User talk:Zamiel

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Red Carpet Association

Hey Sam,

Not exactly sure how the whole wiki thing works, and frankly not all that interested in reading for hours to get oriented because I never intended to be involved in any long term manner.

This isn't about a sensitivity to editing. I simply had a concern to correct a longstanding incorrect historical record. I noticed that you deleted and rearranged what I had posted shortly after I submitted it.

Now I realize the whole stub was a bit of a tangent, given that the "trivia" involved was not even pertinent to the Red Carpet Association. It was about history concerning the crossover of three corps who were involved in both circuits.

Your editing indeed brings it back on topic. But it was swift correction. I'm wondering how long the tangent stood as it was before I took the liberty of editing it. Years?

The correction to history - I trust you read it before you deleted it - for the accuracy of the drum corps record should be recorded elswhere (in DCA history).

I apologize if I breeched protocol. I had no intention in doing so.

Carl Bibeau (groovsmyth)

Hi Carl, I have no problem with your mini article about the Brigadiers and this correction ( Talk:Red_Carpet_Association ), however it doesn't have anything to do with the Red Carpet Association. It is appropriate for the Brigadiers article or possibly the DCA article. You could even make a new article about the 1972 DCA Championships. As it stands it is unfortunate that DCA has not fixed their records but the RCA article in DrumCorpsWiki is not the place to clear the air. Neither has what you have written been deleted; it's still there in the talk page of the article: Talk:Red_Carpet_Association so you could make a new article out of it if you so choose. --Sam King 15:27, 2 November 2011 (PDT)

Sam,

I understand the editing decision. I guess what I really don't understand is the timing of it. I've got to wonder how long the original Roger Ellis entry stood - even though it digressed to trivia about the Brigadiers DCA endeavors - yet when I tried to correct the historical record that was introduced, my entry was swiftly edited.

The easy answer was that it probably wasn't posted originally during your watch . . . and mine was.

As I said, I am not conversant with the technicalities that is Wiki so I didn't realize the entry was still there under discussion.

Thank you for responding to my inquiry so promptly.

I doubt that I would write about the 1973 DCA's. I have no idea how to navigate this site and not sure if I have the patience for the learning curve.

Perhaps you could take up my cause. You're more connected as I've been out of corps for 30+ years. I tried to help restore accuracy to the issue I wrote about earlier, with the Thunderbirds business manager as go between to Tom Peashey but it apparently went nowhere because DCA records read as they always have. As I said in the article, they don't match with Fleetwood's audio record of history. It was a transcribing error in the 70s that went to print. And as we all know print is supposed to be more difficult to change than editing a wordprocessing screen. But time has shown that motivation to correct is the MOST difficult hurdle.

Carl

Okay Carl you convinced me :) I will start work on the DCA Championships page and incorporate your correction. Eventually it would be nice to have a page for every championship but we have our hands full at the moment just getting a page for every corps. The timing of the change was due to the fact that I tend to monitor the Recentchanges page for new things. So a recent change is more likely to draw my attention. Most of the time I am deleting SPAM pages that someone out there puts in on a regular basis. It's nice to do something that actually contributes to the project for a change. cheers, Sam --Sam King 10:23, 3 November 2011 (PDT)

-) Way to go, Sam. I might even have more patience than I gave myself credit. Maybe this ol' dog can learn some new Wiki tricks if he applies himself. They say it's good to take on some intellectual stimulation with new 'hobbies' or the mind completely goes 

)

I had some good reports about getting the info accurate. Ron Allard changed it on hid Diceman historical site and CorpsReps. And the Thunderbirds changed it on their website history as well. Ron says Tom Peashey told him 'Glenn' was going to change it on DCA's pdf for 1973, so things are looking up.

