This site needs a wiki for new users

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artax

Full Member
Jun 7, 2012
23
9
LA
I'm a new user here. I've seen the same threads started dozens of times ("I'm a newbie! What should I buy???"). The infozone link is simply not enough. Most people know these things by the time they get here. A good way to cut down on unnecessary threads that repeat ad nauseum (of which I realized I was guilty of after only a few days here) would be to have an exhaustive wiki of types and even brands/retailers of devices/accessories/liquids (clearomizer, cartomizer, pureomizer, wtf-omizer, etc, etc). I've seen so many folks here, including myself, who have spent hundreds of dollars on garbage because they didn't know what they were buying. I also think sending people to reputable retailers and voting with our wallets to shut down the sheisters by cutting off their funds would do a great deal towards legitimizing an industry that people (and some with billions of dollars) would love to shut down. We have a HUGE, intensely active community here. Let's get a little more organazized, huh? :2c:
 

Hoosier

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Jan 26, 2010
8,272
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OK, we have the first volunteer to setup and maintain a wiki of a constantly evolving and changing market!

Cool, now who is pitching in?

Seriously, if you do a search, this is not a new idea. Heck there are even reserved domains for such a thing and they all, at least from what my search engine found, are useless or, at best, horribly outdated. Then there are good things like DaBoom & Wolf's Vaping Guides site that is a far cry from a wiki, but packed full of information. (Yes the same DaBoom that penned the Welcome To The Wonderful World of Vaping information series in the ECF library, which is the information I used to get started back when Carlos Juice Boxes still roamed the earth and still #1 on my list of the first thing a newbie should read.)

ECF's New Members sub-forum is more like a mentoring thing and works for what it is. The rest of the sub's each have their own thing going on, except for the Vets sub which is just packed with sillyness. (No, you cannot see the Vet's sub, but this is a good thing, if non-vets were to see what goes on in the vet's sub they may get the wrong idea of what long term vaping does to one's mind.)

Since this is a disscussion site, ebbs and flows on and off topic are common. The admins and mods give a fairly good attempt to keep it organized, but it is like trying to herd cats by using a megaphone to direct 3 year old children dosed with caffine and sugar to the task. But that is what makes ECF great. Yes, I'm serious! ECF is full of good folks who want to help and these folks come from all walks of life. This diversity is what makes things a bit disorganized, but also what allows the New Members, and others, subs to actually work.

While we may all be vapers, none of us is really on the same path in this journey. Here you can find someone close enough to your path that they may have a few pointers that actually work for your path. For example, I don't like cartomizers and if I were to answer questions folks asked about cartomizers and carto-tanks, it would basically consist of, "Throw the darn things away and find something that actually has flavor and vapor density for cryin' out loud already. They suck!" I know cartomizers seem to be what the majority of folks here like, so I don't say that to cartomizer users because they will try to give me tips and techniques to make my carto experience better without realizing I've been trying cartos and all the techniques and tips for over 2 years and still don't like them. That path is nowhere close to my path.

So, what I'm trying to say, with way too many words is ask. Read, read some more, read till nothing sinks in, then come here and ask. Clutter the New Members forum with questions that will embarrass yourself a year later. Ask your most confusing question because someone here has been there before and can help. This is a discussion and without the banter it stops, so ask.
 

Spazmelda

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 18, 2011
4,809
4,513
Ohio
I think the way things work here is superior, in many ways, to a wiki type site. It's the very interactive nature of the newbie board that makes it so useful, IMO.

As Hoosier said, answers can be specifically tailored to a particular question and set of circumstances. This would be impossible with a wiki. And, as has been pointed out, e-cig technology just changes so quickly that a wiki would be hard to maintain and update.

My mom is a teacher, and I've done some teaching as well. One of the most useful things she ever explained to me wrt teaching is that learners come to a subject with a certain set of preconceived notions. Some of the the ideas they have are wrong, or not quite right. One of the most beneficial things you can do before trying to teach someone about a subject is to identify the what they already know or don't know about the subject. I think the newbie board is great for this type of learning. Veteran members seem to be very good at picking up on what misconceptions and newbie might have, and they are good at this because they've been through it themselves AND because they've seen the same sorts of questions asked over and over here. If you see the same sorts of questions again and again, you can sometimes decipher a question or misconception that the learner doesn't even know they have. Don't know if that makes sense, it does in my head. LOL!

