” on servers etc), how to port all the content to the new place, etc - all without killing admins in midstream.

But, honestly, I’ve looked into other wiki engines and they are worse or at least not better than pmwiki. In fact, it even has forums which many wikis do not have at all! If that were the case, our conversations would have to take place as chaotic comments at the bottom of “real content” pages.

I personally don’t have time to look into those other options - I have in the past, decided pmwiki was good enough and working already, and I will not go into that again.

The problems I see all arise, as far as I can tell, from human dynamics in using wikis, not with this particular software. Creating better “entry points” into reaching content, and into helping with creating and giving a better structure to such content, are the way to go IMO.

gs, just like with estimating probabilities, you’re stubborn. Thank you for that!

But there’s only so many hours in a day, and I’ll personally focus on something else. (I had to say it.)

We’re a great team. I suggest we go back to “content” and “points of entry” and “helping each other”.

20 March 2006

lugon – at 05:29

I copy some stuff from Forum.WouldAPandemicCrashTheDollar?, stuff which obviously belongs here (sorry for the duplication):


It’s obvious to those who know that the “structured information” sections are a hidden treasure (so people ask repeated questions in this “conversation space”). We’re trying to make the gold coins “less hidden”. So the steps would be:

  1. Look at the Main Page and see if you can find your way to the gold you’re looking for. Try more than one aproach. Open different windows (control-N I think) in your Internet Explorer, or different tabs if you have a good browser.
  2. Use the search box that’s below the fluwikie logo - top left of each and every screen! Use one term and then another. You may want to learn how to use more than one term. There’s help once you’ve tried one term.
  3. Look at Opinion.ForumTopics? and see if you can find what you’re looking for there. It’s being built so it will look even better in a few days. It helps you reach things in the “conversation space”, not in the “structured space”.
  4. Only if you can’t find your way, well, use the forum. Hey, maybe we should have a “Where do I find (I)”, “Where do I find (II)”, and link to that from the main page. A kind of “forum thread series” to welcome newcomers.

In short, Melanie and all: things happen for a reason. The fact that people ask the same things over and over again (different people!) means the system might need to change to let them in. We’re on our way and I feel in less than a couple of weeks this will be much better.

Melanie, Thanks for nagging us because if we’re not collectively aware of the frustration, then nothing gets done!


Thank you for the information.That was very helpful for those of us who have not been here since the beginning. We are still learning. I had no idea where Melanie was trying to direct us although she was starting to sound as if she may be willing to elaborate! <Wink>


I’m glad to be useful, cinnamongirl :)

Opinion.ForumTopics? is getting better thanks to ricewiki and others.

I believe once we figure out how to quickly put people “on the same page” regarding how to make the best use of the fluwiki (both the structured and the conversational sections) (a bit of a task!) then we should put that knowledge on a page of its own, and link to that page:

I’m starting to feel pretty ambitious: I want everyone in the world to use all the best information and contribute as best they can. (This may need piping our information into other languages and newspapers and non-governmental organisation’s newsletters, but that’s another beast altogether.)

Ok, I must go and take my medication right now. :-)

DemFromCTat 06:26

The relevant Forum topic can have a link to the wiki page. We put one up with personal preparedness, but I plan more.

Also at the top of the Forum Index page is the Main Wiki index page.

DemFromCTat 07:22

When you click on the Forum, in the L bar you’ll now see Forum index and Wiki index. These navigational aides will help you to locate a topic.

lugon – at 07:58

Yes, that’s the main idea: when I’m looking for something, ideally I’d like to find all that has been written about it. Say “masks”. I’d like to look at the “built consensus”, the “chit chat”, the creative things about masks (there was this idea of making a mask using the filters of a pack of cigarrettes), etc.

We’re learning along the way, but documentalists do probably know better.

Creating ever better ways to access information is called “information annealing”, I think.

ricewiki – at 11:19

OWL (and others willing to conscientiously help update the Forum Index):

Here’s what I do:

Open two browser windows: one for the Forum Index, one for the Discussion Forum threads list.

