Sumopedia is live

[Kuroyama 715]

I'm announcing this here because this is where we've been talking about it. The "special sumo wiki" is now live at http://sumopedia.org. It's still pretty rough in places -- there are lots of missing templates and we don't even have a logo yet -- and there's no doubt more tweaking needed in the configuration, but it's usable.

This is not a reference that can be edited by anyone in the world. Although anyone can read it, editing is restricted to logged-in users. Account creation is not automatic, but is set up to require administrative approval. Anyone here is welcome to an account, but I'd appreciate a PM so I know to look for you. You don't need to fill in the "Biography" field in the request form -- it should be set up to work that way; if it seems to demand something just enter any garbage you feel like. If you want admin privileges just let me know. I don't plan to be stingy with it unless problems develop.

I've imported the sumo-related articles from Wikipedia to give us something to start with. Needless to say, they're far from perfect, but it's better than nothing. Fix them as you see fit. Most rikishi already have articles even if many of the links don't seem to be working. This is due to missing "redirect pages" that would, for example, automatically send a link to "Kaio" to his actual article at "Kaiō Hiroyuki". This is the kind of thing that needs to be fixed to start with, if an article not so bad as to require an immediate complete rewrite.

The main page has a "to-do" list I came up with off the top of my head. Add whatever else you think is needed.

Presently only the English version is set up. Other languages can be added as the need arises. Once that happens a front page for language selection can be added instead of simply redirecting to the English as now.

I have not yet imported a set of help files. If you need help with Wiki syntax, the help files at Wikipedia are comprehensive and can be used for the time being.

Image uploading is as yet untested. I know of no reason why it shouldn't work, but you never know. If anyone tries to add an image and runs into problems, let me know.

Edited February 11, 2008 by Kuroyama

[Kintamayama 41,286]

I salute this endeavor and everyone who is willing to contribute.

Good luck and the main thing is not to despair even if things get bogged down or the task seems daunting, which will surely happen as it really is..

[Kaikitsune Makoto 189]

Sumopedia is eggsallad.

There is always Kotoseiya Yuichi and other fabulous pine martens who will give their input in various ways and Kotoseiya Yuichi will be excellent perfectionist guard to polish many articles' rough edges. In 10 years sumopedia will be the pride of the sumo society. The amount of profiles of old and unborn rikishi will be vast and it is really going to be fun to read it while eating delicious layered sandwiches!

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

[Washuyama 588]

(Nodding yes...)

[ilovesumo 12]

logo contest? (Nodding yes...)

[Umut66 0]

Congrats and Good Luck on sumopedia...I suggest a Tegata for an avatar (logo)

Edited February 12, 2008 by Umut66

[Mark Buckton 1]

Is this not a pic from the annual New Year's Eve, Finnish Sumo Fans Convention - held in Rovaniemi, opened each year with the unique Finnish greeting of 'Be Well' shouted while one hand is elbow deep in a bucket of egg salad, the other quickly ladeling cold summer soup into a bowl made from a reindeer skull - and folk in white coats sitting patiently by the door waiting to take their charges back to their nice soft rooms where the only access they have to the outside world is via SF?

Or is it Beavis and Butthead?

[kaiguma 0]

<gollum>

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

What next?

Would it be most productive first to create few excellent articles that could serve as examples for others within the same category? Say, a very thorough article about a well-known historical rikishi? Standardized appearance, subtitles, way of writing the romanji, image issues (copyrights, watermarking if needed, perhaps a small gallery section) etc.... Basically everything that theoretically could appear in a rikishi biography article. This way anyone wishing to create another biography would have a ready example to follow in order to keep the information structurally consistent.

Then corresponding example articles for heya histories, honbasho reports and whatnots? It would probably be a good idea to think beforehand about how to group some items under a common denominator. For example ita-banzuke and ebanzuke should probably be included inside the article about banzuke. There's not much point to create separate articles that wouldn't be much more than glorified sumo glossary entries.

Has the creation of the new domain been mentioned on German & French etc. forums and on the mailing list? It would be very valuable to get as many as possible Japanese to participate. Even if they didn't think that they know English well enough. Any help would be appreciated.

Finally few words for my compatriots.

Pit

[Kuroyama 715]

What next?

Would it be most productive first to create few excellent articles that could serve as examples for others within the same category? Say, a very thorough article about a well-known historical rikishi? Standardized appearance, subtitles, way of writing the romanji, image issues (copyrights, watermarking if needed, perhaps a small gallery section) etc.... Basically everything that theoretically could appear in a rikishi biography article. This way anyone wishing to create another biography would have a ready example to follow in order to keep the information structurally consistent.

Then corresponding example articles for heya histories, honbasho reports and whatnots? It would probably be a good idea to think beforehand about how to group some items under a common denominator. For example ita-banzuke and ebanzuke should probably be included inside the article about banzuke. There's not much point to create separate articles that wouldn't be much more than glorified sumo glossary entries.

Has the creation of the new domain been mentioned on German & French etc. forums and on the mailing list? It would be very valuable to get as many as possible Japanese to participate. Even if they didn't think that they know English well enough. Any help would be appreciated.

Finally few words for my compatriots.

Pit

[Manekineko 200]

Has the creation of the new domain been mentioned on German & French etc. forums and on the mailing list?

I'll check info-sumo and ML (and Bench Sumo ML) and announce if noone else has done so.

Edit: done.

Edited February 13, 2008 by Manekineko

[Kaikitsune Makoto 189]

honbasho reports

Finally few words for my compatriots.

