Jackson Free Press

OK, y'all, I've been working for a little while on a new wiki site that's both been promised to area arts organizations and that, I hope, can grow one day to be a full-fledged member of the Jackson blogosphere all on its own. We go the member database moved over and I've got something that I'm hoping is functional up and online, so, I'm hereby launching the *very* beta...Jackpedia.

Everyone who was a member of this site last Friday should have a log-in, but feel free to write me -- admin at jacksonfreepress dot com -- if you have trouble logging in over there. Meanwhile, if anyone gets interested in playing around with the site, feel free to use this thread to discuss it, including ideas that you may have for the layout, for the categories and landing pages, organization...anything. I'd like to make it as useful and as fun as possible for us to play with and make "home" of sorts.

And, yes, I'll have the designers looks at it to make it prettier, etc. :-) Nobody said I'm a designer.

Previous Commentsshow

Fascinating. I might have to write something up then. :)

Ironghost

Mar 18 2007

All, note that we've posted a start list of flyer spots around town for event promotion. Please head over and help us update it, and of course feel free to print it out and use it for your event promotion. We also really want to beef out the whole Event Promotion section with info about how to book venues, get permits and so on, so please add your expertise. Also, all you food fanatics ought to have at the Restaurants Jackpedia page. Here's the chance you've been clamoring for!

DonnaLadd

Mar 18 2007

I just did a short article on the King Edward. It may need editing. I'll try to add more later today. Tom B.

tombarnes

Mar 18 2007

Thanks Tom, it looks good. We'll be using everything anyone wants to add to figure out the layout and organization. For now, I've given the King Eddie it's own page... http://www.jackpedia.com/index.php/wiki/King_Edward_Hotel/ And the buildings and architecture "landing" page now has a blurb to it. http://www.jackpedia.com/index.php/wiki/Buildings_and_Architecture/

Todd Stauffer

Mar 18 2007

Is there a template or outline for anyone to follow if he or she wishes to post an article? I want to post something about my church, but I don't know where to start. :-)

LatashaWillis

Mar 18 2007

Todd, won't this take away from your JFP site? Or will you be able to still get advertising revenue from it?

Kingfish

Mar 18 2007

L.W., go to the following link: http://www.jackpedia.com/index.php/wiki/Places_of_Worship/ From there, follow the prompt I've given you. Once you've set up the link to your church name, click on it and edit the page and put whatever you want. Don't worry too much about messing up, as we'll be keeping an eye out, especially while all of you get used to the freedom a Wiki gives you. This is very Web 3.0 -- in other words, don't worry much about messing up because we can fix it. My advice is for everyone to just jump in and try it. It'll make a lot of sense once you're doing it. It's super easy. ;-D

DonnaLadd

Mar 18 2007

Also, all, we've loaded it up with all sorts of starter stuff. Just go click around and see what you're inspired to contribute. And, remember, this is really our chance to show the world what all Jackson has to offer, and how interesting and dynamic a city we have here.

DonnaLadd

Mar 18 2007

Looks pretty cool. Is there a way you could put local weather on the JFP front page? I know it sounds cheesy... Also, can you link to Freewill Astrology? Or have I missed it all this time? If JFP has to pay for either forget it! ;-)

pikersam

Mar 18 2007

This is a GREAT idea Todd! Wonder how many other cities have their own wiki about this matter? Good to know where we stand with other cities when it comes to "getting the word out" about a place. On second thought, it's better to check - seriously. Jackson may be moving forward, but it's not like other places are standing still either. Surely in 1900 years ago certain cities saw getting telephone and electric service as cutting edge. Same thing with Information Age goodies. The good news is that Dallas and Houston don't have one that's easy to find (although the Wikipedia website does list some things to see and do in those places). This is not to take away from your work, Todd. It's great, even needed! It's just that if Jackson is gonna have a name-brand image for being on the ball, we have to look pretty far out in front. How do you think Dallas, Austin, Houston, and Atlanta succeded in moving up the food chain relative to their locations on it even 30 years ago, let alone 100?

