| 1257858438|%a|agohover |
|
1257858438|%Y|agohover |
I have been struggling to think of something to blog about; hence, I haven't. So after 18 days, I've decided that I'm going to blog about my latest Wikidot projects:
| STORIES | AND | FAMILIES |
Stories
Most stories are linear — that is, you read them from start to finish in the order of ascending page numbers, as the author wants you to.
How do stories relate to a wiki engine? Well, what if one were to start writing a story, page by page. When that person stops, another person can continue the story by writing their own pages onto it. Stories can then become collaborative works, and as we know, wikis are perfect for collaborative works.
But why stop there? What if you don't like the path that somebody writes the story into? What if you didn't like the direction that the story was taking? What if you had alternative scenarios of a story? Multiple endings to a story, depending on the plots YOU choose along the way. This is something that typical wiki engines are not capable of; but as we know, Wikidot is not your typical wiki engine.
I've created a site, Neverending Stories, which can do this.
What I now need to do is create a series of interesting “starter points” where people will want to continue the story and participate.
Families
Families are, without a doubt, more complicated than quantum mechanics. So when it comes to drawing up a map of your family, things become very tedious and confusing.
So I decided to create a Wikidot Application to organise our families: AKA, a family tree application.
All you need to do is add a person, and then create their children. With each child, you parent the child to the other parent. Then, for each individual, my Wikidot application will automatically:
- Display all grandparents
- Display the parent/s
- Display all aunts/uncles
- Display all siblings
- Display all children
- Display all grandchildren
That's right! Five generations are automatically calculated and displayed. You hardly have to lift a finger!
Currently, the user interface is in development, and not ready for public usage yet. However, the functionality exists and is working beautifully.
I can't wait to launch these! They're going to be awesome!
λ James Kanjo
I've seen a few books that work in a very similar way to this. Basically, they have a few pages of text, then ask you what you'd like to do next. Depending on your choice, you're directed to continue reading from a different page number.
Generally, your task is to escape in some way. Making the wrong choice could lead to a dead end — which would then direct you to a page number that you're guaranteed to have already read, so that you can try again, a bit like a maze.
And that's where your application is different. Although the format is the same, your stories never end, regardless of which path you take. Interesting :)
I think it should be set up like this:
Shane Smith ★ Website: Wikidot Development & Programming. ★ STE Wikidot Editor: Windows. Mac. Linux. ★ Twitter. Google+.
From what I saw, it looks great so far. I seem to have lost the link so I'll have to check my PMs for it again later ;) I'll wait until you're almost finished before making any comments on the design, usefulness, etc
Shane Smith ★ Website: Wikidot Development & Programming. ★ STE Wikidot Editor: Windows. Mac. Linux. ★ Twitter. Google+.
Trackback: http://shane.wikify.me/blog:24 :)
Created by the ever-determined James Kanjo, is a new wiki with one focus: allowing people to collaborate on several fictional, never-ending stories. Originally announced on his blog earlier today, James says that if someone were to begin writing a story on a wiki, but later decided to stop due to a lack of time, "another person can continue the story by writing their own pages". He continues: "Stories can then become collaborative works, and as we know, wikis are perfect for collaborative works."
Shane Smith ★ Website: Wikidot Development & Programming. ★ STE Wikidot Editor: Windows. Mac. Linux. ★ Twitter. Google+.
I tried somethng like this story idea once. Is there any way I ca. Help? I can start stories, if you want.
Shane! Thank you so so much! You're very kind.
graphmastur, I would love your creativity to be introduced into the site. Start as many stories as you want!
λ James Kanjo
Blog | Wikidot Expert | λ and Proud
Web Developer | HTML | CSS | JavaScript
I started a story not too long ago. That is a fantastic idea!
— Blog ~ Life's Handbook ~ Wikidot Design & Development
Where has James got to? :(
Shane Smith ★ Website: Wikidot Development & Programming. ★ STE Wikidot Editor: Windows. Mac. Linux. ★ Twitter. Google+.
I don't know where he is. I sent him a pm.
Kill that sucker! D:
Shane Smith ★ Website: Wikidot Development & Programming. ★ STE Wikidot Editor: Windows. Mac. Linux. ★ Twitter. Google+.
Seriously? Didn't they just release Vista? I'm so not impressed with Microsoft. And I went out exploring and finally uploaded the latest Linux OS, Ubuntu. Way way better if you asked me!! Not only is it completely free but it's better, user friendly and to get software, you just click the equivilent of the start menu, hit 'add software' and the OS searches the net for you and gives you a list of things that you can click to install. No downloads, no hassles and no money!!! It rocks.
Post preview:
Close preview