Identify the thread in the list you want to link to in the Index. Get the link (move mouse over the link to see what the link is: no need to actually click on it. Dem made it easier, so we only need to reproduce “Forum.TheNameOfTheThread” now.)

In the browser with the Forum Index, go to top of page and click “edit”.

Scroll down to the section in which you want to place the link.

Be very sure to keep the exact same formatting as you observe the other, similar links using.

Paste or type the new link in, with the exact formatting already being used. (Careful re: spelling!)

Sign your name, type in the sort of change you made (eg., “added listing”) and click “save.”

See the result!

Sometimes two people might be editing the page at once. In this case, you may have to go Back and click Save again. Also, the more you do this the faster the “back-and-forth” process gets — you’ll find ways of speeding it up for yourself. This was just the basic outline.

Let me know if it works for you! Thanks for helping!!:)

Owl – at 12:26

ricewiki-thank you for the explanation. I will give it a try. I am working on a major supply list and then will try this. Hope I can help you out in some small way.

ricewiki – at 13:52

OWL, of course… thank you!

Is there a specific section of interest you’d like to focus on editing? (eg., re: my latest post “Call for Volunteers”)

Owl – at 20:40

ricewiki, I am trying to get a good master list of prep supplies done, but it will need endless revisions… Not sure what to say. I should have a draft up and on line tomorrow. I want to see what you all think about the prep list.

To live is to prep, to prep is to live…

sorry, I have been at this way too long…

ricewiki – at 20:52

Great — are you making a list in a new thread? and then linking it to the main index?

Did you get the editing function to work?

Owl – at 20:58

Once I get back to my desk top where everything is stored, I will give it a new thread since it will be long. And no, not a minute today, I am sorry have been flat out today but tomorrow I will go to…

ricewiki – at 21:24

That sounds excellent…

How ‘bout you take the position of (un)official editor of the “preps” section, then? :)

(As no one else has volunteered for any, yet…)

You may eventually decide you need another editor to help with the preps section, since it can be pretty vast.

Owl – at 21:42

Glad to give it a try.

Re the Master Prep List(s) - I am trying to create sections ie, food, sick room, misc, cooking supplies, car supplies, sonce I won’t get everything the first time through…. Can we go back into these lists and edit them? Or does it just get added into the thread? I would like to be able to access the list and make changes as new items are suggested. I can work in word - wiki is new to me….

PS did you get the Snoopy reference, a classic “to live is to dance, to dance is to live”?

ricewiki – at 21:52

Wiki is very easy… not sure that working in Word would be the most efficient… I suppose it depends on what you’re doing… let’s wait until tomorrow to see what you mean, I suppose.

Everything is fully edit-able, although some sections in the preps list are already pretty logical - not sure you would need to change their organization (eg., food). You can also add subheads if necessary, as has been begun. Certainly, changes can be made after new and more items are suggested.

But it sounds like what you’re doing (plopping a master list into one new thread) can just go under the “general” subhead for now…

p.s. (no! I didn’t see the Snoopy reference… though I’ve heard that saying on here somewhere before)

DemFromCTat 22:08

i’d suggest just making a new thread, then linking it to the new index.

21 March 2006

gs – at 00:19

best replace this whole forum by a link to another,better forum. Attracting people to badly formatted pandemic-forums is dangerous for the world’s health.

DemFromCTat 04:10

gs – at 00:19

No. ;-)

lugon – at 04:41

There’s more at Forum.CallForVolunteers-HelpingEditIndex?

