[R-wiki] Gelman's comments about R tips vs Wiki

[Andrew Gelman]

dear ben,

as the author of two 600-page books i can appreciate the difficulties of 
trying to be inclusive!  it's a paradox of the faq that as it becomes 
more inclusive, it becomes harder to use.  thanks in any case for 
organizing this!

yours
andrew

Ben Bolker wrote:

>
>   Andrew Gelman posted a link to "Rtips" on his web site.  Gregor
> (Gorjanc???) pointed out that they were being moved to the Wiki,
> and Andrew said he preferred the simpler page [see below].  This 
> disturbs me ... I'd hate to maintain two different versions, and
> I'm uncomfortable with the idea that we're putting the information
> in a format where it is *less* accessible (at least to some readers). 
> Is there any way we can tweak the design of the Wiki so more people like
> Andrew will find it useful?
>    Revisiting the discussion from a couple of days ago, where
> Phillipe said that the "one big page" model was going to be too
> hard on the server -- is there any way to make it easier?  Can
> pages be cached?  Or should we all donate money toward upgrading?
> (I do wonder a bit how well the server will manage if this
> all takes off and it starts getting thousands of hits a day ...)
>
>   [in the mean time I have added an explicit link to R tips in the Wiki]
>
>   cheers
>      Ben
>
> -------------------------
> Comments
>
> Hello!
>
> These pages are now being moved to R wiki.
>
> Posted by: Gregor at April 17, 2006 11:53 PM
>
> Gregor,
>
> I find the R Wiki a bit overwhelming and actually prefer Johnson's 
> simpler page. For me, there's a point at which the nonlinearity of 
> hyperlinks just adds confusion. Perhaps this is one reason I still 
> write books.
>
> I hope Johnson continues to maintain his webpage, or else I hope the 
> Wiki people put in a prominent link to the old version.
>
> Posted by: Andrew [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 18, 2006 06:17 AM


-- 
Andrew Gelman
Professor, Department of Statistics
Professor, Department of Political Science
gelman at stat.columbia.edu
www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman

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