Building a WoS FAQ - contributions and thoughts please!
Hi there,
as you may have read in a nearby thread recently, Martijn has bought the domain names sinclairfaq.org and sinclairfaq.net which now point to this page. Go take a look. What's missing? Why, a World of Spectrum FAQ of course!
The comp.sys.sinclair FAQ doesn't incorporate the last few years of advances in the scene. Given that we now have mass storage and the fast emerging ULAplus standard, with the Spectranet and hardware ULAplus on the horizon, along with notable WoSsers engaged in mapping and bugfixing games in massive amounts... not forgetting the ongoing efforts of software preservation and distribution rights seeking... well, the scene deserves an up-to-date FAQ.
Martijn thought it might be a good idea. Myself and a few other WoSsers volunteered their services. I have started exploring the possibilities already - while not, I hasten to add, ring-fencing this as My Project Alone. That way lies disenchantment and loss of interest. Instead, I merely invoke the ancient right of Baggsies Me First, and am putting myself forward as editor to see how that goes. By handling the writing process as much as possible within this very thread, I hope to get as many people involved as possible - and, of course, such a process can carry on without me should I lose use of my two typing fingers, or something :)
My qualifications? Well I have experience in writing technical documentation as well as "nontechnical documentation" like beginner's user manuals. I work in e-learning in real life, which has included virtual learning environments and content development as well as staff training and a bit of teaching theory. Basically, I know the value of having a good "Getting Started" document for a diverse field, so when the opportunity came up to write one for WoS I figured I could make myself useful :)
As of this morning I've been posting to c.s.s. too, to see if anyone there wants any part of this rewrite - whether they would like to offer c.s.s. FAQ content to us, or whether they would like their work preserved alongside ours, or whether they want to rewrite too, etc. There's obviously going to be some common ground if they do that. I'm sure we can work something out.
At the moment, though, the WoS FAQ should be considered a wholly new document rather than a rip of the c.s.s. one.
To business, then: what will our Questions be?
I'm going to post the ones I see coming up here on WoS most often, with a little guesswork regarding what sort of info newcomers might want to see. I invite you, Dear Reader, to tear into my suggestion with the rabid ferocity of the wolverine or coyote. Unless completely shouted down, I'm going to try and retain editorial control (as noted above, will step aside if it's not working!) but if this is going to be a useful document it will need destruct testing.
Once the hierarchy is in some sort of shape we can start writing answers to the questions. Myself, nuggetreggae and zeropolis79 have already volunteered; the more the merrier (and quicker).
I hope we can grow this thing organically. The question "Can I find out more technical information on the Spectrum's innards?" could initially be a one-sentence link to the tech wiki, but later be expanded into a few paragraphs of rundown with specific links off each one. It's never going to supplant the sites it links to - what would be the point? In my opinion a FAQ should be a "thin portal", not an effort to duplicate other sites (apart from anything else this leads to update anomalies and built-in obsolescence, both of which are, from both a pedagogical and data-management perspective, a bit rubbish.)
So, first things first - the heirarchy. I want to hammer this out first to solve where various questions go: do we bundle classic Speccy software questions with questions on new Speccy software? Do questions on programming new software go in the same section or on their own? Et cetera. The post following this one will contain my first bash at such a hierarchy.
tl;dr We're writing a WoS Frequently Asked Questions file. Want to help? Stick around.
as you may have read in a nearby thread recently, Martijn has bought the domain names sinclairfaq.org and sinclairfaq.net which now point to this page. Go take a look. What's missing? Why, a World of Spectrum FAQ of course!
The comp.sys.sinclair FAQ doesn't incorporate the last few years of advances in the scene. Given that we now have mass storage and the fast emerging ULAplus standard, with the Spectranet and hardware ULAplus on the horizon, along with notable WoSsers engaged in mapping and bugfixing games in massive amounts... not forgetting the ongoing efforts of software preservation and distribution rights seeking... well, the scene deserves an up-to-date FAQ.
