This has been a big issue as of late, made even more important and needed with the forum migration, which has broken a lot of links, images, and formatting across the old posts on the boards. I'm usually a background type, soaking up info and ideas, but I figure now might be the right time to step up and suggest something. (This has been prompted, by the way, by a whole lot of other threads on the forums, as well as ideas that have been cooking in my head for a few months.) Also, I apologize for the wall of text that follows. I can be very longwinded at times.
I think the entire idea of the 405th's tutorial section needs an overhaul. Not only are many of them formatted weirdly due to the forum system change, many of their creators no longer come to the site, and thus can no longer make edits or keep their techniques current. This knowledge, however, still exists within the community, and so new tutorials could (and SHOULD) be created. (By this, I do not mean disrespect to those members who have selflessly poured hours, days and months into the creation of our old tutorials. All information is important and valuable, especially from those who pioneered or documented these techniques. However, it is a disservice to new and learning members to be given only partial, no longer correct, or badly formatted information.) However, just having them as threads leads to situations where, even stickied, they can be lost and confusing to new members, with other users' posts, questions, potential thread derails, and the potential for them to be messed up by more forum migration or have their images go down in the future (or their creators leave, never to update again).
That's why I'd like to propose an official 405th tutorial section SEPARATE from the forums, in a vein similar to the onsite Pepakura hub that was in it's beginning phases on the 405th source. Ideally, they would be written with as little "ownership" as possible, with edits and improvements added as necessary for clarity or change in technique. (Maybe like a very-access-controlled wiki?) That way, information can be passed in an easy to organize and reference way, with the least amount of ego involved. This idea has the downside of requiring more management and updates by staff who are pretty on-the-ball, unbiased, and knowledgeable about armor building. Forum members could submit changes and suggestions for the article, and have them approved and added. Direct control of the articles would rest in the hands of a few editors / mods, with 405th members who are experts on techniques consulted for additions / edits. (And I AM volunteering to help get this going if needed, by the way.)
This is just one idea and very much a work in progress, if anyone has anything to say about this idea, or improvements to suggest, please do speak up.
I think the entire idea of the 405th's tutorial section needs an overhaul. Not only are many of them formatted weirdly due to the forum system change, many of their creators no longer come to the site, and thus can no longer make edits or keep their techniques current. This knowledge, however, still exists within the community, and so new tutorials could (and SHOULD) be created. (By this, I do not mean disrespect to those members who have selflessly poured hours, days and months into the creation of our old tutorials. All information is important and valuable, especially from those who pioneered or documented these techniques. However, it is a disservice to new and learning members to be given only partial, no longer correct, or badly formatted information.) However, just having them as threads leads to situations where, even stickied, they can be lost and confusing to new members, with other users' posts, questions, potential thread derails, and the potential for them to be messed up by more forum migration or have their images go down in the future (or their creators leave, never to update again).
That's why I'd like to propose an official 405th tutorial section SEPARATE from the forums, in a vein similar to the onsite Pepakura hub that was in it's beginning phases on the 405th source. Ideally, they would be written with as little "ownership" as possible, with edits and improvements added as necessary for clarity or change in technique. (Maybe like a very-access-controlled wiki?) That way, information can be passed in an easy to organize and reference way, with the least amount of ego involved. This idea has the downside of requiring more management and updates by staff who are pretty on-the-ball, unbiased, and knowledgeable about armor building. Forum members could submit changes and suggestions for the article, and have them approved and added. Direct control of the articles would rest in the hands of a few editors / mods, with 405th members who are experts on techniques consulted for additions / edits. (And I AM volunteering to help get this going if needed, by the way.)
This is just one idea and very much a work in progress, if anyone has anything to say about this idea, or improvements to suggest, please do speak up.
