RatherBeSailing

Hello Everyone - Over the past 4 months, I've spent some time working on the AA wiki and now I'd like to get things started for the oneworld wiki. For those of you who haven't seen the AA wiki, here is the main link:

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

I hope that this type of wiki would be useful for the collection of oneworld wisdom. Right now, I just have a stub for oneworld and there are 2 very basic articles:

http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index....egory:Oneworld

If anyone has any ideas to share or would like to get started posting article, feel free.

Just a couple of key points:

1. Append (OW) to the end of every article name - this will prevent naming collisions with other wiki articles.

2. Always add [[Category:Oneworld]] to the end of the article. If you think that its very relevant, feel free to add additional categories like [[Category:American Airlines]] or [[Category:British Airways]]. This will allow the article to appear on multiple lists.

Viajero

Is there really a need for this? I like the all-in-one-shop apporach we have here, and the two sticky threads are pretty goood as they are; if something is missing from one of them, particularly the FAQ, why not just add to it?

SLF

I'm a former skeptic, but I'm now fully converted to the advantages of wikis. Some of the stickies you mention are quite dated, and getting them updated is not easy - either the original poster or a moderator needs to be engaged, and I am guilty of just "not bothering" when I spot something out of date. The concept of shared editing / updates is what makes things like wikipedia.com so successful. I believe the same approach will work on FT.

The other huge advantage of the wiki is the ability to embed tables, images and other "nicer" formatting - FT threads are quite restrictive in that respect.

I've been working on the BA wiki...no doubt if/when time permits, I'll be tackling some of the stuff here too.

Austinrunner

With all due respect, SLF, you've unfairly broad brushed the stickies. The sticky I maintain is updated as soon as I see reliable information warranting a change. I check this board at least daily.

Alan in CBR

I agree that Wikis are a great enhancement. Threads, including stickies, will remain as the main focus here, particularly for experienced Frequent Flyers. The Wikis though will provide a much better entry point for those new to frequent flying in general and FT in particular.

Take for example the AA Plat Challenge. Someone who reads mention of the challenge could:
1. Read the 100+ page sticky. Lots of information in there is no longer relevant, the information is all over the place, and it's really, really long.
2. Post a new thread asking about it. This leads to "do a search", "read the sticky", and similar remarks, but very little useful information.
3. Read the Wiki - it's kept (fairly) up to date and provides all the required information in one place and in a well-structured manner.

Well done to RatherBeSailing for taking the initiative.

Alan in CBR

You are to be commended for doing so. But that's part of the problem - it requires the OP of the sticky to be vigilant in keeping it up to date (and not all "sticky OPs" are as on the ball as you are). With a Wiki anyone can make the required changes.

SLF

True, and that's a fair comment, so I've modified my post to be less "broad brushed" - sorry.

The reason I've not noticed you updating it is that you have made it quite clear (quotes below) that the purpose of the thread is solely for the benefit of AAdvantage members, and that solely you should be able to update it. Since I discovered that, I haven't looked at the thread again because I don't collect AA miles

I've never been clear why that thread is here anyway rather than in the AA forum. Are we going to end up with 9 other stickies here, "oneworld awards using British Airways miles", "oneworld awards using Asia miles", "oneworld awards using Qantas miles" etc. etc. If I want to spend AA miles on a Hilton stay, should I look for a sticky in the Hilton forum telling me how to do this? Why do any of the other OW partner members find having the AA sticky here useful? Why isn't it in the AA forum, like other AAdvantage items? Where does the "how to spend AA miles on partner airlines sticky" go - in every other partner airline forum?

If the thread was never intended to apply to non-AA miles then why is it in the OW forum which is frequented by lots of people who don't have AA miles?

christep

I agree entirely with the above - I have always thought that the AAdvantage Oneworld Awards thread is in the wrong forum.

SLF

To give an example of formatting, compare an FT-post to the equivalent wiki page. Note that the latter has been expanded to reflect the addition of JL, MA & RJ - but I don't have the details at present. Luckily, whoever does have some/all of the details is able to go in there & edit them, without needing to worry about setting up the table.

Austinrunner

You must have missed our recent long discussion of this very issue.

Austinrunner

I don't know how much experience you have with Wikis, but the problem is that anyone can change anything at any time, which requires constant vigilance to ensure that erroneous or unreliable information is not added or included (intentionally or unintentionally).

SLF

If you're referring to the thread I quoted above as the one I missed, then other than the discussion abruptly stopping I don't see that any consensus was reached. If you're referring to another thread, I'd welcome you reminding me which one.

Or instead of constant vigilance, making use of the Watch feature? If it occurs, any damage can be very easily undone.

Alan in CBR

We use Wikis extensively at work. The difference of course is that we are in a professional environment and I trust my colleagues not to be stupid. I review all changes, but there is unlikely to ever be much cleaning up required.

It is true that Wikis have issues relating to intentional and unintentional misinformation appearing. I feel that this is more than offset by the self-correcting nature of having a large audience all of whom can make changes. As long as the rogue element is a small percentage of users (as I believe it is on FT), Wikis are a significant asset. Clearly that's just my opinion, and as always YMMV.

I also believe that there is still a place for stickies, and that the Wikis provide an additional tool, not a replacement one.

serfty

As far as Austinrunner's sticky exiting here in this forum goes, I posted my thoughts on that in the thread referred to; suffice to say it does not worry me.

As for the idea of a oneWORLD wiki, I have no problem. Any reference with accurate information can be useful.

Cheetah_SA

Link doesn't work, serfty.

I too have ignored the sticky as AA is not of interest to me at the moment. I can see some merit to it but then that argument extends to similar stickies for the other airlines as mentioned by SLF. But examined logically it only has value to folks collecting AA miles; ergo, it belongs in the AA forum.

Why argue about the wiki? If someone is prepared to do the groundwork it's an additional source of information. If it becomes hopelessly corrupted it will fall into disuse and die. Thanks RatherBeSailing for getting it going.