Martijn thought it might be a good idea. Myself and a few other WoSsers volunteered their services. I have started exploring the possibilities already - while not, I hasten to add, ring-fencing this as My Project Alone. That way lies disenchantment and loss of interest. Instead, I merely invoke the ancient right of Baggsies Me First, and am putting myself forward as editor to see how that goes. By handling the writing process as much as possible within this very thread, I hope to get as many people involved as possible - and, of course, such a process can carry on without me should I lose use of my two typing fingers, or something :)
My qualifications? Well I have experience in writing technical documentation as well as "nontechnical documentation" like beginner's user manuals. I work in e-learning in real life, which has included virtual learning environments and content development as well as staff training and a bit of teaching theory. Basically, I know the value of having a good "Getting Started" document for a diverse field, so when the opportunity came up to write one for WoS I figured I could make myself useful :)
As of this morning I've been posting to c.s.s. too, to see if anyone there wants any part of this rewrite - whether they would like to offer c.s.s. FAQ content to us, or whether they would like their work preserved alongside ours, or whether they want to rewrite too, etc. There's obviously going to be some common ground if they do that. I'm sure we can work something out.
At the moment, though, the WoS FAQ should be considered a wholly new document rather than a rip of the c.s.s. one.
To business, then: what will our Questions be?
I'm going to post the ones I see coming up here on WoS most often, with a little guesswork regarding what sort of info newcomers might want to see. I invite you, Dear Reader, to tear into my suggestion with the rabid ferocity of the wolverine or coyote. Unless completely shouted down, I'm going to try and retain editorial control (as noted above, will step aside if it's not working!) but if this is going to be a useful document it will need destruct testing.
Once the hierarchy is in some sort of shape we can start writing answers to the questions. Myself, nuggetreggae and zeropolis79 have already volunteered; the more the merrier (and quicker).
I hope we can grow this thing organically. The question "Can I find out more technical information on the Spectrum's innards?" could initially be a one-sentence link to the tech wiki, but later be expanded into a few paragraphs of rundown with specific links off each one. It's never going to supplant the sites it links to - what would be the point? In my opinion a FAQ should be a "thin portal", not an effort to duplicate other sites (apart from anything else this leads to update anomalies and built-in obsolescence, both of which are, from both a pedagogical and data-management perspective, a bit rubbish.)
So, first things first - the heirarchy. I want to hammer this out first to solve where various questions go: do we bundle classic Speccy software questions with questions on new Speccy software? Do questions on programming new software go in the same section or on their own? Et cetera. The post following this one will contain my first bash at such a hierarchy.
tl;dr We're writing a WoS Frequently Asked Questions file. Want to help? Stick around.
Post edited by Danforth on
Comments
the SE basic link is dead.
ULAplus :p
- What's a Spectrum?
- What's World of Spectrum?
- What are the posting guidelines for World of Spectrum?
- So I can still play Spectrum games? (links to various other sections covering the various ways of doing that!)
Section 1: Spectrum software
- Where can I find Spectrum software online? (the archive)
- Why is some software distribution denied?
- Can I upload software to WoS?
- How do I get the software into a real Spectrum?
- How do I get real software into an emulated Spectrum? (link to 4.3)
- What are all the different file formats for? (link to 3.3)
- Are new Spectrum games still being published? (cronosoft etc.)
- What's the best Spectrum game ever? (top 100s, WoS forums)
Section 2: Spectrum hardware
- Can I get my Spectrum repaired?
- What models of Spectrum were made?
- What addons were available back in the day?
- What addons are being made now? (ULAplus, DIVide, Spectranet etc.)
- Can I find more technical information on the Spectrum's innards? (tech wiki)
Section 3: Emulating Spectrums on other machines
- What emulators are available?
- How does Emulator X work?
- What are all the different file formats for?
Section 4: The Spectrum Community
- Are there any guides available for creating new Spectrum software?
