Moving Pages To The Adjunct

This page aims to serve as a guide to whether you should move a page to TheAdjunct or not.

Over the years, there has been much discussion of what is OnTopic or OffTopic, or should or should not be allowed or encouraged on the WikiWikiWeb, resulting in often bitter disagreements.

It is generally acknowledged that whilst the stated purpose of the WikiWikiWeb is the discussion of PeopleProjectsAndPatterns, the nature of how material is added to the site can lead to topic drift and the contribution of pages that are considered to be OffTopic.

A spectrum of opinions exists on the matter, ranging from those users who feel that this material deserves to exist regardless of relation to the stated aims of this site (MySignalIsYourNoise), to those who would prefer to delete it with the aim of keeping the site more focused (WikiReductionists). Some deletions are even accompanied with comments such as "delete, [sic] OffTopic, even though interesting".

This apparent conflict of desires can now be resolved. Our latest SisterSite, TheAdjunct, is dedicated to providing a home for material that does not fall under the scope of this site's topic.

So, how should you know if a page should live on TheAdjunct rather than the WikiWikiWeb?

The simplest criterion is, does it address People, Projects or Patterns? Whilst apparently restrictive, this rule of thumb has a lot of leeway. Many things do not fall under any of these three divisions, and yet still cast light on the topics we strive to address. If you have to think really hard to find a connection between a page and PeopleProjectsAndPatterns, it's probably a candidate for moving over.

When considering a page's topicality, investigate the number of outbound and inbound links. Does the page connect to numerous other points on Wiki from within itself, or is it apparently unrelated to the greater content of the site? If it is, consider moving it to TheAdjunct. You won't have to worry about breaking its BackLinks; the SisterSites mechanism will take care of it for you, ensuring that any links pointing at the page in question will still remain functional.

Another easy way to decide if a page would be better suited to TheAdjunct is if people keep labeling it as OffTopic, or even attempting to delete it. If they do, consider moving it over.

Important: If the page seems to be in healthy existence here without objections, please do not take it upon yourself to move it straight away. Leave a note on the page asking whether people think it deserves to move first. If you're pretty sure about it, you can tag them with the PleaseMoveThisToTheAdjunct WikiTag.

Having said all that, note that TheAdjunct is not without its own SimpleRules?. Pages that are without content are still best just deleted. TheAdjunct is a place for OffTopic material, not a refuse heap. Please strive for signal as much on TheAdjunct as on any other wiki.

Also note that since TheAdjunct is a SisterSite, pages moved there are still easily accessed and linked to (so don't get your knickers in a knot).

I think it is necessary to address a concern that pages moved to TheAdjunct can be deleted much more readily than C2 wiki, e.g. a change of heart by Earle in two years time. Also, there is a much smaller set of people who goes to the Adjunct and they collectively might have a behavior different from the collective behavior of the community at C2. I have started to use the Adjunct myself though.

One way to increase acceptance could be that we develop an acceptable "social norm" for MovingPagesFromTheAdjunct?, to C2. A page similar to StarBucks? could be so popular there that the larger community may see merits (e.g. traffic it attracts) for hosting the page here.

-- DavidLiu

And if it follows the trend in the real world, soon every page on TheAdjunct would have a StarBucks? section contained within it! :-)

More seriously, I don't really see what could be done to assuage your concerns. -- DougMerritt

As far as a guarantee of page longevity goes, you don't really have that here, either. C2 is ultimately controlled by one man, albeit one with a long record of fairly laissez-faire management.

Moving off-topic pages here just because they have a lot of 'traffic' (read or write?) would defeat the very purpose of TheAdjunct, which is to host content which is off-topic for C2 to offload that traffic. In case it hasn't dawned on some readers yet, the fact that TheAdjunct is a SisterSite of the C2 wiki is a clear indication that Ward agrees with that purpose, as has been the case a few times in the past with other SisterSites.

