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    • CommentRowNumber1.
    • CommentAuthorAndrew Stacey
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    In the hope of getting a bit of organisation here, I've created a few new categories. The full list is now:

    1. General. For anything that doesn't fit elsewhere.
    2. Latest Changes. For recording latest changes from the n-lab.
    3. Organisation. For discussions about the organisation of the n-lab.
    4. Technical. For technical matters about the n-lab (including bug reports).
    5. Lab Elf News. This is intended as a place where the lab elves can record snippets of useful information (such as itex updates).
    6. Diagrams. What it says on the tin.
    7. n-Forum. To keep discussions about this place separate from that place.
    8. Trash. What it says on the tin.

    The new ones are "Technical" and "Organisation".

    The point of the "Organisation" category is that although the n-lab now has a steering committee, that's just for when a policy decision has to be made. The actual discussion leading to that decision should involve all the users, or at least give all users the chance to be heard. So anyone can start a discussion in that category, and anyone can contribute to any discussion there.

    (Note: it might be nice to have some of the old discussions in the "General" category moved to an appropriate one of the new ones. Everyone has the ability to do this, so if you're commenting on a discussion and think that it is in the wrong place, just move it.)

    • CommentRowNumber2.
    • CommentAuthorUrs
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    I don't understand what "6. Diagrams" is supposed to be about. (?)

    • CommentRowNumber3.
    • CommentAuthorAndrew Stacey
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    "Diagrams" is actually a category that we've had here for a while. It was created as there was a time when there was a lot of discussion (relatively speaking) as to the best method of getting diagrams into the n-lab. It's died down a little recently, but it's still worth keeping these discussions in their own place. Since it wasn't a new category, I didn't think that anyone would mind if I didn't describe it too carefully. IAHWYCB

    • CommentRowNumber4.
    • CommentAuthorAndrew Stacey
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    Here's a suggestion for another category: we're starting to get the odd mathematical discussion here so maybe there should be a place for those?

    • CommentRowNumber5.
    • CommentAuthorTobyBartels
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    Mostly those come out of Latest Changes, and it would seem odd to move something out of there that began as a report on a Lab edit, even if it has evolved into a discussion on mathematics related to that edit.

    But in general, I agree that we should expect purely mathematical discussions to appear here, as this (rather than the Cafe) becomes the main discussion area for Lab regulars. I would watch both General and Latest Changes for such discussions, to see if they should get their own category.

    • CommentRowNumber6.
    • CommentAuthorUrs
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    But hopefully we can avoid filling the nForum with too much useful technical discussion!

    Don't get me wrong, but the whole point of the nLab is that as soon as a technical discussion is useful, it should be fed into an appropriate entry. We don't want the nForum to be yet another forum where good technical insight disappears into without leaving a trace! Right?

    • CommentRowNumber7.
    • CommentAuthorTobyBartels
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    Right!

    • CommentRowNumber8.
    • CommentAuthorAndrew Stacey
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2009

    Absolutely!

    • CommentRowNumber9.
    • CommentAuthorEric
    • CommentTimeNov 6th 2009

    On a related note, I tend to ask A LOT of questions. These can turn into long "Discussion" on an nLab page. Sometimes I feel like my questions "pollute" the page, but the answers are always valuable. I've floated this idea before, but let me float it again.

    What if we create "Dicussion" pages for pages that have particularly long discussions. For example, functor (dicussion) or something. Then we can move the discussion there, leave the original page cleaner, and post a link to the discussion page?

    I also think it might be good to post a link on the page back to the relevant "latest changes" page. Therefore, changes to functor might show up in the same discussion. Currently, (I think) we can end up with many latest changes announcements in different threads for the same page.

    • CommentRowNumber10.
    • CommentAuthorTobyBartels
    • CommentTimeNov 6th 2009

    I've never thought that your discussions pollute the page, Eric, and I'd rather keep them up front (even if at the bottom).

    But I agree with you about discussions on the Forum. It would be better to have them on the page itself, so it would be good to link them from the page itself. Getting people to remember to do that will be the tricky part ….