- What about new Spectrum hardware?
- I have some Speccy tapes, docs, etc. I want to upload - what do I do?
- Can you still POKE / hack Spectrum games? What are people up to in this field? (include bugfixes)
- Where can I find tips and maps?
- Where can I read reviews of games?
- What Speccy-themed real-life events take place?
My main concern is over whether Section 4 is a kludge and would be better off being split into more sections... or just being broken and folded into the other three... or similar. Thoughts?
There is also that, yeah. I was merely treading carefully because that page, as it stands, represents a lot of work by c.s.s.ers and I don't want to cause bad feeling by changing too much. SE Basic will get a shout in our FAQ for starters.
ARGH. I've been calling it ULAplus, why did I start picking up on certain other posters' insistence on calling it ULA64? Sorry aowen! :-/
Oh we do have a WoS FAQ. ;) It isn't quite as comprehensive or technically oriented as the CSS FAQ though (both have different targets anyway). But perhaps it can serve as a starting point seeing that some of the topics you've listed have a overlap with the current FAQ (you're welcome to take over as the maintainer)?
Also if it's going to be a WoS faq why have it on sinclairfaq.com? That doesn't make sense to me. On the other hand if we're going for a proper collaboration between CSS and WoS (as would be necessary to get this thing going, I suspect), I would suggest calling it simply the Sinclair FAQ and leave it at that.
Well put! I would be happy to help out in organising the "Reference" section to begin with. Comprehensive as it is, it's a bit of a beast to navigate and some bits of it can do with a more friendly language.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Rewrites of the Reference section in "friendly" language worry me. It's been done before, and it resulted in a significant number of mistakes and inaccuracies. It's not meant to be a novel.
Don't knock it till you've seen it. :)
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
I always find it surprising and humbling how much I don't know :) Cheers for pointing me to that.
I see what you mean, it's very WoS-specific. I think a combined WoS/c.s.s. FAQ - a proposal getting cautious approval on c.s.s. so far - would have to have detailed sections for these two bastions of the fandom.
I agree. We could retain the seperate WoS and c.s.s. FAQs for historical record, but a combined Sinclair FAQ would make a good centrepiece.
That would be great :) I can see where Philip is coming from expressing caution over an "accessible" approach - it would have to be done in a non information-jeapordising fashion. Maybe use some accessible intro text to bracket the (suitably updated) hardcore detail, rather than try and rewrite the whole lot?
My personal opinion is that the Tech Wiki is going to continue to be the best source for detailed technical information, if nothing else because that's what I'm going to be updating; I'm trying hard these days not to spend too much time on projects with a single point of failure.
The earlier suggestion of having some explanatory text in the FAQ and then linking to the Tech Wiki had a lot of merit.
I think we're mostly agreed on linking to the Wiki from the FAQ for the technical bits, but it is the explanatory text I was pertaining to when I said it could be friendlier. As I see it, it's a win-win situation. This way nobody messes with the hardcore technical details, and at the same time the FAQ can be re-organised to be a bite more accessible for the rest of us.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Let's not beat about the bush on this one... the real FAQ is "what's the best Spectrum emulator", and the best answer (not the most accurate or complete one, but the most useful one to the person asking it) is "On Windows, Spectaculator, or SPIN if you don't want to pay. On any other platform, Fuse."
If you don't want to be as bold as that, then by all means add a proviso saying something along the lines of "These are the most popular, but there are plenty of other good ones that have their own features and advantages". But don't whatever you do answer it by flatly stating "They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Here's a link to a list of every Spectrum emulator ever written."
And while I'm here, I'd recommend copious links to Colin Woodcock's most excellent book.
All sounds good. Arjun's improved primer text to go in section 2, with links to the tech wiki for the meaty detail where possible, otherwse to the existing sinclairfaq tech material.
