User/Community Projects

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Rink
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User/Community Projects

Post by Rink »

Was just thinking: of late there have been a few discussions about bits of hardware etc. that people have worked on and most of it is pretty cool.

Maybe there should be a prominant area of the Wiki that shows these projects? Non production stuff or projects that aren't being sold are still probably very interesting to casual visitors of the site - gives them an idea about what you can do with the Dragons, who people can talk to if they have a similar idea in mind, and will help show where we have gaps i.e. what expansions other systems have but that we don't.

If people want to show schematics or offer downloadable PCB designs etc. then that should be up to them but those Wiki pages would be a good place to put them.
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robcfg
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by robcfg »

We already have a DIY section on the 'Technical' wiki page.

People are free to add their projects there or even to create a new category on that page.
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Rolo
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by Rolo »

Maybe we should have a common policy, where to put hardware projects. At the moment we use "Hints and Tips" or "Dragon General", which probably are not the best categories for that. Maybe the admin (, is that you robcfg?) can tell us, where to put those. Maybe a special hardware section of the forum or the technical page.
And yes, we should upload the schematics or gerber files. I mean, we are not doing any rocket science, which has to be kept secret. It would be a pity to accidentally loose the files. Maybe somebody want's to make another copy of a project. Well, personally, I always would ask the author, if there is a PCB or a cartridge left, instead of starting all over again. But at least, there would be an option to do so.
Rink
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by Rink »

I just think burying them in the DIY section or even in the message board, is maybe missing an opportunity to promote that this is an active community with new stuff happening - even if it is a little slower than the scenes for other 8-bit systems.

World of Dragon is great, but we could do more to promote the Dragon and show what a cool platform it is for retro-gamers and hardware hacking fans.

But yeah, Rolo's issue wasn't quite what I was getting at but I think we do also need a new section on the forum. I'm guilty of posting some in general and some in hints.
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Rolo
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by Rolo »

Is somewhat even more rewarding, than on other more popular platforms, where everything already has been done and all is mega-professional. I mean, on the C64 for example, the level is really high. A simple cartridge would not raise any interest there :shock: . They already have thousands. Not easy. A fulltime job!
For the Dragon I could not find many products and it's still possible to do something new, without investing too much time and money. But of course, not many people, who bother anyway. No fame involved :D .
Rink, do you have any suggestion or a good idea, how you'd like to see the projects promoted?
Rink
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by Rink »

I think it'd be good (and easy) to have a link from the hardware section on the wiki primary nav, to a start page where this stuff could be placed - with further links to a Wiki page for each item.

Has the added benefit of giving new visitors almost a shopping cart listing of new expansions they could buy (for the ones that are being sold) or make, or even just get inspiration from.

I'd also quite like to see a news block on that front page - something eye catching and that highlights new game releases or hardware project news. The first example that comes to mind is the kind of thing on the MSX.org home page. Obviously, the community would have a certain responsibility to provide the admins with interesting news. :)

If people see stuff happening, they might be inclined to join in.
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tormod
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by tormod »

The owner/admin of this site is Simon, but he does not have time to work much on it. The site being a wiki it should be easy for all of us to contribute though.

Having some "featured content" on the front page would be nice. I believe the front page requires special privileges for editing, and I don't know if anyone except Simon can edit it. Would be nice if he could let you guys live out your ideas.
Rink
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by Rink »

My PHP is a bit rusty (more of a C# and Objective C guy these days) but I'd be happy to help out wherever needed.

Some script to load news items from a page within the Wiki (that others can edit) and format them into a home page block wouldn't be too bad to write and then frees Simon up to delegate the news admin task without giving away full control of the home screen. Could probably do it with a bit of client-side javascript actually - not my first choice for this kind of thing, but sometimes it's the easiest way to slap new functionality into existing systems.
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robcfg
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by robcfg »

Well, I know it's not the better solution, but you can always check the 'Recent Changes' page through the link in the front page of the wiki...
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tormod
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Re: User/Community Projects

Post by tormod »

I would rather have a number of trusted users being able to manually edit the front page which also adds some editorial filtering, rather than a pile of scripts.
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