User Information Boxes

I have finished a User Information Box template. You can check out how to use it there and then just reply to this or go to my talk page and request any other templates with the titles and stuff you want.
--Pat61 14:52, 5 November 2011 (PDT)

It looks good Pat. Hopefully it will encourage users to put things up on their user page. --Sam King 15:11, 5 November 2011 (PDT)

Edit Request

I'm sorry to bother you, but I have a proposed change to DrumCorpsWiki:About that I don't have the authority to edit. I propose changing the first paragraph to "DrumCorpsWiki is a collaborative encyclopedia of all things relating to Drum Corps. The idea is based on the Wikipedia model, where thousands and thousands people have generated an amazing resource using Wiki technology." Basically, it's just a minor change to wording, capitalization, and a description of the editors using Wikipedia. Thank you! Ant1pr0t0n 05:14, 11 November 2011 (PST)

That's good edit. Done. --Sam King 16:18, 11 November 2011 (PST)

Spam

Is there a way that we could set up user groups beyond just Admins and Others? Set up something like:

Accounts - No Edits Editors - Can Edit Admins - Admins

This could help spam...

SPAM is definitely a problem here at DrumCorpsWiki and I don't enjoy spending so much time dealing with it, however I am reluctant to restrict what casual users can do here. We have a very small group contributing here; most users have a particular area or corps they want to update or contribute to. Often they contribute once or twice and then don't return. Many users who are motivated to contribute in this way are unfamiliar with "Web 2.0" sites and have to spend a significant amount of effort in order to make what appears to others to be a simple edit. Disallowing edits for new users would mean we would be unlikely to see these contributions to the wiki. If there were no SPAM problem we could open up edits to unregistered users as Wikipedia does and I believe we would see more contributions. I think the current system is a good compromise. --Sam King 10:58, 16 November 2011 (PST)

Spam

Hi Sam,

I'm going to look into the spam problem, upgrade the software, and see if edits should be restricted to registered users. After some time, I'll have to determine whether drumcorpswiki is a valuable enough resource to justify the necessary maintenance.

Thanks Harlan. After some thought, I think it can be handled manually. It's only the actual SPAM articles that need to be removed. The SPAM users and user pages are just annoyances. --Sam King 18:54, 2 February 2012 (PST)

Captcha on edit! That will help. --Sam King 18:55, 2 February 2012 (PST)

Would you say the Captcha has had any effect on the proliferation of new spam pages? /WikiSysop/ 09:27, 10 February 2012 (PST)

Yes. It's significantly down from previous to the upgrade. I can't give a precise measure; I would estimate that it's 10% or less of what it was. I think Captcha makes it a little more difficult for them to post and they move on to other wikis. --Sam King 17:26, 10 February 2012 (PST)

Logos

I have a lot of respect for you, Sam. I certainly wouldn't have the patience to delete all the spam that shows up daily. I had no idea it was so extensive.

What are the specific elements you're looking for in a logo? What do you see as the dominant device? Do you think wiki or drum corps should be stressed?

I saw that a logo continues on your list of to-dos and thought that I might do some doodling toward that end.

Carl (Groovsmyth)

Hi Carl. Unfortunately it's something all the wikis are dealing with at the moment. I think it may ease off when the Spammers see that it is both less easy to post (because of the Captcha requirement) and that the wiki is being maintained. Harland, our Sysop, has instituted some changes that make it easier to keep up with the SPAM, including the Captcha feature, so that helps.

It would be great if you would do some work on a logo. There are some fits and starts on the logo project talk page however there aren't any real criteria. I personally would like to see something characteristically drum corps as part of it. It needn't be related to the wikipedia logo at all.--Sam King 12:51, 7 April 2012 (PDT)

Sam, if you're interested in the blue logo, I did some variations in a darker blue and made the design elements cleaner and crisper.

So why no feedback on the logo idea yet? Are you no longer interested in changing it, or is it low priority?

Sorry Carl. Anti-spam efforts and nonwiki things have kept me from thinking about this. I will have a look and submit my comments soon. --Sam King 17:00, 4 October 2012 (PDT)