It's clear to me that porting the sinclairfaq tech section to the tech wiki is a seperate job, to be considered after this one. Besides, I'm reliably informed that the technical section, though it apparently requires some updating, is still regularly used by the development community; we should consult a few luminaries before touching it.
Sounds reasonable :) We are doing a FAQ after all, not an encyclopedia. We could link to WoS's own moderately comprehensive list for those looking for something specific.
Good call.
You could replace it with a link to the Jupiter Ace Archive Site.
So it is. Thanks for the suggested replacement, looks good.
Per some suggestions I've received by PM, I'm setting up a wiki for the actual writing to take place on... though I'm still minded to have contributors post those writings here (and c.s.s. where relevant) once they're happy with them, just to keep the wider community in the loop. I've asked one contributor if they want to test the wiki; when I'm happy with account creation etc. I'll give out more details here.
Anywhere, here's the lightly-tweaked index, note the split of the final section into Community and Development...
0. Meta
What's a Spectrum?
Who are you? [Danforth]
So I can still play Spectrum games? [Danforth]
1. Sinclair Software
Where can I find Sinclair software online?
Why is some software 'distribution denied'? [zeropolis79]
I have some stuff I want to distribute - how do I do that? [zeropolis79]
How do I get the software into a real Spectrum?
How do I get the software into an emulated Spectrum?
>> (very brief w/ link to 4.3 for more info)
What are all the different file formats for?
>> (very brief w/ link to 3.3 for more info)
Are new games/apps still being published? [zeropolis79]
What's the best game ever?
Where can I find maps, tips, POKEs for games? [zeropolis79]
Hang on, how do you POKE or hack on emulated machines?
2. Sinclair Hardware
Can I get my Spectrum repaired?
What machines were made back in the day?[zeropolis79]
What addons were available back in the day?
What addons/machines are being made now?
>> (very brief w/ link to section 5)
Can I find more technical information on my machine's innards?
>> (Introductory, tutorial level of complexity; links to Tech Wiki etc for the meaty detail)
3. Emulation
What's the best emulator? [zeropolis79]
Are there guides to using these emulators? I need help! [zeropolis79]
What are all the different file formats for? [zeropolis79]
Can I haz ROMs plz?
4. Community
What is the World of Spectrum?
What are the rules for using WoS?
What is comp.sys.sinclair?
What are the rules for using c.s.s.?
>> (other Speccy sites? Spanish, Russian?)
5. Development
What exciting new hardware is available or being made?
What exciting new software is available or being made?
How do I get started in software development? [zeropolis79]
How do I get started in hardware development?
What other projects are currently on the go?
Any real-life meetups of the fandom?
"You can indeed. You can find emulators for practically every Sinclair machine, from the ZX-80 on up, which will run on practically any modern machine (Windows PC, *nix PC, Mac, iphone, palmtop); You can find a huge variety of games and other software, much of which has been officially cleared for distribution by the owners; and, with some effort, you can load real software into emulated machines, and emulated software into real machines. Furthermore, you're not limited to the original technology: the Spectrum has recently acquired, or will soon acquire, mass storage, ethernet access, an improved ULA and many more toys. Not only that, but fans have been enhancing the original games to incorporate mouse support, or fix bugs so long-impossible games become finishable. Many of these modern enhancements are also reflected in the emulators. All the while, veteran 80s coders and new bloods alike are continuing to produce brand-new software, and the demo scene continues to push the limits of what was previously thought possible on the hardware.
Read on for the details..."
is there even a 48k spectrum emulator for the iphone yet? let alone all the other sinclair machines?...
"What's an ooler?" just anticipating the next FAQ for you :p
Err ... sorry, I'm not kidding but I've forgotten to the link to it. It's probably in the official thread on this invention here at WoS.
http://jsspeccy.zxdemo.org/
So far... 1 answer, 1 error :-(
...which was picked up in the very next post, which is why I'm running everything by WoS. I will now correct my error. :)
1 link, 1 crashed interner browser IE no like it :sad: