New Resource : Gauge3.info

[John Candy]

I think the time has come to reorganise this forum and its associated websites, to better cater for the members.
At present, the principal associated site is www.g3madesimple.org.uk , which does not allow articles to be added, other than by the administrator (i.e. me).

There is a lot of info scattered around this forum which becomes invisible quite rapidly (once the topic "goes cold") and could usefully be placed in a repository, as Ralph and others have suggested.

I intend to "wind down" my day-to-day involvement with "web matters", while maintaining overall control of the domains and hosting and my proposals are as follows.

1) www.g3madesimple.org.uk be discontinued with the content transferred to www.gauge3.info

2) Useful content of g3forum.org.uk be collated, reorganised and also moved to gauge3.info

3) Gauge3.info becomes an asset managed by members of this forum, where (subject to moderation) anyone can can contribute G3 content. Applications, including Joomla and Coppermine, are examples of the available tools which may be employed to manage gauge3.info

None of the above affects the continuation of this forum, which will act as a bridge to gauge3.info content, while freeing up the forum for discussion, rather than clogging with "indexable" reference content.

The domain and the hosting platform already exist and no cost is involved.

Suggestions and volunteers required.

John.

[cabbage]

Ok count me in. I don't know the software you refer to but probably there is a debian equivalent(?)

Regards

Ralph

[John Candy]

Thank you Ralph.

Here is a link to a PDF showing the available (free) applications which will self-install www.lakes-pages.com/gauge3info_applcns.pdf

The server runs LINUX and I have set to PHP7.0 (it can be back-dated to earlier PHP if incompatible with an installed application).

I am hoping for a couple more volunteers to form a team to set up and run the show (apart from initial work there will need to be ongoing "moderation" of content submitted, to ensure copyright issues, etc. do not arise),

Regards,
John.

[Andy B]

Hi John,
As it's open source s/w that runs on Linux, I can offer my support too.
I don't know how much time I'll have to help with initial set up, but can certainly help with ongoing maintenance and moderation.

Andy

[John Candy]

Thank Andy,

Apart from collating the initial content, there will be necessary registration and monitoring of users, to edit material submitted and prevent unwanted content being uploaded.

At present, the application I am favouring is MediaWiki (which is the same software as developed for Wikipedia) and I have experimented with this in the past. In fact I set up a Gauge 3 Society sample the year before I relinquished control and got as far as testing it but, like the "shopping cart" system I set up a few years earlier, there was no interest expressed by the other committee members in support of it, so I wasn't prepared to waste any more time on it! Nothing is "set in stone", so suggestions welcome.

This time, there seems to be support from members of this forum, who are more forward-looking and seeking better ways of collating and disseminating information, so I am prepared to "give it a go"!

I appreciate that members have a limited amount of time to dedicate to such projects, which is why a team is needed to manage it (and to ensure it continues when I am no longer in a position to oversee the operation).

I have quickly drafted a (by no means exhaustive) table of contents as attached for observations and suggestions.

1) Layout Planning.
a)Outdoor
b) Indoor
2) Laying the foundations
Options : (materials, elevation above ground level, etc.)
3) Trackwork
a) Choices (brands / standards / methods of control and electrification)
b) Turnouts and pointwork options (including construction and operating methods)
c) Laying thetrack.
d) To ballast or not to ballast?
4) Locomotives
a) Choice of propulsion
b) Sourcing models
c) Kit construction (specific case notes)
5) Rolling Stock
a) Passenger stock
b) Freight stock
6) Signalling and control
7) Buildings and scenery

Appendices:
Directory of Traders
Sources of help and assistance.

[cabbage]

John ,
To me there is one obvious omission... As I am a scratch builder there is no entry for data tables etc that I can work from. You will also need formulae and "worked examples". There should be some entries on how a scratch builder can "guesstimate" from photos and plans.

regards

ralph

[John Candy]

Let's add:-

8. Data Collection and Drawings
a) Preparing Scale Drawings from scratch
b) Extracting measurements and data from photographs (e.g. use of "Gimp")

Add to Appendices :

"Useful Tables and conversion factors"

Also, I suggest, "Materials and Fixings for Specific Projects"  with sub-headings:
Metals
Plastics/resins
Timber
Soldering/welding
Riveting
Adhesives
Other Fixings
Fillers
Paints/Varnish
Transfers

John.

[Spitfire2865]

I would certainy have things to say regarding timber and fixing methods.
Though I would love to learn more about measurments from photos.

[cabbage]

It would seem that we have a viable project! What we need now is a set of "in boxes" for people to post to. What we also need is a grab bag area for pictures of locos and rolling stock that is either out of copyright or we have snapped ourselves.  I have several hundreds of shots from York, Barrow Hill, Severn Valley etc . I would also appeal for a reference section. BA, UNF, MC MF BSW ME etc. Although I seem to be pedantic Zeus is not up to the job anymore...

Regards

Ralph

[John Candy]

UPDATE on Gauge3.info development.

I am exploring (with Ralph) the most effective application for managing this site.

MediaWiki (which is the application developed to power "Wikipedia") is currently being assessed, while an alternative is "Joomla", a widely used Content Management application.

I don't feel that WordPress (a "blogging" tool) is appropriate for type of content submission envisaged.

Comments appreciated (and a couple more volunteers to run it)!

John

[cabbage]

Having spent some time with it in "the sandbox" the system is far too complex for what we need... John please install Joombla for evaluation.

regards

ralph

[John Candy]

Ralph,

I have "uninstalled" the MediaWiki and Joomla now installed in directory   /infobase

Login as before.

John.

[cabbage]

Slight technical problem! I don't seem to be able to do anything with it . Do I have admin level permission?

regards

ralph

[John Candy]

Oops!

Forgot to assign permissions when I registered your username (got interrupted see below) ..... now corrected......should work!

Past few days (since I started this) I have been badgered by dozens of emails per day and by phone calls from USA (three yesterday) and India (two today) by people wanting to design the site....for a fee of course!
If only the members of the G3S were as enthusiastic to help with projects.

Regards,
John.

[John Candy]

I have designed a "header" for the new site which can be viewed at

http://gauge3.info/

It is restrained and "workmanlike" rather than "flashy", which I believe it should be, to reflect the nature of the content BUT, if you disagree, then feel free to add comments.

John.