Wikipedia for Corals

drainbamage · Mar 5, 2011

Could this be implemented to reef2reef? a peer resource database, where anyone can edit entries, create entries, etc, but entirely moderated by the community? Would be a great way to collect all the varieties of named corals, where anyone can upload, but anyone can edit any info that may not be accurate. Would be much more fluid for the constantly expanding amount of named corals, new species, etc etc.

Would also work for fish, where people can share what they actually know about having kept certain fish in captivity, instead of the many innacuracies books have within them where the author has made guess's for certain info. Would fix greatly the problem of how many fish are listed as "reef-safe" or "not-reef safe" into use generated categories by 'tagging species' with user created tags, such as "invert friendly" "coral friendly" "LPS friendly" "zoa friendly" "friendly to same sized fish" "friendly if kept fed" "just dang angry (queen trigger anyone?)" and so on.

KLR · Mar 5, 2011

This would be awsome,but then you would probably have some party poopers to edit and put trashy stuff in the edited post,so it will still have to be watched.

But,I do think this could be a really cool thing! Good idea drainbamage!

Tabasco1 · Mar 5, 2011

+1 would be great, but don't know about the costs of development of something like that.

clowns101 · Mar 5, 2011

I do see a few problems with it:

1)Some people wil NOT be happy with someone who they dont know who edits their post.Remember,we all have diffirent experiences.

2)Some information people give is not always accurate after corrected by another,this could be a problem.THe correct information could be there,but then edited away and the wrong info put in place.

Im sure we could fix these problems by simply asking you guys to PM each other when you edit,but I really dont see mebmers taking their time to kindly PM a fellow and tell them they edited their post and why.

Other than that,it is a great idea,but,Im not sure how well it would work.

Thanks

Wy Renegade · Mar 5, 2011

I agree with Austin, while its a nice idea I see it as a huge potential hot spot and would not be something I'm all the keen on. We started something similar on the zoas, but it has not progressed far, mainly due to a lack of time. It would be different in that members of the community would not be able to edit posts or post anything other than pictures. Even then as Austin said I think you're going to get people who's feeling will get hurt. If you're interested in something like this, I recommend making contributions to either Coralpedia.com or the thecoralvault.com both are excellent resources. The coral vault is a little more discriminating in accepting submissions and I know the owner of the site has stated that he has people who have gotten angry and pulled their submissions as a result. Another site I am aware of started something along this line and took a lot of heat for trying to drive the cost of designer corals through the roof. I don't see it as somewhere we want to go. Just my $.02 worth.

NeveroddoreveN · Mar 5, 2011

I don't know what happened to reefpedia. http://www.reefpedia.com/index.php/Main_Page ... It was nice.

drainbamage · Mar 5, 2011

I'd have to disagree with those seeing problems here- wikipedia works fairly well, and entirely under the same premises as what I'm suggesting.

I see the issue with people becoming offended when "their" post gets edited, but if it's not a persons post, but a general entry, some of that hotness should be alleviated. Additionally...well, again, it works on wikipedia for a reason, and I'd suggest that those found to be abusing it should be considered a problem worth getting rid of, not a roadblock for a user-moderated community of information. If there are those who don't like their information messed with (IMO these people aren't helpful in information discussions anyways as they tend to think they're right on anything they say, thus not really a free flow of information) would quickly find themselves without a desire to add to the community- this is sort of a way that the community gets rid of those who would otherwise be detrimental to it. Yes some would get their feelings hurt, or dislike the site-but those would be the vast minority compared to the many who would be beneficial, and gain much, from such a setup.

Just my thoughts though

clowns101 · Mar 5, 2011

That is a very valid point.

One way I see how we could avoid this,is having the moderators of the site,posting the information by request of the members,and then if the post is edited,the PM is sent to us,and we can validate it from there.

Im not sure how this system would work,and if there is even a add on for it,that is all up to Rev.

bmooney31 · Mar 5, 2011

I agree with you totally. This would be awesome to have for a reference. IF you made it to where the entry was just a picture and the name and general stats like they give on liveaquaria about their corals. Such as SG, temp and such I don't see why this wouldn't work. The only way people would get offended is if you let them post the picture and Tie their name to it like they are showing off their prized piece only to have someone edit it and hurt their feeling that their coral isn't what they thought it was. Hope all this makes sense I'm tying and trying to feed a baby. all I'm saying is if the entry in just a general entry and not a personal entry then there are no emotion tied to the entry and nobody get their feeling hurt. just my .02

Wy Renegade · Mar 5, 2011

Yep, not sure how the complexities of it would have to be worked out, as well as the additional volume of information. Perhaps similar to the fish ID forum, but not sure. Guess Rev will have to weigh in on this one.