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| Replace "Jargon Buster" with two Glossary links? 04/12/2011 at 12:57 #24423 | |
maxand
1637 posts |
Everyone knows what a glossary is and beginners need to use it frequently. However, it took me some time to find it until I clicked Jargon Buster > Real-life terms and stumbled upon the Glossary page. (yes I know the Jargon Buster page uses the word "Glossary" but it's slightly confusing when done this way) I now discover that "Glossary of Signalling" on the Wiki Home page is not a separate glossary but also a link to the "glossary of real-life terms"! It's generally considered good practice to name a link after the title of the target page itself unless there is a good reason to do otherwise. I would like to see two links on the Wiki Home page (under References), one to Glossary of real-life terms and another to a Glossary of terms specific to SimSig (as has already been created). That makes it obvious which Glossary contains what and reduces access to whichever Glossary you need to one click. Happy to edit the Wiki accordingly if nobody minds. Last edited: 04/12/2011 at 13:01 by maxand Log in to reply |
| Re: Replace "Jargon Buster" with two Glossary links? 04/12/2011 at 14:27 #24427 | |
headshot119
4869 posts |
My original intention when I started creating the "new" wiki (the sections in the second table on the home page) was to have one glossary page with headings for each letter with a table for each later with the word and definition / information linking to other pages as appropriate. I don't see the reason to split the glossary into two sections as a new player is less likely to know which page they would need to go to. Someone else added the links to the current glossary, which I was trying to avoid. What do you think max? "Passengers for New Lane, should be seated in the rear coach of the train " - Opinions are my own and not those of my employer Log in to reply |
| Re: Replace "Jargon Buster" with two Glossary links? 04/12/2011 at 15:29 #24435 | |
GeoffM
6282 posts |
Don't create a page listing all the words in the glossary. That's what the auto index is for. Doing it manually results in mistakes and extra work to keep maintained. I'm in two minds about having separate pages for SimSig-specific and generic railway terms. While a distinction can be important, the poor reader looking up a word has to look in two places. Reminds me of a meeting at work last week that involved a dozen people discussing the various merits of having a glossary section AND an acronyms section in the same document instead of all combined in one: too much time wasted by too many people on a relatively trivial matter. (In this particular case I prefer the combined option) SimSig Boss Log in to reply The following user said thank you: agilchrist |
| Re: Replace "Jargon Buster" with two Glossary links? 05/12/2011 at 06:29 #24465 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
Quote:Someone else added the links to the current glossary, which I was trying to avoid. What do you think max?I did add a link on the Home Wiki page to the Glossary (of real-life terms), not realizing clicking Jargon Buster > Real-life terms took me to the same page! But it seems others have done this too, illustrating how name confusion can lead to duplicate links. I appreciate GeoffM's point of view about not having two Glossaries. However as long as the Wiki makes it clear (which it does) that one is concerned with SimSig-specific terms, while the other is a generalized glossary of railway signalling terms, this should not cause much confusion in the mind of the beginner, who will nearly always go for the general glossary, therefore I feel a link to this needs to be on the Wiki home page. Then to be fair to the experienced simmer, a link to the glossary of SimSig terms needs to be adjacent, i.e., also on the home page. Permit me to say I think the term "Jargon Buster" is a bit out of place and should be replaced by, simply, "glossary". Or, better still, "Glossary of railway signalling terms" (rather than "real-life terms"  and "Glossary of SimSig-specific terms" or "Glossary of terms specific to SimSig". That should remove all doubt.Each glossary takes at least a page, therefore to combine them would mean much more scrolling for both the beginner (who only wants the general Glossary) and the experienced player (who might be writing a timetable and only needs to go to the SimSig glossary). Since we already have two separate glossaries, I would prefer to see them kept separate. Personally speaking, I have not had need to refer to the SimSig-specific one yet. Log in to reply |
| Re: Replace "Jargon Buster" with two Glossary links? 05/12/2011 at 06:47 #24467 | |
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UKTrainMan
1803 posts |
Since we're going on about glossaries and terms, and please do bear with me here if this is a bit of a 'crazywhacked' idea but, could we also have a page of 'unofficial terms', including acronyms, etc.. This page, with a warning that everything on it is completely unofficial, never used in real life signalling and probably would and should never be used outside of SimSig, could list things like the acronym "PSAD" (Pass Signal at Danger), and anything else along those lines. I'm sure there is a whole host of other terms out there that are perhaps used here on the forum or in multiplayer that could be added. I'd likely add my own term "RSTEOP" - which is Route Set To End Of Path, useful in multiplayer simulations with ARS. Like I say, a bit of a 'crazywhacked' idea, but then I'd like to think it'd have it's use if the term sees regular use on the forum or in multiplayer games. Also, the Wiki is meant to be a resource for information. Thoughts welcomed. :S Any views and / or opinions expressed by myself are from me personally and do not represent those of any company I either work for or am a consultant for. Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Re: Replace "Jargon Buster" with two Glossary links? 05/12/2011 at 07:10 #24468 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
Not crazy at all! Glossaries seem to be a natural home for acronyms. It already contains SPAD, so why not PSAD too with a link back to SPAD & vice versa? RSTEOP seems better suited to the Glossary of SimSig-specific terms. Adding them for you now... 
Last edited: 05/12/2011 at 07:10 by maxand Log in to reply |