RatherBeSailing

I'd like to contribute to the Wiki and since it seems that we're not using the discuss feature of the Wiki, it would make sense to start a master thread to keep discussions organized in one place. Normally I would simply add items to the Wiki and be done with it, but I think that we need to do some reorganizing to make it more usable and I want to make sure that I have some sort of consensus before moving forward.

edit: sample info structure to save space

Here are some of the problems that I see:

1. The articles in the American Airlines category have a huge overlap with what is in AAdvantage subcategory. I think that the hierarchy is arbitrary and makes things harder to find and understand, not easier. My experience with FlyerTalk is that the AAdvantage and AA are intertwined on so many different levels that having them apart doesn't make any practical sense. My drastic proposed solution is to put everything from the AAdvantage subcategory into the main American Airlines category. I know this might be controversial, but I feel strongly that usability trumps "correct" hierarchy.

2. We have a namespacing problem in the way that the titles that we give our articles might collide with other articles from other programs. It looks like the approach that we've taken so far is to append (American Airlines) in some instances. I propose that we simply append (AA) to the end of each article title. It'll take up less visual real estate and will be more consistent.

3. The headers are huge! I want to propose to the flyertalk tech team that for the wiki that we use the same CSS styles that are in use at http://www.wikipedia.org/

4. I think that the focus of the articles should be to fill in the grey areas or provide added explanations to what is being said on AA.com. Some of our articles are duplicating information where we really should be sending people to AA.com. Some of the text in Program Basics and Contact Information are examples of areas where I would prefer to send people off to the source rather than take on ourselves.

5. I would like to write up more of an intro to AA - a bit of a narrative to step people through the process with links to the articles instead of just showing a bulleted list. It would make the front page look a bit more like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines

I think that our Wiki is great (especially with the cross-referencing of source threads) and I really respect the contributors.

Hopefully these ideas won't draw too many vetos....

rbessler

Great suggestions. I've been a proponent of the Wiki, too, although it really hasn't come off the ground yet. First, some thoughts on your points:

1. The organization of the AA area parallels that of the rest of the FlyerTalk Wiki, and so for the sake of consistency, it might be best to leave it as is. I agree that there is some overlap, but within certain bounds I think it would be possible to keep the current arrangement. Scanning the articles we have right now, I notice that some of them seem to be in the wrong area -- anything having to do with award travel, for example, obviously should fall under AAdvantage.

2. That problem hadn't occurred to me, but I think you present a good solution. (AA) at the end sounds like it would work best.

Slightly related, I've been bothered by the inconsistency in naming the articles -- some of them begin with "AAdvantage" while others dont, making it difficult to effectively organize a table of contents. I think we should strip "AAdvantage" from most of the titles, and just append (AA) to the end.

3. Ehh, I think thats more the result of FlyerTalk being Ad-supported. I think you'll be hard pressed to get them to change that, but who knows.

4. I agree. The best articles we have on the Wiki right now are those unique gems that we've developed ourselves -- the list of elite security lines, how to deconstruct a fare code, award stopover rules, the voucher FAQ, etc.

5. Sounds good.

RatherBeSailing

So I was thinking about this too and I took a look at the other airline wikis and there is almost nothing there (UA has a couple of articles). I think that the whole category scheme was arbitrarly dream upt when the wiki was put in place. Since the AA wiki is the only airline wiki with some content, I think that we should set the pace and make a taxonomy that works for us. On the main wiki page with all of the links, we could still point to the program basics article even if it's not in its own subcategory...

Thanks for the comments ^

j3823x

I thought it was just me but even with just a couple of levels deep, its not the easiest to find what's available.

My thoughts:
- Move all of the links to the top of the first page (this includes the Aadvantage subpage).
- Move the discounts information to a "Discounts" page.
- Move the current information at the top of the page to a "Basics" page or at the bottom.
- Maybe group the information as AA.com does their customer service e-mail form: 1) "Prior to Travelling" (Reservations/Ticketing, Fares/Schedules, 2) "As I Checked in at the airport" (Baggage, Ticketing/Boarding, etc), 3) "During My Flight", 4) "At My Airport Destination", 5) Other.

Last but not least, a FAQ section with links to the appropriate sections.

JDiver

I think we have an unofficial, "official AA Wiki Team" budding here! Some of us have made some additions and changes, but aren't as cognizant or facile with Wiki structure, etc. as you obviously are. This is indeed good news for all of us. Go team! ^ Thanks, Rather... et al.

salut0

Can we also have a sticky that points people directly to the Wiki? I know that there's a link to it from the FewMiles thread but that is so out of date perhaps it should have a wiki-specific thread above it -- ie. something to make newcomers read the wiki before asking a question that has been answered before.

RatherBeSailing

I've started to make the changes - I still have to merge the AAdvantage articles into the main section of the Wiki. I'll give it a shot tomorrow. In the meantime, "edit mercilessly" as they say...

AAaLot

I think the 'AA Award transit stopover/transit rules...' at the top of the AA forum shoudl be moved to the Wiki.

At 14 pages it is rapidly becoming un-useful even though there is a lot of valuable information there. I think the Wiki is better suited for this type of infomation and questions.

Suggestion: Could this somehow be incorporated into the Wiki into three sections:

Valid Itns...and reasons
Invalid Itns...and reasons
In the discussion page: Is this Itn valid...and disucssion before it moves to one of the above sections?

RatherBeSailing

OK - I think that I'm done with a first pass at this. A couple of observations:

1. The namespacing turns out to be more important than I previously thought. If you do a search on the wiki, you get results from *all* categories including other frequent flyer programs. It could get ugly. The only thing that we may consider is dropping the parentheses so that constructing URLs would be easier when posting:

Current Format: http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index....asics_%28AA%29

Without the parentheses:

http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index....gram_Basics_AA

Thoughts?

2. I've started a FAQ with links to the Challenge and Award Rules articles. Both of those articles now contain links to the Stickies in the forums. Does that format make sense for everyone? Should we go even further and unsticky those two threads and replace it with a "Welcome" sticky that points people to the Wiki and goes over general posting etiquette?

3. Any suggestions for more FAQs? Or does anyone have any ideas of threads that have established some crucial facts that we should turn into an article?

Please review the changes that I've made and edit mercilessly....

RatherBeSailing

That's a great suggestion ^. Since I haven't been following the Award Rules closely, maybe someone could edit it to include sections for Valid/Invalid Iterneraries.

jumpdogjump

Great Idea - however I think we can all imagine several veteran FT'ers shaking their fists in the air screaming, "IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

How about a quick EQP vs. EQM discussion as well?

JDiver

Yeah, well, if we shake our fists, we also should recognize - "It's a Wiki!" A work infinitely in progress... and I am working on a sticky with links to resources, including this thread. Meantime, the unofficial FT-AA Wiki team seems to be making some Wiki progress... ^

RatherBeSailing

Here is a draft article. Please feel free to review, add, edit, etc....

http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index....tions_%28AA%29

grouse

I added a link from Wikipedia to this wiki but it is buried amongst a bunch of other external links.

JGR01

How much should I tip a Red Cap to help get my bags to the check-in?
At least 1-2$/bag. They work for tips

Suggest you refer the pax to http://www.aa.com/content/urls/curbs...title=curbside where it explains curbside checkin.

Also, I think they are called Sky Caps .. not Red Caps (that may be a UAL phrase). They work for tips . YES.. but some airports have a $2 per bag fee that is described in the above aa.com reference. This needs to be DRILLED into people . $2 per bag PLUS a tip (and locations are subject to change!).

What if my bags are overweight?
Pay and don't block the check-in line kvetching.

For more accuracy (and no ethnic slurs) suggest pax go to this location http://www.aa.com/content/travelInfo...horEvent=false where AA updates the details constantly. It has the fees and details you have not provided.


I flew on multiple carriers? Who should I go see about missing luggage?
The airline that carried you on your last segment.

You must REPORT the missing (or damaged bag) to the last carrier per http://www.aa.com/content/travelInfo...horEvent=false (assuming AA was the final carrier). However, in many cases AA will contact the originating carrier (and all interum carriers) for you.. and will probably blame the first carrier for messing it up. It is AA who should resolve it . but chances are if the bag is declared 'lost' the original carrier will be the responsible carrier.

I know the WIKI is a work in progress and I can edit it .. but one less registration makes my life more simple! And as en EXP who is on planes toooo much .. I need to simplify my life.