Please Read: Knowledge Base

[Mark L. Chang]

Comments inline below. Please read if you are interested in helping out
(many of you are, thanks).

On Wed, May 07, 2003 at 10:29:51PM -0400 or thereabouts, Kent McLean wrote:
> Mark L. Chang wrote:
> > I'm undertaking the knowledgebase by myself.
>
> You go, guy.

thanks.

> I vaguely recall this attempt from a year or so ago.
> I don't recall the details of Wiki, so I'll just let my
> vivid imagination soar.

Wiki is a web-based collaborative environment. Anyone can add or change
pages. Pages are based on a simple markup language to make it easy to
edit and get formatting without using straight HTML. You can embed
links, pictures, and all that good stuff. For the technically inclined,
I'm using twiki.org code. An intro to wikis can be found here:
http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WelcomeVisitors

> There are two things (for now) that leap to mind.
> The first is how to organize it.  I believe that, since
> "the Bentley" is "the bible", that the numbering
> scheme or table of contents should mimic that
> (assuming Wiki lets you build a ToC).   That way
> someone reading the manual can reference the
> KB to see if there are any additional thoughts on
> the task at hand.

Currently, I'm not organizing it this way. I pondered on the
organization factor for a while, and this never entered into my mind,
honestly. Does the bentley have the same numbers for all models of cars?
I mean, is section 24 the EFI for a V8q like it is (guessing) for my
90q20v? I figure if you are reading the manual, you can find the topic
you want on the wiki easily by textual description.

I am organizing this in two ways. This is all changeable, of course.
I've got it by model, and by repair group. Model meaning 4kq, cq, 200,
v8, etc. Repair group meaning hvac, suspension, brakes, engine, etc.
None of this is fixed in stone. I had to start somewhere.

This lets me find information by looking under my car, or at the repair
group of interest.

> The second is that I like FAQs. As in, "My window
> won't go down (up). What do you think the problem
> is?"  These Qs should probably also be categorized
> using the Bentley ToC as a guide. And I take the F
> seriously. Limit it to those questions that are asked
> all the time -- timing belt, windows that don't work,
> funky dash lights, door handles, weak headlights,
> turbo boosts, stuck sunroof, etc. -- no more than 25
> or so. You might want to include a discussion of
> T*rsen vs. Haldex (or you might not). Or maybe the
> answer is a link to the appropriate Wiki section.
> (How does Wiki work, again?)

The idea is that yes, all the tidbits of knowledge are assigned into
howto-style prose. I don't think replicating all the knowledge of the
bentley is useful. Answers to questions that come up often are what this
is supposed to be (to start). So, for instance, I've got these in the
80/90/cq group:
main rad replace
custom exhaust for audi 90
breather tube cleaning
audio upgrades

and so on... basic instructions on a topic that has been repeated or
seems important. these are just examples.

> OK, three. And this is probably a good idea along
> the lines of, "I think we should cure cancer."  There is
> a wealth of information in the archives. A knowledge
> base, in fact. If there were some way to extract the
> relevant messages pertaining to a topic, it might
> expedite the process. A good idea, but probably
> no practical way to do it short of manually reading
> every message, evaluating it, then adding the relevant
> ones to the KB.

Here's the big one. I am thankful for all the feedback that I've gotten
so far. Enthusiasm is high. Unfortunately, people are offering to send
me 50mb files of copies of posts they found useful. This is a great
resource, but it isn't in finished form yet. I'm trying to go through my
own mailboxes and piece together some useful bits of knowledge, and yes,
it takes time. What I envision is that eventually, when there is a
question that gets repeated, someone goes in, makes a wiki entry for it,
and basically sums up the state of the solution in nice, clean textual
format, instead of a string of 50 emails.

Of course, since the wiki is anybody-editable, changes and alterations
are possible for things that were overlooked and otherwise left out, or
errors, you get the idea.

I'm trying to get together at least 20-30 "articles" before busting it
out on the list. This is simply so we have a *little* congruency between
the articles. What they strive to cover, how they discuss it, and
bascially make a set of 'templates' for people to follow to make it
easier for them to summarize things.

> Four (hey, they're free), does Wiki let you include a
> web page, or just an email message? I'm thinking
> of the existing body of work by some people (SJM,
> Chris Miller, and Huw, among others; used with
> permission, of course, or maybe just a link to the
> appropriate page) that addresses many of the
> common issues of keeping an old(er) Audi running.

Yep. Links to common pages are at the opening page. I don't want to
duplicate those efforts. If there is a question answered there, great.
If we want to, we can even make wiki entries for these questions and
simply have an appropriate link.

> And last, the topics might need to be categorized
> by model/type, if the task is not generic (e.g., tracking
> down an electrical drain). This could be daunting.
> 4000s, 5000s, 100s, 200s, 80s, 90s, V8s, A4s,
> A6s, A8s, TTs. And that is just US models...

I have basic groupings. You can select more than one, or none at all.

> OK, that's it. Now, what can we do to help? If you
> break the KB into Bentley-like categories, maybe
> you could ask for volunteers to search the archives
> to populate a specific section (e.g., brakes). Or
> maybe someone with a specific area of expertise
> could build a "proper" section.

YEP. If anyone wants to step forward to pick a particular thing they
know a lot about and write something up on it, please contact me at
these beginning stages. In the future (near, hopefully), we can do it
two ways:

1) have people in charge (moderators) of certain models, or certain
repair groups. Funnel all submissions through them.
2) just open it up and let anyone have at it!

> Mark, I admire your desire and courage to undertake
> this challenge. Best of luck.

Thanks again.

--
On the new five dollar bills, they cut down on the number of states on the
back. Mississippi did not make the cut.