There is little doubt that the community on TheAdjunct will be somewhat different, since the range of topics there will be broader than what is wanted here. -- DanMuller

Earle, there are some pages I've written here, a few of these have actually been on-topic. Some of them have inspired discussion/argument, some have been removed. I'm guessing it's relatively safe to try out the deleted stuff on TheAdjunct, but I'm still a little fuzzy on when it's a good idea to migrate one of "my" pages. I suppose I could simply copy some of "my" stuff to TheAdjunct and see how it grows or withers, without removing it from here (although I sense there may be a general view of "bad idea" on that).

I'd appreciate either some guidance or (if appropriate) an RTFM->foo on this. Thanks. -- GarryHamilton

Hi, Garry - it's pretty much guaranteed that your pages will be welcomed. At present, I'd say that moving is better than copying, because keeping up with the same material that has split into two different streams would be tiring to say the least. Go for it and see what happens, I reckon. -- EarleMartin

I think it is a much better idea to be AuthoringPagesOnTheAdjunct?. A community that is to endure, must have a cadre of those dedicated to making it a success. Several attempts have been made in the past to create places to "move" stuff that originates on this wiki. They have succeeded to a degree, but they have not thrived. Could it be the premise of "moving off-topic pages" or pages or people who generate controversy is not enough? How many pages, or what percentage of the pages on TheAdjunct are "home-grown"? It seems to me to make it a point to have a place for ideas and pages which have failed to fit-in with the current set of trend-setters and the sensitivities of the current crop of wikizens on WardsWiki is similar to making the site to which unpopular pages or concepts are moved something akin to a trashcan. Let's give this attempt to create a sister-site a better chance to survive than to assign it such duty. To that end, I will make a first attempt in the coming weeks to establish a related set of topics or categories on TheAdjunct which are not directly associated with the People who use Patterns and exercise the discipline of Programming and which may draw together People who do something else which may be related to Schemes and Methods of illustrating the UseOfTechnologyInTheComputerWorld?. Does this seem reasonable, or am I off-base? -- DonaldNoyes

It is not clear to me how what you're proposing is OffTopic for c2 and therefore more appropriate on TheAdjunct (UseOfTechnologyInTheComputerWorld?, that is; pre-creating categories prior to a need for them is not necessarily constructive anywhere).

I also don't see why several people are worried that TheAdjunct may fail and and are looking for ways to head that off; my understanding is that its point is as a place to move things that are clearly OffTopic for c2, which obviously happens all the time, I can't imagine that we'll run out of OffTopic topics on c2 (and therefore TheAdjunct)! -- DougMerritt

Not disagreeing with Doug, but the basic idea of authoring new content there certainly doesn't seem at all off-base to me. I think, though, that Don is selling the potentials of moved pages short. There are interesting networks of related, interesting, but off-topic pages on C2, and some of them seem to be in the process of migrating to TheAdjunct. Pure trash will still tend to get deleted, not moved, so TheAdjunct will not become a mere ash-heap. -- DanMuller

That expresses the point much better than I did. -- DougMerritt

From my personal experience on the Adjunct so far, I highly recommend it. It has been such a relief having discussions on any topic, free of the concerns of DisagreeByDeleting, or "OffTopic" attacks by others that don't like my views or subject matter. At c2, this is always a nagging pest that sits on your shoulders as you try to carry on an enjoyable discussion. That is completely gone at the Adjunct. I would like to publicly thank EarleMartin for inviting me to join him there, and recommend that everyone move there that would like to discuss anything, including computer issues, that strikes them as interesting/important. -- BrucePennington

Indeed, I was one of the people who gave Bruce a hard time about OffTopic on c2, but have been more than happy to talk to him about the same issues on TheAdjunct, where they are not OffTopic. Makes a difference. -- DougMerritt

This process of WikiEmigration was started in AugustZeroFive.

CategoryWiki CategoryWikiProgress