Knowledge Base

[Leon Machado IV]

Working at my software company, I've found that we maintain a very active knowledge base for common issues and problems with our software. Has there ever been any thought to this in FIRST? I'm not sure if it could be actively run within CD, but I'm sure if you couldn't you very easily could actively link out to where ever it was. Let me know if I could help set something up (not programming unfortently, but physical design and whatnot, as my company has a very good one).

[Ryan M.]

Interesting idea. It would be an awesome tool for FIRSTers.

[Leon Machado IV]

The nice part is is if everyone agrees, you could have it in a state of perpetual upgrade, so you're always getting the most up to date and accurate information.

[mechanicalbrain]

oooh me likes. maybe create a general FIRST crisis site we could integrate the team directory into it as a tool and then have people who volunteer to answer questions in specific categories. maybe make it a wiki?

[Brandon Martus]

www.firstwiki.org ?

or am i misunderstanding?

[mechanicalbrain]

yeah i was thinking specificially for crisis and advice pertaining to FIRST robotics.

[Hutch]

I guess I don't know if there are many "common problems", especially since most code is going to be different, robot to robot, week to week. But, I'm sure if someone set up a wiki, people could think of things that are common .

[Ryan M.]

If we're talking about a wiki, I vote you see Brandon's post.

I think Leon was thinking of something more along the lines of a FAQ database.

[Hutch]

I understand there is a FIRST wiki... But I don't know how well an FAQ database would work since then someone has to manage it and manage submissions. And yeah, I just think a more sepcific wiki would be appropriate for this, rather than a database for the reason above.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by Hutch

I understand there is a FIRST wiki... But I don't know how well an FAQ database would work since then someone has to manage it and manage submissions. And yeah, I just think a more sepcific wiki would be appropriate for this, rather than a database for the reason above.

It is possible (I'm almost positive) to create subsection type things in the wiki the FIRSTwiki is using. Maybe you could ask about that in the FIRSTwiki CD forum.

It wouldn't be that hard to setup and maintain a FAQ database. Here's kinda what I'm envisioning it as: (Leon, tell me if you're thinking of something completely different.)

Anyone can submit a new FAQ. When they submit it, they have to provide key words which are relevant to the content of the article. (They provide the keywords instead of an automated indexing so that a person can, for example, say something about "the robot controller uses a serial cable" in an FAQ about serial to USB converters. If it was automated, the article might come up in a search for help about using the PWM outs on the robot controller.) A moderator then receives a notification of the new FAQ item. They can read the FAQ and either approve or reject it.

If the database is getting hundreds of submissions a day, we can always just add more moderators. Probably more than ³/₄ths of the people on CD are overqualified for the job of looking for spam and non-FIRST things...

A person uses the database by typing in key words they want to search for. Results are displayed.

[Hutch]

I suppose some sort of FAQ database could work - I guess I just always liked the idea of not having moderators (and since this is FIRST, there wouldn't be edit wars or anything on the wiki).

No matter what is done, I'm happy to contribute

[Leon Machado IV]

Sounds like ya all nailed it on the head. The other thing you could do is limit the number of people that submit, say a handful on a team. You can also make it so everyone can donate. Not sure how everyone would want to set that up, but that's up to web designers, not management type people like myself (yes, BS of General Management, and I do know what I'm talking about, which scares most people).

[mechanicalbrain]

how about doing it so each team has a single account that way you keep it easy. everyone on the team can use the account but we dont have mutiple people from the same team going on and asking the same question.

[Leon Machado IV]

It's an idea, matter of finding who could actually program the system.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by Leon Machado IV

It's an idea, matter of finding who could actually program the system.

I'm willing to help, but I've currently got several other projects, some of which are FIRST related. (Anyone ever heard of the FIRST Contact Database? [What?!? You haven't? Well, check if your team is signed up already, then add them if they aren't!])

Come on someone, volunteer!

Man, all these opportunities to promote the best FIRST thing ever.