h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm new here so please be nice, maybe. I didn't feel like doing a search so if you reply with, "STFU, nobb!!!!111!!!!" I'll ignore it.

My questions: how does this differ from Wikipedia and how has the development of Wiki affected this site and its users?

We are not like that on here

there is a entry on it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A918434

You'll never get a 'STFU noob!' on here. Anybody that went around saying things like that would get pretty short shrift. This is a BBC site don't ya' know! We're right cultured are us lot.

Thank you much!

it may sound stupid i have never come accross that term before what dose it mean

It's better in some ways than W***pedia in that a single person/ group is responsible for each entry and is entitled (encouraged?) to give things their own quirky slant. Like this one of mine: A4113811

It'd not as good as W***pedia because the process of getting anything published is long and soul destroying.

But on the whole the people are friendly and occasionally intelligent.

Enjoy!

There's a section on "The Edited Guide vs Wikipedia" in the community written "What is h2g2's Place in Internet-land?" at A3764063.

If you click on the archive link at the end there's another three articles, if you've got the stamina.

Welcome to h2g2 .

**puts hand up**

Am I still allowed to be rude?

B

STFU is text language for "shut the 'F' up"

Noob is s term for those who are new or newbies.

And, yeah, you can still be rude. Just don't be surprise if I'm rude back

i see

'STFU noob' turns up on a lot of other forums, the sort of places with post counts. It's proliferation on Harmony Central stopped me going there.

Argh! Errant apostrophe.

There's all the various forums and conversations on topics ranging from the intelligent to the inane that you can join in. Feel free to click on my 'PS' (personal space) and join in any with interesting titles.

You know - I honestly can't remember how to get to the main 'Forums' or 'Ask' pages. User friendliness is not h2g2's strong suit.

Still - you're amongst friends.

If you can't remember how to get to "ask" you can type "ask" into the "Search h2g2" box...and guess what? Top entry!

RF

RTFM, eh?

In my defence...one of the principles of user interface design is that users should have, where possible, more than one way to get to where they're going. And you can quote me on that: A3213127

And answer me this: How would a new user get to Ask or Forums? Remember, this user doesn't even know that there are things called Ask or Forums. If you have to rely on someone telling you, can the site be considered usable?

Front page, right side, two thirds of the way down...

It took me a *long* time to find my way around the main areas of the site. I think I've found them all now. But the ACEs do a pretty good job of introducing you to the big bits you need to know about.

My word! So it is! Right behind the door marked 'Beware of the Leopard'. I feel sooo stupid now! Precisely how users are meant to feel, eh?

Some kind of roadmap would be...nice.



Jaysus, thank F it's not a revenue-earning site is all I can say. It would be on a fast road to bankruptcy.

I think that the problem probably stems from the Guide being the focal point and all the conversations/forums etc. ostensibly being secondary.

Note that I did say *ostensibly* secondary! This would be a frightfully tepid venture without the banter!

Well, yes...that's where it *stems* from...