[R-wiki] R jargon

[Philippe Grosjean]

One thing that can be done is to update the list of abbreviations to 
include R specific terms. The Wiki adds automatically a little tooltip 
text with the definition that is activated each time the user moves the 
mouse cursor on top of the word.

A page with the definitions would be worth too.

Regarding the mitigate success of the Wiki, that contrasts with other 
languages where the wiki is really the primary source of information (I 
think at Tcl/Tk, for instance). I think the reason is the other 
"channels" of information are pre-existing the R wiki, and people are 
used to them. Regarding R blogs, the reason is different: it looks more 
technically up-to-date to have and use a blog than a wiki... although I 
think the wiki is better for collaborative writing of documentation in a 
centralized place.

The "wikified" version of help pages with a discussion section was, I 
think, a good idea but I never got the time to finalize the plugin and 
to install a system that automatically synch wiki versions of help pages 
with latest version, ... as intended.

Now, the new HTTP help server introduced in R 2.10 opens new 
perspectives. If someone is connected to the Internet, it should be 
possible to add the discussion section of the corresponding wiki page at 
the bottom of the regular help page. Hence, every user that would add 
this feature (by means of a rwiki package that is still to be written) 
would get a very easy and convenient access to related wiki pages. Then, 
of course, people would have to populate the discussion sections with 
short tips, comments, or links to other related wiki pages, ... but the 
key feature here would be to bring the R wiki right inside (at the 
bottom of) the regular help pages.

That's what I think would be most helpful to leverage the R wiki that 
has a lot a nice stuff now (but also other pages of mixed, or even, low 
quality, that would require post-processing by R experts... but that's 
another problem)!

Best,

Philippe

..............................................<°}))><........
  ) ) ) ) )
( ( ( ( (    Prof. Philippe Grosjean
  ) ) ) ) )
( ( ( ( (    Numerical Ecology of Aquatic Systems
  ) ) ) ) )   Mons University, Belgium
( ( ( ( (
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On 09/08/10 10:27, Patrick Burns wrote:
> Thanks for the good question, Ben.
>
> I'm looking for volunteers. I'm
> definitely not going to have time to
> learn enough wiki stuff to put the
> structure in place.
>
> Once the structure is there, I would
> put definitions in. But I'd prefer
> for someone to volunteer to do that
> as well -- I have one or two other
> things in mind to do.
>
> Pat
>
>
> On 08/08/2010 21:27, Ben Bolker wrote:
>> So ... are you asking requesting commentary on whether this is a
>> good idea or not? (Seems so to me.) Asking for for help in porting
>> this/volunteers to port it? (I might help, but I also might not find
>> time. I would be happy if someone else volunteered ...)
>>
>> I guess I'm as frustrated as (perhaps) all of the other wiki contributors
>> that it hasn't taken off, and that the primary source of information
>> as well
>> as the primary sink of energy for answering questions remains the mailing
>> list. (Now Stackoverflow, Stackexchange, and various R blogs are also
>> competing for this energy ...)
>> I intended to make contributions to the wiki be a class activity, but I
>> never really got around to it. I still think that's a good idea.
>>
>> Ben Bolker
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 6:29 AM, Patrick Burns<patrick at burns-stat.com>
>> wrote:
>>> The document 'Some hints for the R beginner'
>>> is gradually becoming more complete and gradually
>>> gaining momentum in terms of hits.
>>>
>>> One of the more popular sub-pages is the jaRgon
>>> page even though there is hardly anything on it.
>>>
>>> I think the R-wiki is the place that such a list
>>> should live. My vision is that for each word
>>> there be a brief definition and then a link to a
>>> wiki page for the word. A number of definitions
>>> would be on the same page.
>>>
>>> I think this could be the application that finally
>>> gives the R-wiki the boost that it needs to fulfill
>>> its promise. The people learning R from the 'hints'
>>> document would come to think of the R-wiki as a
>>> natural place to look for information.
>>>
>>> The steps to do this are to create the structure
>>> within the wiki for it, and then to populate the
>>> definitions. The glossary from S Poetry should be
>>> a good starting point. I'm also happy to donate
>>> the jaRgon pun.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Patrick Burns
>>> patrick at burns-stat.com
>>> http://www.burns-stat.com
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> R-sig-wiki mailing list
>>> R-sig-wiki at r-project.org
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-wiki
>>>
>>
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>