Talk:Main Page
From csi702
How do we want to go upon structuring the wiki? I typically like using pages the link to subject matter as opposed to having a page such as "Lecture 1", "Lecture 2", etc. However, to link topics together according to when they were discussed, you can use the MediaWiki Categories feature to have articles link to Categories (in this case, Lecture 1, Lecture 2, etc).
So, I recommend that we create new articles for each of the topics discussed in the first lecture and add a Categories link at the bottom of the page like so:
[[Category:Lecture 1]]
Once this is done, you will be able to see a list of topics for Lecture 1 instead of having a single page with a lot of content. If a topic is discussed in multiple lectures, you would be able to link that topic to different categories, like so:
[[Category:Lecture 1]]
[[Category:Lecture 2]]
So to start of the discussion for the first week, what topics do we want to create? Computer Architecture, History of Computing, Challenges in Computing, etc?
Also, when editing the discussion pages, please make sure to use a signature block whenever you append onto the document by using the following string:
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Make sure to check out the source of this discussion page to see how it's done.
Stefan 19:48, 22 January 2010 (EST)
I'm not quite sold on the idea of separate topic pages within the lecture. I tend to like larger pages with a ToC at the top as opposed to a bunch of linked pages, partially because it makes it easier to navigate and find things. I think if we did it on a single page, it would probably look similar to the Wikipedia Supercomputer page, which I think looks fine.
Perhaps as a compromise, we could put the material on single page and after we have added most of the content, we could then decide if it would be better to break it up into smaller topics.
As far as major topics within the lecture (Introduction to High Performance Computing), I think we can derive the major topics from the lecture slides. I recommend something like this:
- Why scientists use computers
- Characteristics of supercomputers
- Applications of supercomputing
- Trends in supercomputers
- Supercomputing architectures
- Algorithms vs. Hardware
- Drivers of performance improvements
- Links & References
Reading through the list, I do agree that some of these topics could be separate pages but I expect that we will be addressing them each in more detail during the semester. I think if we just linked to the corresponding pages now, then we will lose the intent of the current page, which is an introduction to HPC. It might be better to provide the introductory material here and link to the dedicated topic pages for more detail.
Thoughts?
Tboggs 11:16, 23 January 2010 (EST)
I agree with you - having a bunch of lines on a "Lecture 1" page would be somewhat inefficient.
What if we use the "Main article: x" approach that you see a lot in Wikipedia, such as the Wikipedia page on Ordinary differential equations? I'm sure that discussion topics will be recurring throughout the semester, we could include the discussions for the topic in that given lecture, but also post a link to the main article's page?
This is done by posting the following at the beginning of the article:
{{main|Algorithms vs. Hardware}}The only problem with this approach is that there's going to be a duplicity of information, especially if a topic appears just once in a lecture. I think we're going to need some divine intervention here.
My stance is that I don't want to embed an actual article within a "Lecture 1" page - it would make it difficult to locate it later on. If you think about what it's going to be like trying to access information later on in the semester, you won't necessarily be interested in accessing "Lecture 1" (or was it "Lecture 2"?) to find content on Hardware vs. Algorithms.
The only problem with this approach is that there's going to be a duplicity of information, especially if a topic appears just once in a lecture. I think we're going to need some divine intervention here.
I'm going to ask Wallin to send out an e-mail to have the rest of the class contribute to this discussion. We should all come to an agreement on how we should contribute to the wiki so that it doesn't turn into one of those bar fight scenes in those old western films.
Stefan 12:03, 23 January 2010 (EST)
Also, I think that we could use this approach to have to provide an overview of the lecture on it's own page. For each discussion topic in that lecture, we could present a few of the main ideas, but link to the main article of that topic. That way a user isn't bombarded with a <sarcasm>13,000</sarcasm> word wiki article - they will go to the Lecture X page, see a list of topics and a brief description of what was discussed with those link referring to the main article.
Stefan 12:05, 23 January 2010 (EST)
I think the "Main article: x" approach is reasonable. It allows us to put summary info where appropriate and still provide a link more detailed info.
I think for our purposes, "Lecture 1" is more metadata than an actual topic. It indicates "this is the information presented during Lecture 1". The title should indicate the actual topic. I would go with either "Lecture 1: Goals and History of High Performance Computing" or simply "Goals and History of High Performance Computing" (and provide some other means to associate the material with Lecture 1). My preference is the latter. We could edit the main page to list the topics like this:
Lecture 1: [[Goals and History of High Performance Computing]] Lecture 2: [[Software Optimization for Single Processor Machines]]
That enables us to separate the chronology of the material presentation from the structure of the wiki content and allows handles the case when it takes more than one lecture to cover a topic. The main page can list lecture topics in chronological order but the links point into the HPC wiki, which is organized by content.
-thomas
Tboggs 12:50, 23 January 2010 (EST)
Alright - I think we're starting to get somewhere. That sounds like a great idea.
So, to sum things up:
- Main page will consist of
- A list of the lectures which link to an article which encapsulates the general them of the lecture. I think that the theme should be determined by the title of the presentation - for Lecture 1, it would be "Introduction to HPC".
- A list of topics discussed in the course. This allows for a user to go directly to the topic of interest without having to necessarily muck around in each of the "parent" topics, such as "Introduction to HPC". This can be generated by including the following code on the Main page:
== [[Special:Categories|Categories]] ==
{{Special:Categories}}
- Each "parent" page, or the primary topic of each lecture, will be organized so that there are sections for each topic that was discussed.
- Each topic, formatted as a section for the "parent" page, should have a link to a Main page for that topic. The section will provide an overview on the topic and any discussions that occurred during that lecture.
- When each "parent" page is created (right after a lecture), the students who are collaborating on putting up notes should initiate a discussion on what they're going to do on the Discussion portion (tab) of that page. Just like what we're doing here, it gives a chance to sort out who is going to do what.
I think that ought to work. What do you think?
Stefan Novak 16:45, 23 January 2010 (EST)
That sounds good to me. I think there will be some minor topics on the parent pages that won't end up with their own Main page but the general approach is good. I will create the page for Intro to HPC, link it from the main page, and add the section headers previously proposed.
-thomas Tboggs 20:42, 24 January 2010 (EST)
