Presenting ... a BX wiki

[Hedgy]

Recently I was a wannabe BX24 newbie. Now I've eliminated the "wannabe" part! In doing my research I discovered TBN and realized it is great for browsing on a daily basis, or for asking a specific question. But it has some shortcomings for searching and navigation. Many questions have been asked and answered before, and often the best advice on some topic is buried in a 6-month old thread. The Forum Search will return many results, but finding the "definitive answer" means reading through them all. The Kubota site is no help either, it has no Owners FAQ, or searchable "Knowledgebase".

So I decided to make my own "online manual" - or more accurately a "wiki" (like Wikipedia.)
BXTractors.info

I've spent quite a few hours on it already - but it is (and always will be, I guess) a work in progress. Wikis are meant to be collaborative, so I'm hoping to find others willing to contribute and refine it. TBN members also have some good illustrative photos of thumb installations and so on, that it would be good to add to the site.

You'll see it has a lot of links to selected threads on TBN. This is not ideal - as a re-org of TBN might break the links - but that was the fastest way of getting it off the ground.

Best case, it complements TBN (and the Operators Manual!), and provides a jumping off point for newbies so they (we) don't feel we have to ask questions like "What is a zerk anyway?"

Worst case - it remains my personal online manual in which case I'd only update it for issues that relate to my specific model and attachments.

Anyway, I'm interested in your feedback.

 

[RayCo]

Don't you hate it when you put together a long post (not to mention the effort of putting up the wiki) and no one replies? Well, fwiw, I bookmarked it. I have a career in programming to support my tractor habit, so I have an appreciation for what you did!

 

[Hedgy]

I've already had another TBN member contribute some photos and content via the wiki, but I have to admit I was mildly concerned the speed at which it was dropping down the thread list without a reply considering the time I had put into it so far (As if I don't already spend enough time on computer projects.) Thanks for bumping the thread back up!

Anyway, I'm hoping it will be useful, either for newbies exploring, or as a reference resource for old hands when the TBN search feature fails to turn up trumps.

Suggestions for additional sections are welcome, as are photos for modifications/implements that do not already have them. There are lots of great pics on TBN - but I'm not going to post any without permission of the original poster.

 

[Volfandt]

I've bookmarked it also. It's a great idea.
You've already got some good info posted there.
It'll be VERY helpful.
Most of what I can contribute is way back in the archives and on other boards (mytractorforum.com) but I see newer updates that work fine.
(course most of mine are newer updates of older posts too).
If I don't see any newer perhaps I'll dig some of 'em up & contribute.

It can be amazng on what topics will generate the most traffic with no rhyme or reason to 'em.

Good job on the wiki.

btw, is wiki an acronym or just a new cyber term. Just curious

 

[Berniep]

I see you have a link to my thread on the grapple install.
Cool I already have a contribution to the WIKI.

 

[Hedgy]

Origin of the term Wiki

The term "wiki" is a Hawaiian word meaning "fast", but is now widely used in the Internet world to describe a type of computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites".

I have a question for some of you veteran TBN'ers. I've been rummaging in a lot of older TBN threads to find content for the wiki. I found some threads where all the links were broken. So I'm guessing that a few years ago there was some sort of re-organization of the site that broke all the links (or at least some links). Is that right?

That's one reason why I'm a wary of the wiki containing only links. So where I can establish a widely agreed fact e.g. "lifting a heaving weight on only one end-mounted chain hook is bad practice" then I'd rather state that in the wiki rather than point to a thread that says the same thing. However, for speed of creation, giving a link is obviously faster.

A couple of other questions you might be asking...

Q. Why BXTractors.info and not KubotaTractors.info?
A. Sorry, but it's a spare time project and I thought limiting it to BX issues might be manageable. Of course some pages (especially regarding implements) will be applicable to other tractors. And there's nothing to stop anyone creating other wikis at Wetpaint.com on any subject - they are free to create.

Q. Why the flowery design at the top of each page?
A. Umm ... sorry about that, but it was the only orange template that Wetpaint.com offered However I think I can replace it with an image, so that's something I'll investigate.