(→‎General notes for topic categorization: created links to per-metatopic pages)
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==Links to metatopic subpages==
I'm trying to "divide and conquer"
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Water meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Food and drink meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Health and safety meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Culture and community meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/ICT meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Energy meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Materials and construction meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Transportation meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Transportation meta]]
*[[User:Curtbeckmann/Metaconcepts meta]]
==General notes for topic categorization==
==General notes for topic categorization==
#One major thought I've had is that we should separate the categorization issue from the navigation issue.  That might mean that clicking on "Water" on the nav bar might take you to a page that is optimized for navigating water articles.  Similar to looking at Water on Howtopedia.  This would be a departure from creating redirects from article names to the category page of the same name.  Maybe this departure would only be the case for metatopics.  This just feels like thinking out loud at the moment.
#Policy question: Do meta-topic moderators own (moderate and arbitrate) categorization within their metatopics?  Do subcategory moderators "own" categorization decisions (hierarchy, naming, etc) in their subcategories?  I would argue that, following the establishment of some basic policies around this topic categorization, that, yes, the moderators should be the arbiters of the policies.
#Policy question: Do meta-topic moderators own (moderate and arbitrate) categorization within their metatopics?  Do subcategory moderators "own" categorization decisions (hierarchy, naming, etc) in their subcategories?  I would argue that, following the establishment of some basic policies around this topic categorization, that, yes, the moderators should be the arbiters of the policies.
#I would like to identify the primary drivers of topic categorization.  This list is a brief start, not in order.
#I would like to identify the primary drivers of topic categorization.  This list is a brief start, not in order.

Revision as of 06:12, 1 February 2007

Links to metatopic subpages

I'm trying to "divide and conquer"

General notes for topic categorization

  1. One major thought I've had is that we should separate the categorization issue from the navigation issue. That might mean that clicking on "Water" on the nav bar might take you to a page that is optimized for navigating water articles. Similar to looking at Water on Howtopedia. This would be a departure from creating redirects from article names to the category page of the same name. Maybe this departure would only be the case for metatopics. This just feels like thinking out loud at the moment.
  2. Policy question: Do meta-topic moderators own (moderate and arbitrate) categorization within their metatopics? Do subcategory moderators "own" categorization decisions (hierarchy, naming, etc) in their subcategories? I would argue that, following the establishment of some basic policies around this topic categorization, that, yes, the moderators should be the arbiters of the policies.
  3. I would like to identify the primary drivers of topic categorization. This list is a brief start, not in order.
    • Article management. That is, it serves the site administrators in keeping the site clean and effective. In this regard, topic categorization helps to for navigation, creating of links, assigning moderator boundaries, etc.
    • Visitor navigation. Folks can enter a topic, get redirected to a category, which will point them at a collection of articles. Should also have some text content that explains what fits into the category, what the main subtopics are, may have a link to Wikipedia, and may have more "see also" type links.
    • In a sense, Topic category pages serve as "disambiguation" pages, since a single topic may be covered by many articles.
  4. The above items (when the list is complete) should help us to establish some topic categorization policies. We have started on a topic category naming policy (now where did I put that?). I would also like to see a topic category creation policy. That is, we should create a policy when:
    • We have too many articles in a category and we need to break the category into subcategories
    • We have a subcategory that "half-fits" into two parent categories. Splitting the category would help.
      • Perhaps a similar notion is that an article or subcategory seems to suggest subcategories that don't yet exist. For example, we have a "solar distillation" subcategory, but no "distillation" or "purification" category. (Currently the subcat is placed in Cat:Water supply)
        • Similarly, we have "Fish farming" and "Livestock" (which includes some articles on beekeeping and fish farming and worm farming (Vermiculture)!), but these are currently directly under Agriculture. Create "Animal husbandry" subcat?)
    • We need to split a category for management reasons, i.e. separate moderators (this seems weak, but if a category gets big might make sense)
    • We believe that a subcategory will ultimately include numerous how-to or project articles, or other articles, and we want to create an empty or near-empty subcategory in order to create a structure as a launching pad for content creation and promotion.
      • I think this is legitimate and yet should be used sparingly (CurtB)
      • If we agree on sparing use, then it would imply that most (all?) of the redlink categories in the table will not be created as category pages. We could keep the labels of yet-to-be-created subcategories as a text marker of a future category (which might help rationalize the category structure?). Potentially we could put format those titles differently, like italicize or whatever.
      • Upon further reflection, it seems like the non-existent subcategories could fall into several buckets:
        • Targeted, meaning we want to get aggressive about building out this category. Presumably, targeted subcategories come into existence instantly, though they may have few (zero?) articles for a while. I would think that, depending on the community activity level, we might, at any given time, have 1 targeted subcategory per metatopic.
        • Desired, meaning that we would appreciate contributions in the space, but are not yet aggressively pursuing these
        • Anticipated... But this section seems like a slight. I guess I don't see a distinction between Anticipated and Desired, unless "Desired" just means "soon to be targeted". That would suggest a limited number of "desired" subcategories.
      • Anticipated subcategories could be listed on the meta-topic page? I would like to keep track of these proposed / expected subcategories, to support planning and development, without cluttering the topic table prior to their existence.
  5. I propose using superscripts (footnotes) to identify the moderators / experts for categories.
  6. Policy question: Do we want articles directly within the metatopics? Or will they always fall into a subcategory?
  7. LARGE AND SEPARATE BUT RELATED QUESTION: what are we going to do to simplify navigation? I don't think that's what categories are about at this point... I like the nav approach at howtopedia and WikiGreen. This topic table was originally meant to somehow make our categories into a useful nav tool, but I'm no longer thinking of it in those terms. Instead, I now simply view it as a visualization and processing tool that will largely become irrelevant after we roll out the new category structure.

