Article sheet concern

[Serpentine99]

I have a concern regarding the care-sheets on this forum. The sheets with information are fabulous, but the problem is the many care-sheets without any information on them. That number has been increasing over the last few months, and all I'm asking is if you put a new sub-species on there, could you at least research some information on it besides the Latin name. Even a picture would be nice.

Thanks

[adamanteus]

The article sheets on the forum are in "wiki" format, for contribution by all our members. Please feel free to add or edit the information (or lack of it) in these sections.

[Serpentine99]

I understand that, but what I what I'm saying is at least give it a little push before just putting it out there. What if someone knew the garter sub-species by another name, they wouldn't be able to tell without some kind of idenification.
(By the way, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just pointing out a problem.)

[adamanteus]

I appreciate your frustration at the lack of information on many of the species and sub-species. The care sheets are just a list of known species, for us all to flesh out with what information we know personally.

In your first post on this thread you suggested ...."You could research some information"..... Yes, indeed, but the "you" is actually "we", all of us (including yourself) as a group of enthusiasts with a shared passion for Garter Snakes. As far as I am aware there is no one on the forum who could talk with any authority on all the topics in the article sheets.

To research each species and sub-species, and find a picture, would be a lot of work for someone to take on. So the onus falls on each one of us, as members, to contribute what we can.

[Serpentine99]

Actually it's quite fun to do a whole care sheet by yourself. It may take a few days but at the end you can look at it and say "I made this." But considering I'm a student my life is probably a lot less stressful than the many hardworking adults on this forum. So I can understand how hard it would be for people to make time to make an entire care sheet by themselves.

However if you put another sub-species of garter on the care sheets with maybe the area in which you found it or where you've heard they live, then another person may come along and say "Hey, that area is near where I live!" So they go do some research on it and add another contribution to our forum. Now if that information had not been on there the care sheet would have probably stayed empty until someones decides to delete it. Just that little information speeds the contribution rate up tremendously and helps all of us learn a little more.

PS: I found out from school the other day that I'm absurdly competitive when it comes to debates.

[adamanteus]

Just that little information speeds the contribution rate up tremendously and helps all of us learn a little more.

That is a very good and valid point! I couldn't agree more. My argument is this; Who is the person to post this initial content?...... All of us. Some of our members have already put in a substantial amount of work in preparing the care sheets we already have. Thanks to them.

That said, I take your point, and I will put in some information here and there, where I feel qualified to do so. If everyone else does the same, our care sheets will soon be full of invaluable information!

[Cazador]

Thanks for the suggestion, Lawrence. The entire wiki section has only existed for less than about 6 months, so they're actually coming along pretty well... wouldn't you say? Your timing with this suggestion is excellent because we moderators started discussing what we need in order to improve the wiki sheets (including the care sheets) about a week ago in the "moderator's forum." We're making a list and prioritizing the most urgent needs.

I think ideas like yours will help us flesh out this list a bit sooner, so I hope others will offer similar suggestions. Eventually, we can post the list and ask for "community" support in completing the articles on this list. Jason has a vision... and I completely agree... that the forum will be enhanced if the wiki section is a group effort from within our thamnophis.com community. As James mentioned, there's almost certainly no one on this forum with the expertise to write them all, but as a group, we're much more intelligent :). Please keep those ideas and suggestions coming because that little "nudge" that your talking about should help them develop much quick.

Rick

[Serpentine99]

Thanks guys. I also think if we make it a community effort our young forum here will get as big as those other sites, but much more welcoming and full of information. And again although you already know this, I was not trying to be criticizing, I was simply pointing out a small glitch in our wonderful forum.
I had no idea the care-sheets were only up for 6 months! I thought they'd been up since the start of this forum. This also encourages me to post even more information on the care-sheets so it influences others to do the same.

[Cazador]

That's great to hear, Lawrence. Again, thanks for the suggestions and help :).

Rick