In other words, a newbie often doesn't know what they don't know. This can make it difficult to even know what questions to ask (or google). Being able to interact and get specific mentoring from vets here really helps speed the knowledge acquisition along, I think.
 
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tj99959

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
  • Aug 13, 2011
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    Well at the least I think there are some things that still need to be brought up to date. The problem is that it takes man hours to do so.

    This was a nice list ........... in 2009
    Model Specific Discussion

    Discuss model specific issues in the appropriate subforum


    Sub-Forums:
    eGo Type Models, Joye 510,M-401/402 "Mini" & M403 Super Mini, KR808D-1, DSE 901/b *Mini*, RN 4075 *Mini", M-201 *Penstyle*, DSE 801 *Penstyle*, RN-4072 *Penstyle*, RN 4081 *Super Mini*, Joye 306, DSE 601 *Pipe*, Mini Pipe, E-Cigar models, Blu Electronic Cigarettes
     
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    elfstone

    Ultra Member
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    Verified Member
    Jan 15, 2012
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    Well.. there is a Wiki. I didn't even know about it until now, but at least there is a base to start building on. I'm in, to be honest. I don't know what the powers that be intend to do with that, or if they even remember they have it, but here it is:

    Main Page - E-Cigarette Wiki

    ETA: I shot a PM to the "Wiki SysOp" and asked him how that place works.
     
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    oldsoldier

    Retired ECF Forum Manager
    ECF Veteran
    Verified Member
    Dec 17, 2010
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    The wiki has been problematic in the past because of spamming, so last year we locked it down and appointed a wiki admin/sysop since keeping up with the wiki is a large job. If you are interested in contributing to the wiki please contact the sysop about getting an account. The wiki is only as good as the community makes it.
     

    elksm

    Full Member
    May 17, 2012
    11
    2
    Seattle
    I think a wiki would be great. Forums are great for advice and opinions, but being new to this I had (and still have) a hard time finding out the facts. For instance, there's a million vendors that rebrand equipment from a handful of manufacturers, and no good place to find out what's compatible with what. For me I ended up with a Joye 510 charger and a Boge battery that doesn't seem to charge, and have no idea if one of them is broken or they're just incompatible.

    If there was a good wiki page on subjects like that it could save people a lot of combing through threads and posts by compiling more info in one place than a single person could even know and write in a forum post.
     

    thinkingaboutit

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    Jun 13, 2012
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    Sure, a wiki is nice...but I can speak from VERY recent experience that I got all the answers I needed faster than I expected a "welcome". I think things are changing rapidly, but some core info (how to refill this, what can interchange) could be done.

    I learned so much, so fast that I was ready to start. The members here are amazingly helpful.
     

    oldsoldier

    Retired ECF Forum Manager
    ECF Veteran
    Verified Member
    Dec 17, 2010
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    www.reboot-n.com
    ECF is attempting to cover all the bases in our mission to be the best resource possible for the vaping community.
    So far we have:
    ECF
    ECF InfoZone (our CMS)
    ECF Live Chat (IRC)
    E-cigarette Wiki
    ECF Coupon Site
    ECF Sigbanner Generator (we still need more banner choices, but they will come)

    oh and lets not forget the ECF Store, where you can get ECF Tshirts, business cards and other swag.
     

    Jason McRoy

    Super Member
    ECF Veteran
    Verified Member
    May 24, 2012
    386
    113
    Tampa, FL
    I agree with the Wiki, but to be honest, this place is just too awesome to be replace by a Wiki. I don't thing it could happen. I have seen the vets here so patiently answering the same questions over and over without even telling the person asking that they should check the threads for the answer to that. Instead, they just give them the answer. To me, THAT is what makes this forum so awesome.

    Your specific questions get answered so fast in here and by the time you have too many posts to ask more questions in this new member thread, you don't really need to anymore.

    So, while a Wiki would be great to give an overview of information, it will never be able to replace this forum and this particular section.

    Cheers to you all!

    -Jason
     
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