Logistical Roll out thoughts

At this point, I'm starting to break down the roll out challenge. Here are several semi-random thoughts.

  • Create an article page for each meta-topic that includes the relevant table section below, including all the non-existent subcategories, etc.
  • Create a copy of this content (lower in the page?) for hacking purposes.
  • For not-yet-existing subcats, see if there are many articles that belong in these subcats (do we need these?), at least for the 2nd tier subcats (directly under the metatopic). Create the subcats that need creating.
  • When that's done, remove all the non-existent empty subcats so that you have created a template. (Categories that have an existing subcat should be created).
  • Then start marching toward making the category changes so reality lines up with the template, first for one metatopic, then another.
  • For each page that comes into sync with the template, remove template from the "category vision" page
  • Review (all?) articles and try to fit them into the new category structure (newly existing cats and subcats). Consult the "vision page" to figure out new categories for articles that don't fit well into the existing cats.
    • This raises the question of how we will generally scrub pages for categorization. I guess that's a moderator's cross to bear, but I think it would be good to propose a rough process to help new moderators.
  • I would ask that we get consensus at least on the naming of the meta-topics.
  • Roll out tentative category policies shortly after wrapping up the changes (or should this come first in order to make the process cleaner? Nah!)

Okay, let me see where that leads!

Water[1][2]

Notes for Water section[3]
Greywater

Garden box • Planter box

Pumping

Hydraulic ram • Solar • Rope • Hand

Rainwater[4]

Flood control Swales
Rooftop catchment • Stormwater catchment

Sanitation[5]

Wastewater treatment
Primary • Secondary • Tertiary • Physical • Chemical • Biological • Constructed lagoons • Community scale

Water conservation

Composting toilets

Water delivery (instead of transport?)

Water jugs • Aqueducts and plumbing

Water purification

Desalination Solar desalination
Distillation Solar distillation
Filtration Slow sand filtration

Water quality[6]
Water storage

Cisterns[7]
Storage tanks Ferrocement • Plastic • Wood

Water supply[8]

Rural water supply[9] • Wells

Food and drink

Notes for Food section[10][11]
Agriculture[12][13]

Biodynamic farming?
Companion planting • Crop rotation • Crop drying • Crop storage
Seed saving • Specific crops and climates
Soil preparation Composting • Fertilization • Grading • Plowing
Uncommon Tropical Crops[14]

Agroforestry
Animal husbandry

Animal health • Chicken tractor • Beekeeping • Fish farming Livestock

Aquaculture
Food preserving[15]

Canning • Dehydrating Solar
Refrigeration • Storing

Food preparation[16]

