Wiki/Report of Meeting 2023-03-01

Report of Meeting 2023-03-01

Present: Art Anger, Dave Lambert, Devon McCormick, Raul Miller, and Bob Therriault

1. Art began the discussion with a question about the ambiguity of the term row - is it adding two rows together or if it is the sum of the atoms in the row. Raul suggested that examples can go a long way in clarifying those issues. Art wondered if the term sum over a row might be a good approach. Devon said he thought the examples are the best approach.
2. Bob showed the page that he had started about contributing to the wiki. https://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/Category:Contibuting_to_the_J_Wiki_W.2 He hopes to explore the creation of this page as a way to come up with a template for the content of other category tree pages that are not at the top of the hierarchy. As Bob showed the category tree, Dave remarked that he had not seen that before and would certainly take a look at it.
3. Bob showed a mind map that he had developed for the content of the contributions page and took input on what would be appropriate content. Bob felt that the first part of the page should be about how to join the wiki and what expectations are for contributors. Bob also suggested that he might use collapsible content to minimize the need to have the user leave the page. Bob planned to use Devon's User page for wiki tips https://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/User:Devon_McCormick/WikiTips#time:1 since there was some very good content there. Raul mentioned that a frequently asked questions section might be a good are for the page. Bob said he was planning to use a question format so that the user could quickly get answers from a drop down. Art suggested that there also be examples in the answers, so that users might use the example as a template. Art wondered about using the mouse over for a pop-up, but the feeling of the group was that pop-ups can obscure information as much as they add to it. Diagrams might be an example where pop ups can add because when the mouse is off the diagram then the whole diagram is available. Devon brought the Essays/Cat across to the new wiki https://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/Essays/Cat so that it would not be lost and we could use the description of categories as a starting point for wiki contributors. The end result of this work on the Contribution page is to provide a guide for contributors so that we can use references to the information instead of doing individual explanations for contributors. The Contribution page may allow us to spend our energy on exceptions rather than explain run of the mill challenges.
4. Raul wondered about the ways that search would be used with the categories. Bob showed that the wiki search had a tab for advanced search that enables categories and that the J Code search might include categories as well. The wiki search should have categories prioritized if that is possible. This would also make good content for the page on Using the Wiki.
5. Discussing the style guide, Bob felt that we should be using the <ref> tag more often to create footnotes. This has the added benefit of ordering the footnotes as well as showing the link of a footnote without having to disrupt the text.
6. A discussion on what the expectations that we would have of contributors followed. Is the wiki a wild west wiki where everyone can contribute as they wish in the form that they wish or a more restricted one. Devon and Raul felt that we should not be too prescriptive in our expectations and let the wiki grow organically. Art mentioned that this growth should be done within the structure. Bob felt that there were parts of the wiki like NuVoc that were a bit more restrictive than the general content pages. Raul pointed out that there are other areas like the Fifty Shades of J that also have more of a structure than general content. The J wiki group may end up in the position of reviewing new contributions to fit them to the proper categories and also to help contributors make their pages more visible.
7. Bob asked about the approach that we should take to organize voluntary contributions. A more business-like approach would be to give deadlines for completion. Devon mentioned the approach that had been used with Fifty Shades of J https://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/Fifty_Shades_of_J which was a sign up and then put in a check mark when the page is completed. Bob thought that as we find pages that need to be updated that we could add them to a list for people to select. There is an Update category that could fall those pages as we discover that. Devon felt that it might be a good introduction to wiki maintenance that would follow people's interests. Bob wondered if there should be a deadline on how long that we leave an update page once a person has claimed it. Devon thought that we could use the discussion pages to remind people of their commitments and to free up pages when a person could not complete. Devon though that we could date the page when the person claims it.
8. Dave wondered how many J programmers we were aware of beyond the forums. Bob felt that most of the awareness was through the J forums, although recently there had been more action on the APL Farm discord. Raul mentioned that teachers have used J and those students would have some knowledge without necessarily participating in the forums. Devon mentioned that there is a group on twitter that seem to be separate from the forums. Dave introduced himself as getting involved in APL with Dave Gilman son of Leonard Rose of Gilman and Rose's APL an Interactive Approach. We appreciate his interest in the development of the wiki.

For access to previous meeting reports https://code.jsoftware.com/wiki/Wiki_Development If you would like to participate in the development of the J wiki please contact us on the general forum and we will get you an invitation to the next J wiki meeting held on Thursdays at 24:00 (UTC) Next meeting is March 9th, 2023.