User talk:Zompist

From Almeopedia

This will be out of date by tomorrow, but at the time of writing the number of links to User:Zompist is exactly the same as the number of links to Ktuvoks (twelve, or thirteen once I post this). This made me chuckle when I was looking at the Wanted page. Like, you're exactly as popular as ktuvoks: no more no less. How does it feel? Zerrakhi 06:08, 30 August 2006 (PDT)

That's fine... in my experience, people are pretty interested in ktuvoks! Zompist 07:46, 30 August 2006 (PDT)

Contents 1 Count of Years 2 On links and minor articles 3 Own conlangs+conworlds 4 Email from frederic.sebastian@gmx.de for registration at zompist bboard 5 Emai! 6 Request

Count of Years

In your edit summary, you wrote: "Final compilation wasn't shorter than earliest versions". This is true, but what I wrote was that the final compilation was shorter than twice the length of the earliest versions. Given the number of edits over the centuries, it strikes me as more remarkable that it ended up less than twice the original length, than that it ended up almost twice the original length; intuitively, it wouldn't surprise me had it ended up well in excess of that mark. Zerrakhi 08:42, 12 September 2006 (PDT)

The statement as you had it was kind of weird. To be precise, let's call the length of the book in the earliest manuscripts E, the length of late pre-canon typical versions P, and the length of the canonical compilation C. What I said in the Commentary is that P ~= 2E. I didn't give any numerical comparison of P and C, or of P and E. Zompist 10:21, 12 September 2006 (PDT)

The relevant excerpt from the commentary is: "The final Cuêzi version of the work-- nearly twice as long as the earliest manuscripts-- was compiled in Alaldas around 1350". That's C ~= 2E. Zerrakhi 10:36, 12 September 2006 (PDT)

Ah, you're right. Since C is a little under 2E, I think I'll say that P is a little over 2E. Zompist 10:47, 12 September 2006 (PDT)

On links and minor articles

As you can probably tell, I'm presently working backwards through the alphabet and making any changes that seem to me as enhancements or improvements.

It may be expedient to check if I'm on the same wavelength as you on a couple of matters, so here are some of my thoughts. If the Almeopedia is Almea for short attention spans, and if the target audience includes people with no prior knowledge of Almea, then it is reasonable as a design goal to make it as easy as possible for people to look up whatever information they want. This can only be achieved with lots of links, so that whenever an article mentions something that readers may be curious to learn more about, or whenever an article mentions an unfamiliar term that is a little too complex or pervasive to be explained parenthetically in every article where it occurs, the reader can cross-reference to an explanation.

Assuming the design goals as I've supposed them, it is better to err on the side of too many links than too few; but on the other hand, you may not want the wiki to be swamped with numerous small glossary-entry articles. There is always the median possibility (if it suits you, which it may not) of creating some "glossary"-type articles, modelled on examples from Wikipedia such as [1]. Most of the time, the best way I can help is probably by flagging items that could do with some explanation by turning them into links; it requires your comprehensive knowledge of Almea to know in advance which topics merit an article and which merit only a glossary entry at most.

I've also been making the assumption that the Almeopedia should be written as though Almea were a complete fantasy world. In reality, you're not God and there are plenty of gaps, but when writing or editing articles I generally abstract out the mundane fact of Almea's incompleteness and write as though anything which would merit an article in a real universe does in fact merit an article. I think of this as an abstraction in the programming sense; an idealisation that prevents extensive knowledge of Almea and its state of implementation from being a prerequisite for contributing.

As always, it goes without saying that anything I do which doesn't please you, I will no longer do as soon as I understand this. Zerrakhi 02:34, 18 September 2006 (PDT)

The overall goals seem right (helping people understand Almea; having articles for anything that can't be explained in a parenthetical). I doubt that the Almeopedia would be someone's first stop, but it is designed for exploration.

As for the level of links, it's hard to say without examples, but it's probably best to go easy on adding links without articles to go with them. Geographical names are fair game, as are specifically Almean concepts (e.g. the Cuzeian aure or House). Realistically, I'm not going to get to minor cities or nobles for a long time, so red links for them are not that useful. Besides, it's pretty easy to add links after an article is written. Zompist 08:30, 18 September 2006 (PDT)

Own conlangs+conworlds

On the Main page, you said everyone could have "[...]one or more[...]" pages about their own conlangs and -worlds. I suggest everyone should use only one page, their User page, at the beginning and if it gets too large for one page then they can extend the number of pages. Just so you know, I'll start with my conlang and -world on my UP. --Peorion Medriles i Kagöt 05:07, 29 March 2007 (PST)

P.S.: Oh, and does your concountryname "Verduria" got something to do with french "verdure"="greenness"? I just realized that because your virtuver is green!

Yes, using your userpage is fine. English has the word 'verdure' too; that's certainly the out-of-universe origin of the name! Zompist 07:51, 29 March 2007 (PST)

Thanks. Oh, and I've just loaded up an image. If that's not OK, tell me a day before deletion so I can delete the link on my UP. --PMiK 05:43, 30 March 2007 (PST)

P.S.:I am quite familiar with the Mediawiki software, and if you need layouting things or if you want to know more about e.g. why on some wikis you just type the URL of an image and it appears and on some not and how it can be turned on/off, just ask me.

P.P.S.:I'm gonna try out these and similar things, that's why I'll create Almeopedia:Sandbox in a minute :-).

Email from frederic.sebastian@gmx.de for registration at zompist bboard

Yes, the sender of the email is me. I just thought I'd tell you in case you wouldn't believe me ;-).--PMiK 07:05, 6 May 2007 (PDT)

Emai!

Im etadelan lë, pavetei perem ivram lë (“iž zonán lelmo, eššane”). Kiel läde?

(Esli Sfahe esë e mal, urë pyeru. Ai debutec.) Adso de Fimnu 19:58, 29 September 2007 (PDT)

(Zompist hüe...) E pav impuyec ket plere so ivro. Ac pavî impuyecî eu lyö čačî. Lelmam... čascurao dy esme ci-zonán... Zompist 23:07, 29 September 2007 (PDT)

Ä, ča, čascurao otál. Acotál, tenao faďnesa. Bosa! Adso de Fimnu 13:01, 30 September 2007 (PDT)

Request

Could you change my username to Stilgar? I got sort of bored wid my previous username. Al-Bargit 08:30, 16 October 2007 (PDT)

MediaWiki doesn't let me change usernames. Do you want me to create a new account with that name? Zompist 08:49, 16 October 2007 (PDT)

Yes, exactly. Al-Bargit 09:52, 16 October 2007 (PDT)

OK, done. Password = username; you can change that. Zompist 08:02, 17 October 2007 (PDT)