Pit

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

The main article is a tricky one. The Finnish Wikipedia's sumo article is 95 % my work and I badly misestimated how concise I should be. No wonder it's been dormant for a long time. The main article should be detailed enough to raise the interest level about the subject for a casual surfer passing by, but not too detailed to overwhelm them with superfluous details best left for individual articles.

I agree wholeheartedly with Kuroyama about the image policy. If the law allows the kind of use most beneficial to us, why not utilize it and not bother with ideological restrictions? That's one of those things that riled me in the Wikipedia. I used to add some DVD screenshots to my Kotozakura article completely according to their instructions. One of the what's-their-title affirmed me I did it correctly, yet another one removed the images and refused to this day to tell me why. May he rot at White Hart Lane.

I suppose WikiProject Japan's conventions are suitable to use unless there are some things unique to sumo. Some anime kid demanded me to use shikonas "upside down" if the rikishi were born after... the Meiji restoration, I think. "Tozo Minanogawa"... ! Sure. May he rot also somewhere.

Thanks to Manekineko.

Coller's honbasho reports were the kind of stuff I had in mind. Jotain priorisointia saattaa joutua jossain vaiheessa tekem

[aderechelsea 107]

May he rot at White Hart Lane.

:-) :-)

:-)

[Gusoyama 64]

As I said in a PM, I can help put up the walls, but I can't paint them. I've been trying to duplicate as many of the missing templates as I can find from Wikipedia(template:age, template:height, template:month, etc). The rikishi profile pages are improving, but are still nigh unreadable in spots. The language/syntax is new to me, as I don't know CSS or whateverelse wiki uses.

[kaiguma 0]

Shouldn't this and the database have links at the bottom of the forum like moti's page?

I believe Moti's page and SFM, etc. have links at the bottom because they are paying sponsors. (Correct me if I am wring here)

"the database" already has an information quicklink (Sumo Reference) at the top of every page.

Once Sumopedia is a bit more polished, it should probably have one too. Or maybe now if most of the editor accounts will be forumers anyway. Certanly makes sense and I use those quicklinks constantly.

[HenryK 38]

Looking forward to it. I doubt I'll particiapte much as a writer though, there are far more knowledgeable folks around than myself.

Currenlty, the holy trinity of sumo websites are (i) this one; (ii) Doitsuyama's sumo reference directory; and (iii) the French info-sumo video site. Let's see whether sumopedia will turn this into a a holy quadruplity. (Clapping wildly...)

[Kuroyama 715]

The main article is a tricky one. The Finnish Wikipedia's sumo article is 95 % my work and I badly misestimated how concise I should be. No wonder it's been dormant for a long time. The main article should be detailed enough to raise the interest level about the subject for a casual surfer passing by, but not too detailed to overwhelm them with superfluous details best left for individual articles.

As an organizational matter, it's often convenient to take a very large article and split it into a set of sub-articles. You then summarize each topic in the main article, and put all the detail you want into the sub-articles.

I suppose WikiProject Japan's conventions are suitable to use unless there are some things unique to sumo. Some anime kid demanded me to use shikonas "upside down" if the rikishi were born after... the Meiji restoration, I think. "Tozo Minanogawa"... ! Sure. May he rot also somewhere.

This is another area where we followed the Japan project conventions. Japanese people from the modern era had their names in Western order -- unless they were best known under adopted professional names, in which case the names should appear as most commonly seen. Sumo fell under this rule, so all shikonas are in traditional order.

We can revisit all this, but I don't want to take up a lot of space doing that here. I'll set up a set of pages tonight at Sumopedia where we can work this stuff out. (Or you can if you get to it sooner. Just create some "policy pages" in the Sumopedia: namespace. We can use the discussion pages to work out exactly what they should say.)

Thanks to Manekineko.

Seconded!

If you want any of my photos as well it's no problem.

You are godlike in your generosity. Image uploads should be working, so any time you have a photo you think is appropriate for a subject, you can add it. We don't have licensing templates etc. in place yet, so everything is GFDL until further notice. If you want to make them Creative Commons, public domain, or Sumopedia-only you might want to hold off until we're more completely set up.

[Kintamayama 41,286]

Shouldn't this and the database have links at the bottom of the forum like moti's page?

I believe Moti's page and SFM, etc. have links at the bottom because they are paying sponsors. (Correct me if I am wring here)

I can speak only on my behalf, but mine is there because of a sex bribe made.

[kaiguma 0]

Shouldn't this and the database have links at the bottom of the forum like moti's page?

I believe Moti's page and SFM, etc. have links at the bottom because they are paying sponsors. (Correct me if I am wring here)

I can speak only on my behalf, but mine is there because of a sex bribe made.

well then I guess I wasn't too far off....

[Mark Buckton 1]

I believe Moti's page and SFM, etc. have links at the bottom because they are paying sponsors. (Correct me if I am wring here)

yes, you are wring. :-S

[philafuji 1]

I believe Moti's page and SFM, etc. have links at the bottom because they are paying sponsors. (Correct me if I am wring here)

yes, you are wring. :-S

What does the word wring mean. Yes I would like to look it up but my left eye is going to need surgery. I am in no hurry to get it done. Reading anything in a book is not always easy.

Thanks in advance for information on wring.

[aderechelsea 107]

i doubt that you are joking so ... "wring" is "wrong" misspelled.

[kaiguma 0]

Eye apologize four any undo confusion ore eyestrain I half gauzed. I wheel endeavor two minimize such eras in the future.

(In a state of confusion...)