Cooking CookersSolar
Macrobiotics[17] • Raw

Gardening

Biointensive • Organic • Double digging

Greenhouses

Pit • Lean to • Attached • Freestanding • Hoophouses

Nutrition and diet

100 mile diet • Omnivorism • Vegetarianism

Pest control

Public health or Health or Health and safety

Refs for public health section[18][19][20][21][22][23]
Disabilities
Diseases

CystsBacterias[24]Viruses

Health care by region
Health paradigms

Homeopathy • Aleopathy • Herbalism[25]

Human dignity in public health
Hygiene

Hand washing[26]Washing[27]

Medical storage

Refrigeration
Food refrigeration • Vaccine refrigeration

ORT[28]
Pest control

Mosquito control

Public safety

Ambulance • Earthquake preparedness
Fire response • Tsunami alert

Sanitation[29]

Composting toilets[30][31] Bucket • Double vaulted
Humanure • Pit latrines[32]Septic tanks

Waste management[33]

Culture and community

Notes on "C and C" section[34][35][36][37]
Activism[38]

Accounting practices • Microfinance
Sustainable accounting • Triple bottom line

Cities
Commerce[39]

Banking or Finance[40][41] Microfinance

Community organizing

Building partnerships
Collaborative meeting toolsCooperatives

Culture and development
Decision making techniques

Pugh diagrams • Delphi method

Decision making structures

Consensus • Democratic • Hand clasp
Majority rule • Minority rule • Unanimity

Effective lobbying
Environmental justice
Gender and development

Equal rights for womenMale contraception
Separate facilities

Intentional communities

Communes • Ecovillages

Legal systems[42]

Justice • Rule of law

Multiculturalism
Social artistry

ICT

Notes for ICT section[43][44][45]
Computers[46]

Laptops • Servers

Education

Curriculum development • Computer based education
Education paradigms Piaget • Montessori
International programs • Intereducation
Service Learning • School construction
Teaching materials Copyleft materials
Teacher training

GIS
Networking

Internet
Blogs *• Email • Instant messaging
Wikis

Repeaters
Short wave radio
Software

Open source • Shareware

Telephony

Energy

Refs for Energy section[47][48][49]
Efficiency

Electrical energy[50]

BatteriesElectric lighting[51]Fuel cells[52]
Grid intertieMicrocapicitors
Human power[53] Pedal power
MicrohydroPhotovoltaic
Solar pumping • Solar vaccine refrigeration
Wave power • Wind power

Heat

Cooking[54] CookersSolar
Hydronic radiant heating[55]
Insulation Strawbale • Fiber board • Fiberglass
Passive solar design • Refrigeration
Solar hotwater[56] • Thermal mass • Thermodynamics

Fuels[57]

Biodiesel[58] • Biogas • Ethanol • Hydrogen

(Legacy categories)
Renewable energy
Solar

Materials and construction

Materials and construction refs[59]
4Rs

Reduce • ReuseRecycling • Rethink

Construction

Alternative building[60]
Bamboo • Cordwood • Earthquake safety • Earthship[61] • Ferrocement • Living roof • Papercrete • Strawbale • Tires
Earthen construction
Adobe • Bajareche • Cobb • Earth bags • Earthen oven • Earthen plaster • Living roof • Rammed earth • Stone and brick • Wattle and daub

Alternative materials

Bioplastic • Hemp • Lechugilla • Smartwood

Bioremediation[62]
Composting

Vermiculture • Pit • Spinning barrel

Material science

Fluid dynamics • Solid dynamics • Solid statics

Natural capital
Supplies[63]
Surveying

Transportation

Notes on Transportation section[64][65][66][67]
Air transport
Animal transport[68]
Automobiles and Trucks

Multi-person vehicles Buses
Single person vehicles[69]

Bicycling[70]

Bicycle parking • Bicycle towing
Critical mass bike rides • Electric bicycles
Recumbent • Rickshaw

Fuel[71]
Greenbelts
Mass transit[72]
Rail transport

Rideshare
Roads and bridges[73]
Rope and cable transport[74]
Water-borne transport

Metaconcepts

Appropriate technology
Biomimicry
International development

Principals of development[76]

Natural capital
Permaculture
Poverty Reduction
Sustainability

Sustainable development

Triple bottom line


Where to put these?

