[R-wiki] Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced indicator

[Patrick Burns]

I think having some identifier is a very good idea.

I'm not convinced that the wiki should be dedicated to
beginners only.  In my vision subjects would have a
layered set of pages -- the main page would be at the
beginner level.  That page would have links to several
intermediate topics, which might each have links to
advanced topics.

This structure satisfies two very dissimilar styles of learning.
There are those (like my wife) who have to have an overall
picture of what is happening before anything makes sense.
There are others who have to have details before the picture
forms at all.  A former colleague of mine is an extreme example
of the latter -- he had to know what every function did in
detail before he was satisfied that he knew what a package did.

I don't think that we can enforce a layered approach to pages,
but I think it would be a definite benefit if we encouraged it as
much as possible.  The main thing that I think is wrong with
S Poetry is that it  isn't layered.


Patrick Burns
patrick at burns-stat.com
+44 (0)20 8525 0696
http://www.burns-stat.com
(home of S Poetry and "A Guide for the Unwilling S User")

Philippe Grosjean wrote:

>Hello,
>
>Although the R Wiki site would primarily be dedicated to beginners, 
>there is already, and there will be in the future several pages dealing 
>with more advanced topics.
>
>In order to spot this, I propose little icons easy to integrate in the 
>pages (for instance :--+: means something dedicated exclusively to 
>experts, see: "Smileys & other icons in 
>http://www.sciviews.org/_rgui/wiki/doku.php?id=wiki:syntax).
>
>You can see examples of using these indicators at:
>http://www.sciviews.org/_rgui/wiki/doku.php?id=rtips:data:import
>and 
>http://www.sciviews.org/_rgui/wiki/doku.php?id=beginners:surprises:emptysetfuncs
>for instance.
>
>What do you think about it? Personnally, I found them nice when I did 
>draw the icons, but they look a little "toyish" once integrated in the 
>Wiki pages. Does someone have a better idea to help spotting items 
>related to each user's skill?
>
>Best,
>
>Philippe Grosjean
>--
>..............................................<°}))><........
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>( ( ( ( (    Prof. Philippe Grosjean
>  ) ) ) ) )
>( ( ( ( (    Numerical Ecology of Aquatic Systems
>  ) ) ) ) )   Mons-Hainaut University, Pentagone (3D08)
>( ( ( ( (    Academie Universitaire Wallonie-Bruxelles
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>( ( ( ( (    email: Philippe.Grosjean at umh.ac.be
>  ) ) ) ) )
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