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Dec. 22nd, 2013 12:53 pmI have a problem--I am currently one of maybe two or three people trying to keep an entire wiki from sliding into the ground, and I can't do this job alone.
Q: What wiki is it?
A: The wikis are a ShoutWiki called Saecula Novae and a Wikia site called Speculative Evolution Wiki. We are in the process of moving the wiki to ShoutWiki manually, cleaning up pages as they go, and leaving behind pages and projects that aren't any good.
Q: What is the wiki about?
A: It's about speculative evolution. Basically, speculative evolution is the practice of looking at possible paths evolution could take, either in the future (future evolution), an alternate timeline (alternative evolution), or on another planet (extraterrestrial evolution). It is similar to worldbuilding, but it is a highly scientific exercise as well as an artistic one. For instance, flying cats were once on the wiki and quickly gained infamy, but were deleted because they were implausible.
For a more in-depth look, check out article. For an example of alternative evolution, see the Specworld Project.
Q: Why are you asking us rather than other people who are already active members of the speculative evolution community?
A: Currently, our members are several people around 13 with overly active imaginations (some of whom I'm going to have to ban because they didn't read Wikia's TOS requiring them to be over 13), one individual who writes tutorial articles, and another administrator who hasn't actually done much in several months and just wants to torch the place because he finally got fed up. I have tried advertising on forums dedicated to speculative evolution, but there has been no one actually willing to put in the time and effort... and I'm unable to both keep the Wikia site from degrading and move to the ShoutWiki site at the same time. Especially when I have to deal with college.
So, again, I need help.
Q: What skills would be necessary to be helpful?
A: Well, some layman's understanding of biology would be helpful. But you don't have to be a professional; I'm not and the project I'm working on, Rix, was generally received well. If you're conservative with what you postulate, and stay away from the really exotic stuff (plasma-based life, radically different blood oxygen transporters like Vaska's Complex, et cetera), you shouldn't have too much trouble.
There are also several community projects, all of which are future evolution. These are what I would recommend to work on for beginners, since most of the details about the planet are already known, and the scenario for each time period states what the general environment is.
Artists who could draw some of the life forms would be invaluable, and anyone who can wikicode would be of great help.
Q: What wiki is it?
A: The wikis are a ShoutWiki called Saecula Novae and a Wikia site called Speculative Evolution Wiki. We are in the process of moving the wiki to ShoutWiki manually, cleaning up pages as they go, and leaving behind pages and projects that aren't any good.
Q: What is the wiki about?
A: It's about speculative evolution. Basically, speculative evolution is the practice of looking at possible paths evolution could take, either in the future (future evolution), an alternate timeline (alternative evolution), or on another planet (extraterrestrial evolution). It is similar to worldbuilding, but it is a highly scientific exercise as well as an artistic one. For instance, flying cats were once on the wiki and quickly gained infamy, but were deleted because they were implausible.
For a more in-depth look, check out article. For an example of alternative evolution, see the Specworld Project.
Q: Why are you asking us rather than other people who are already active members of the speculative evolution community?
A: Currently, our members are several people around 13 with overly active imaginations (some of whom I'm going to have to ban because they didn't read Wikia's TOS requiring them to be over 13), one individual who writes tutorial articles, and another administrator who hasn't actually done much in several months and just wants to torch the place because he finally got fed up. I have tried advertising on forums dedicated to speculative evolution, but there has been no one actually willing to put in the time and effort... and I'm unable to both keep the Wikia site from degrading and move to the ShoutWiki site at the same time. Especially when I have to deal with college.
So, again, I need help.
Q: What skills would be necessary to be helpful?
A: Well, some layman's understanding of biology would be helpful. But you don't have to be a professional; I'm not and the project I'm working on, Rix, was generally received well. If you're conservative with what you postulate, and stay away from the really exotic stuff (plasma-based life, radically different blood oxygen transporters like Vaska's Complex, et cetera), you shouldn't have too much trouble.
There are also several community projects, all of which are future evolution. These are what I would recommend to work on for beginners, since most of the details about the planet are already known, and the scenario for each time period states what the general environment is.
Artists who could draw some of the life forms would be invaluable, and anyone who can wikicode would be of great help.