Clothing[77]
Land use[78]
Rant[79]
Tools[80][81]

Knots[82]

References

  1. begin WATER refs
  2. Moderator: Chris!
  3. Should moderators define categories in their areas?
  4. Should we add "snowmelt" to this? Or separate? Change to precipitation?
  5. I opted to place Wastewater treatment under Sanitation. Discuss
  6. Water quality part of purification and sanitation? Health?
  7. How is a Cistern different from a storage tank?
  8. Wells moved to "water supply" from storage
  9. Regional categories or articles beneath this
  10. begin FOOD AND DRINK refs
  11. "Food and drink" has 126 articles, Food has 5! I choose "Food and drink" for practical reasons! Plus it's also an okay name
  12. What about soil preparation? Too sandy? Too clayey? Grading? Plowing? Put that above Fertilization
  13. Are agricultural blights the same as pests? Rot? Aphids? Locusts? What about weeds?
  14. existing category, noncompliant capitalization, 3 members
  15. Former name, Preserving and storing food, 5 members
  16. Food processing category exists. Transfer to preparation? Subcategory of preparation?
  17. Does Macrobiotics belong in nutrition/diet?
  18. begin HEALTH AND SAFETY refs
  19. "Health and safety"? Where to put various safety items? Under community? Note that "Health" already exists and has 13 members. Public health exists and has 8 members.
  20. I'm concerned about the value and liability of "treatment" articles. I would suggest a conservative policy in the treatment area, or huge disclaimers. Both, really.
    • I'm not sure how conservative you are thinking, but I'd like to major on the prominent disclaimer and restrict editing as little as possible. --Singkong2005 · talk 03:56, 15 January 2007 (PST)
  21. What to include? Cysts, bacteria, virus, but not broken bones, sprains, cuts, concussions, malnutrition, exposure, heat stroke, dehydration?
    • Some are obviously development-related, like malaria... but I wouldn't be inclined to categorize diseases by pathogen type (Cysts, Bacterias, Viruses) - not at this stage, anyway. We're focusing on the technology and practice of treatment on prevention, not on the biology of the pathogen.
    • I guess the aim here is to suggest likely topics, rather than define limits? To be honest, I'm actually not sure why we need this table at all, as opposed to just relying on the category structure (which would also save a lot of work, and avoid getting out of date)...
    If we end up having pages on appropriate technology casts for broken limbs, and suitable transport for people in a delicate condition (with broken bones or internal injuries) in rough, poor situations, then we we might think about having a category for those topics. --Singkong2005 · talk 03:56, 15 January 2007 (PST)
  22. Prevention and treatment are called out separately. What else is there? Description, diagnosis, prevalence, perhaps?
  23. I dropped specific diseases under "diseases, and implicitly raised "prevention and treatement" within each category to be included with categories as, say, Cysts.
  24. Bacteria is already plural right? And yet, my gut says adding the "s" is okay
  25. I wouldn't be making a fuss if someone added pages on these topics, but are they really part of Appropedia's focus? (Did Chris leave this?)
  26. Moved from Sanitation as agreed with Chris
  27. existing category(2)
  28. What is this? Is there a better label? Does it fit under something else?
  29. How is "wastewater treatment" distinct from Sanitation? Bigger? Smaller? Same?
  30. Need to change the name of the current category name by adding an "S".
  31. IMHO, the subcategories (bucket, double-vaulted) don't add value, can be added later. This is a recurring theme and needs to be addressed as a policy. Do we create empty or single-article categories and hope they grow? Meanwhile live with bunches of empty or near-empty categories, which seems annoying and seems to exaggerate gaps. Alternatively, we are forced to regularly create and expand categories, which has its own set of issues...
  32. Merged "improved pit latrines" into
  33. Is this solid was management, different from, say, wastewater treatment and sanitation?
  34. begin CULTURE AND COMMUNITY refs
  35. Category:Community exists with 51 members!
  36. Category:Corruption belongs here (1 article) and Poverty (1)
  37. "Culture and development" has 8 articles. Need to figure out where they fit
  38. New proposal:Active citizenry? Maybe that's different from Activism?
  39. Economics?
