gauging interest for a new website

[hobbes20xxx]

Hey guys, ive been thinking that as i know of, there is no decently well updated website that shows all of the recent robots of all the teams, as well as some other basic info that is actually updated. I was thinking it would be cool to be able to reference a dedicated webpage to this, so when (on CD) someone says "...just like soandso's robot from 2006" newcomers can look up exactly what that was.

I know thebluealliance has some info, but im looking for information pertaining to the ROBOTS, and thebluealliance seems to center on stats, likewise there is a first wiki, but beacuse its user updated and we are all busy its not updated...

Anyway, input?

[EricH]

You mean like something similar to CD-Media?

[AllenGregoryIV]

You mean something like this?

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=99102

[hobbes20xxx]

sortof, too incomplete though, i was thinking i could type in "2075" and have it pop up with my teams past 3 robots. frc designs doesnt have that type of search feature

[Andrew Lawrence]

Would you be willing to make it? How would you get the pictures of all team's robots? You can't make it mandatory, and it's been proven not as effective to rely on user input, because not everyone will upload pictures.

[slijin]

sortof, too incomplete though, i was thinking i could type in "2075" and have it pop up with my teams past 3 robots. frc designs doesnt have that type of search feature

Keep in mind that frcdesigns is still a relatively new site, compared to CD and TBA; we can't expect it to have everything just yet. Starting another new site will just make it even harder to make frcdesigns a comprehensive collection.

[Andrew Lawrence]

sortof, too incomplete though, i was thinking i could type in "2075" and have it pop up with my teams past 3 robots. frc designs doesnt have that type of search feature

Keep in mind that frcdesigns is still a relatively new site, compared to CD and TBA; we can't expect it to have everything just yet. Starting another new site will just make it even harder to make frcdesigns a comprehensive collection.

Josh, I'd talk to Matt from FRC-designs.com about your ideas, and work with him on getting more pictures on the site.

Like slijin said, it takes a while for websites to start up, so why make a new one when you can work with an existing one? Like I said, talk to Matt about it.

While I'm posting here, if anyone from FRC-designs sees this, I have a question. When FRC designs first started, it showed pictures of robots. However, it now only seems to show CAD, and it only shows robot pictures if CAD is included. Would it be possible to re-include those pictures of robots without CAD? Some teams (ours included) are just starting CAD, and may take some time to learn it, but still want our robots on the site.

Thanks, and Josh, please talk to Matt. I see some good ideas coming towards FRC-designs from you.

[AllenGregoryIV]

There are photos on the site, it's just near impossible to navigate the current slide show view. I hope with the new goal of getting a picture of each team this year, they will also upgrade the site navigation. If they could include places for robot specs and links to The Blue Alliance this would be a great scouting resource.

[hobbes20xxx]

First off, let me say that im not trying to undercut anyone's current website, was just trying to start some talk about what our ideal website would be and what we have currently, if it turns out that another website exists or is planning on implementing these features, great!, mission accomplished.

Would you be willing to make it? How would you get the pictures of all team's robots? You can't make it mandatory, and it's been proven not as effective to rely on user input, because not everyone will upload pictures.

Yes, i would be willing, but i wouldn't make it mandatory, a proactive approach would be taken to contact teams and request pictures of their robots (alot of work, i know).

...However, it now only seems to show CAD, and it only shows robot pictures if CAD is included. Would it be possible to re-include those pictures of robots without CAD?...

Exactly, i would be concerned more about simple pictures than design aspects, a reference point for new robotics members to look at what has happened in years passed.

[Hallry]

Exactly, i would be concerned more about simple pictures than design aspects, a reference point for new robotics members to look at what has happened in years passed.

*cough* Firstwiki.net? *cough*

;)

[hobbes20xxx]

*cough* Firstwiki.net? *cough*

doing a search of 1676, lots of good, i mean absolutely GREAT info, no robot pictures :/ same thing for every other team

[Andrew Lawrence]

doing a search of 1676, lots of good, i mean absolutely GREAT info, no robot pictures :/ same thing for every other team

Aside from pictures, I think having robot information would be helpful as well. Drivetrain specifics, manipulator information, etc. The best part: Most of this information is found here on CD with the robot unveiling, so it wouldn't be a problem to get the information for the robots.

[Hallry]

doing a search of 1676, lots of good, i mean absolutely GREAT info, no robot pictures :/ same thing for every other team

You (http://firstwiki.net/index.php/1676_in_2005) might (http://firstwiki.net/index.php/1676_in_2006) want (http://firstwiki.net/index.php/1676_in_2007) to (http://firstwiki.net/index.php/1676_in_2008) search (http://firstwiki.net/index.php/1676_in_2009) some (http://firstwiki.net/index.php/1676_in_2010) more (http://firstwiki.net/index.php/1676_in_2011) ;)

Aside from pictures, I think having robot information would be helpful as well. Drivetrain specifics, manipulator information, etc. The best part: Most of this information is found here on CD with the robot unveiling, so it wouldn't be a problem to get the information for the robots.

Agreed, that could definitely be added to there. If your team doesn't have a page on the wiki, make one! =]

[Basel A]

doing a search of 1676, lots of good, i mean absolutely GREAT info, no robot pictures :/ same thing for every other team

Maybe you haven't seen our page ;)
http://www.firstwiki.net/index.php/2337

There's lots of resources to get information. It's a good idea to try to aggregate them to one place, but starting a new site isn't the answer. That will only exacerbate the issue. Maybe try pulling info from all the current sites to one existing site; FRC Designs seems like a great place.

[artdutra04]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards.png

[hobbes20xxx]

@artdutra04, your entirely correct, i feel the same way, in a perfect world we would have one website that combines firstwiki, frcdesigns, and thebluealliance.

@hallry the problem with Wikis is uniformity, every single page is different, and MOST (90%+) of the pages are basically inactive. You yourself know this: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96415 Yours is perfectly up-to-date, and so is enginerds, and so are some others.