Philip

Mar 19 2007

I like it--like it a lot! The local info is hard to find at times and I think this will create links between like minded people. I'll try to log in and actually write some things, like on David Dykes (my boss!) or others I might know about....thanks

Izzy

Mar 19 2007

Todd, won't this take away from your JFP site? Or will you be able to still get advertising revenue from it? I don't think so. The content at Jackpedia is a little more static -- it's about creating a community-based guide to stuff going on in Jackson, while this one is more about news, discussion, opinion and ongoing arts and culture coverage. Not sure how one would take away from the other. And, yeah, at some point I hope Jackpedia offers more page views and hence more ad revenue, although I don't plan to overwhelm it with ads.

Todd Stauffer

Mar 19 2007

This is great. It's not just "buy" Jackson, it's be Jackson--inform, edit, create. Brilliant. Thanks for doing this, Todd.

Brent Cox

Mar 19 2007

Is this just for things inside the city limits or the entire metro area?

Rico

Mar 19 2007

Jackson metropolitan area is cool. Should certain pages get really full, we can always divide them into Jackson proper and suburbs, or some such. Go for it.

DonnaLadd

Mar 20 2007

Hey, I did an entry for myself (Laurel Isbister) on the music page. Fun! Also I uploaded a jpg file but have no idea where it got to... will that be possible to have on my entry? Sorry I'm new to wiki techonology....cheers

Izzy

Mar 20 2007

Yeah, I've been playing around with it too, and it's been fun. Reminds me of my computer programming classes in college - just not as stressful. We definitely need a photo of some kind on the home page - maybe a picture of the State Capitol at night or Fondren Corner or something.

LatashaWillis

Mar 20 2007

hey, just a random idea, but have you all thought of doing a scaled down version of the jfp site for mobile devices. like m.jacksonfreepress.com . . .

djames

Mar 20 2007

yeah no kidding. can't get the comments on my blackberry anymore either. once again the conspiracy against Kingfish and morockin continue.

Kingfish

Mar 20 2007

Kingfish, the comments are tied to your Blackberry's ability to process Javascript and XML-based HTTP requests (read: AJAX). It seems to be primarly a bug found in Blackberrys. We use AJAX to load the comments so the search engine won't index every title for every comment on every page. In other words, when searching for "Jackpedia" before the fix, nearly every page in the JFP site was indexed because of the recent comments blurb at the bottom of the page. Now, the comments are loaded *after* the page fully loads which disables the search engine's ability to read the comments. Hope that made a little sense. For now, you can always visit http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/recent_comments.php which shows the last 100 comments. Still, djames & Kingfish, I think a mobile version is a good idea and will chat with Todd about it.

kaust

Mar 21 2007

www.harrymday.com i like fish

harrymday

Apr 6 2007

knol: that is one problemw ith this site and blackberry's. Too much stuff on the front page. It can take you 30 rolls of that wheel to get through it.

Kingfish

Apr 6 2007

i havent read all of thge postings . . . is this a forum page only or can images be posted here, or even hosted here with feature "visuals" from participating artists? hmd

harrymday

Apr 6 2007

itodd, how can I write a critique of a restaurant on jackpedia?

Kingfish

Apr 11 2007

itodd, you never answered my question.

Kingfish

Apr 11 2007

go to jackpedia page, click to view restaurants and if you are logged in and able, just edit that page, which means add whatever text you want, it is rahter simple, so good luck

harrymday

Apr 12 2007

what if the restaurant you are wanting to critique is not on that list? in this case the elite?

Kingfish

Apr 12 2007

You add it to the list by clicking "edit" on that page. Then click on your new link and add the blurb about it. Try it.

DonnaLadd

Apr 12 2007

You can edit the page where the restaurants are listed and add the Elite. When You add anything between double braces: [[The Elite]] and save the page, that creates a new page link named for that entry. Now, when you click the newly created link, that creates the *page* where you can enter information. I'll start a thread in the next few days to discuss Jackpedia in-depth. I want to get rolling with it and get feedback. I just have to finish that damn book I'm writing! ;-)

Todd Stauffer

Apr 12 2007