DemFromCT, shall I add the “url|title|date|author|category|” text somewhere in the wiki, and also some instructions on how to use it?

ricewiki and all, this is what I’m thinking of (and have tried at home):

  1. I’ve started with the Forum.Forum page, displayed it using the “print” text-button in the upper-right corner of the page, and then downloaded that as an html file.
  2. Then I’ve used a text editor (you can use Notepad in Windows, I’ve used http://www.vim.org in Linux) and manually cut off the top and the bottom of the file, leaving only the table: the information about “html link”, “thread title”, “initiator”, “date”, with all the html tags between the important information.
  3. Then I asked a friendly guru for help in cleaning up the file, and he produced a small program (“a script using sed”, he said) that read the headless and tailless file and wrote a clean file. The clean file has 2078 rows, and each row has “url|title|date|initiator|”. I intend to post this file and link to it, so no one has to repeat the above procedure!
  4. Now, as soon as we upload that file and link to it, anyone can copy that data as a plain text file in their computer. Say you name it “forumtopics.txt”.
  5. Fire up your spreadsheet (microsoft Excel, Openoffice Calc, gnumeric, etc) and import the textfile taking care to tell the software that the file you’re importing has “|” as the cell separator.
  6. Save your new spreadsheet, which has 4 columns of data.
  7. Now, add a fifth column with the categories. What I did was to add things like “PR preparedness”, “AR adjustment reactions”, etc. That way, if the “autocomplete” feature works, I just had to type “PR” and the rest of the text would appear nicely.
  8. After you are (at least partially) happy with your spreadsheet, you can sort it using the fifth column, and copy the apropriate chunk into the index page?, then reformat as needed.

I hope this helps. DemFromCT, shall I upload the textfile so anyone can use it? Ah, I think I’ll just do it - a bit later.

DemFromCTat 05:08

It can be linked from the Forums index page. ;-)

lugon – at 05:44

It’s here: Opinion.ForumTopics-TextFile?. The categories should be the same as they are being used at Opinion.ForumTopics?. You may want to focus on one category and see how that works. Others will focus on other categories etc. Let’s see how this works in practice!

Please note: the format of the page Opinion.ForumTopics-TextFile? looks really ugly, but it’s not ugly inside. Just click on “edit” on that page and you’ll be able to pick up the raw-text. Just don’t save it so there are no changes to that page. Just grab it and back off!

Owl – at 20:22

ricewiki, looks like this page has been a huge success. I just got my list (Owls Nest Prep) on line, as my laptop errored out last night and I dropped half of it… So what is there is not what I started with, but it is a beginning…

Tyring to see if I can figure out this formatting technique…

Thanks for getting this in such great order!

24 April 2006

DemFromCTat 16:48

bumped - lotsa new threads… load them in where indicated.

DemFromCTat 19:55

bumped again

25 April 2006

DemFromCTat 13:37

bumped - it’s an ongoing project…

01 May 2006

DemFromCTat 11:26

Bumnped. Help ricewiki maintain this page.

Kathy in FL – at 11:47

Dem and Ricewiki, I’ve added the “part 2″ for the recipe thread. Part 1 was getting so long that posting/loading was taking an unusual amount of time even during off-peak usage hours.

Hope this was OK and that I didn’t mess with the formatting. I know a little HTML, but no PHP to speak of.

17 May 2006

Dont panic hehehehe – at 06:51

on the 16th of May europes largest steel maker sent a letter to every employee telling them not to be worried about H5N1 avian flu BUT then gave them procedures to follow if they come in contact with birds. The company is called CORUS,formally known as British Steel.Intresting development don’t you think?

anonymous – at 08:08

Bump

kgb – at 09:08

Very nice index! Now I won’t ask so many redundant questions!

ricewiki – at 12:13

Thanks everyone — remember, you can add links to threads too… (just don’t erase what is already there, so to speak.)

If something needs tightening up I’ll probably see it and tighten it up - spelling, spaces, etc… I’m nitpicky about that stuff.!:)

18 May 2006

ricewiki – at 00:14

Index is coloured now for what I hope is easier reading and navigating (it was getting long). Some of the colours are a bit harsh, but I’ll be fixing these up…. thoughts/comments?

anonymous – at 09:15

bump

20 June 2006

Closed - BroncoBillat 01:12

Old thread - Closed to increase Forum speed.

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