  40. Although I had originally suggested Banking as a category, commerce is a better meta term, and the category exists (1 member). For example, there are a variety of manufacturing articles that would seem to be supportive of sustainable development; they could fit under commerce along with banking. Another discussion might be licensing, permits, cap-and-trade, etc. Not all are applicable to 3rd world
  41. Finance already exists also. Seems broader than banking, so perhaps drop banking?
  42. I don't know if "Legal Systems" is the best top category? Maybe "Governance"? Or maybe it should be Justice itself, or Rule of law?
  43. begin ICT refs
  44. Now leaning toward "Education and Communication"
  45. where would satellite go? web connection?Email?
  46. If we have a category for repeaters, seems like computers deserve a slot
  47. begin ENERGY refs
  48. there's some inconsistency here. A mix between sources of energy and forms of energy. Sources may be: human, animal, wind, water, solar, etc. Forms might be mechanical, thermal, electrical, light, etc. We have human and wind under electrical, but windmills can be used for, yep, mills, or for pumping, with no electricity involved. Solution? A more complete subcategorization by energy form, or by source, or possibly both
  49. "Power and energy" was the former name. 6 members
  50. We have "electricity" as an existing category...what to do?
  51. Highlights the categorization problem. Need a "lighting" section
  52. Use the broader term, most are hydrogen anyway
  53. Subcategories may not be needed
  54. "Cooking" includes stoves and ovens, and consistent with policy, existing "Solar cooking" category, "heating" (not heaters) and "refrigeration" (not "refrigerators")
  55. This can also be done in the lower part of walls, right?
  56. Even if, technically, there are thermal and nonthermal version of solar hotwater, Chris and I agree that "solar thermal" is overly pedantic and not natural. In any case, choose the larger label that can include both thermal and non-thermal solar hotwater
  57. Category:Biofuel already exists...
  58. IMHO, these subcategories shouldn't exist for a while...Just bundle the small number of articles under the "Fuel" or "Biofuel" category.
  59. begin MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION refs
  60. Alternative building needs to be a redirect to Construction, or a subcat
  61. Huh?
  62. Bioremediation seems more like agriculture
  63. This also belongs in User resources, as does services availability, etc.
  64. begin TRANSPORTATION refs
  65. Distinguish between human focus and freight?
  66. Lots of oddball possibilities, seems almost like you need some kind of "alternative" category for things like Hovercraft
  67. Where would tractors belong? Here, or agriculture? Are they a tool? Where are tools categorized?!?
  68. Is this legitimate? Seems like?
  69. Is this skateboards and Segways? Is this meant to include motorcycles /scooters /mopeds? They carry about 4 people in many parts of the world. Should we say 2 wheels, 2 axles, multiaxle? These don't seem natural... Perhaps we need to capture some article titles and see where the potential content takes us.
  70. Consider "Human powered" section, to include bicycling, skating, rollerblading, skateboarding, skiing, walking etc?
  71. Do hybrids and plug-in hybrids go here?
  72. This was not brought forward. If it was intentionally dropped, then remove this...
  73. Is it fair to merge these?
  74. Two tech briefs at Practical Action on Ropeways
  75. (Yamaplos)
  76. 1 member
  77. Where to put clothing? This seems similar to shelter in terms of human need. Buildings are not really essential...The larger term might be shelter, including buildings and clothing. But what about non-shelter structures like antenna towers and greenhouses, etc? Okay, so maybe clothing, as protection, belongs in "Health and safety"...along with Laundry...
  78. Where to put Land use? Options like, construction, transportation, community all seem to make sense. My personal bias is toward community, since it feels like a "city planning" question. But perhaps Transportation is also :-)
  79. Only 1 member in RANT
  80. existing category name is singular ("tool")
  81. Interesting. Tools are not an inherent human need, but a means to an end. Getting more philosophical, all technologies are tools, and so the whole site is about tools, but many tools are highly specialized. So the more general tools fall into the "tool" bucket. One could argue that Tools is a meta-topic, and that ICT belongs under tools. If we were to pursue that method (fine by me), then Education might belong under Community. I would also be fine with that.
  82. Currently, Knots is a subcategory of How_to
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