User talk:Haiqu

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Welcome to CruisersWiki!

We all look forward to your valued contributions to the Cruising Wiki. Help it grow as a useful, free resource for all cruisers around the world.

Spend a little time reading the help pages (link in L/H menu) to gain a better understanding of the Wiki formatting and how to edit articles. Please add what you can - even correcting grammar and spelling errors in articles is a great help. The more you use the Wiki the easier (and more addictive) it becomes.

Also, please read the Cruiserswiki Copyrights notice, as well as the General Disclaimers (links at bottom of pages).

Again, welcome and have fun! Bring out that hidden "Cruising Guide writer" in you. Lighthouse 21:51, 24 May 2011 (BST)

Contents

Contributions

Great contributions - well done! Lighthouse 09:35, 26 May 2011 (BST)

Whitsunday Passage

Hi, don't forget the Navbar links at the bottom of the (NEW) page. Add the links to parent and child pages. You can normally copy/paste the Navbar from the parent page and complete this. Great contributions! Lighthouse 14:04, 29 May 2011 (BST)

Thanks! Only just figured out how to add new pages, would like to know how to alter names of existing pages too ("North Australia" should be "Northern Territory"). --Haiqu 14:08, 29 May 2011 (BST)
Can be done quite easily by = "Move page" (ONLY) (top of page menu). You then have the option to change the name of the page and state reason for change. This creates a "redirect" from the "old" page (which has all the parent and child links) to the "moved" (renamed) page. To make it really neat and clean one should then ideally change all that page's parent and child links on it's parent and child linked pages to this newly named page. A bit laborious for some (widely linked) pages but it can easily be done. If the links are not changed to the newly linked pages, the redirect will still operate. Lighthouse 15:45, 29 May 2011 (BST)
Fixed the Whitsunday Passage. I also tagged a shipload of pages that didn't have categories attached, mostly ports on the Adriatic Coast and in the Caribbean.--Haiqu 18:52, 29 May 2011 (BST)

Countries in need of help

North Korea is missing from the countries list. Also, some you have listed aren't actually countries. e.g. Kerguelen Islands are in fact a French territory, and West Papua is actually part of Indonesia. Please fix, I can't edit the countries list (or at least I don't see a way to do that). --Haiqu 18:49, 29 May 2011 (BST)

There are a couple of "Territories" listed as countries and have their own flags, etc. It is probably best to keep these listed as countries for the sake of assisting with the Wiki layout and searches. However, West Papua is possibly a good case to leave under Indonesia. Territories should however be linked back (in fact both ways) to the "mother" country. Hope that makes sense. Much cruising in North Korea? Lighthouse 19:09, 29 May 2011 (BST)
No, I wouldn't think cruising anywhere near North Korea would be advisable, but it might be nice to warn people of that. :-) --Haiqu 19:17, 29 May 2011 (BST)
I added a link to North Korea on the Korea page. Lighthouse 19:26, 29 May 2011 (BST)
Thanks, I did a similar thing for North Vietnam.

Missing countries

We don't have Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Palestine, Uganda, Congo Republic (previously known as Zaire, not Democratic Republic of the Congo) or Laos listed as countries on the main page. --Haiqu 03:46, 30 May 2011 (BST)

All right, this is all fixed. Whew! --Haiqu 19:58, 31 May 2011 (BST)

El Salvador

The country of El Salvador links to the Brazilian city of Salvador. --Haiqu 03:39, 30 May 2011 (BST)

I've moved Salvador -> Salvador, Brazil but the main coutries page still needs to be fixed. I can't edit that. --Haiqu 01:39, 31 May 2011 (BST)

Fixed!! --Haiqu 20:01, 31 May 2011 (BST)

Cyprus

Note that there are already pages for North Cyprus and South Cyprus. In light of this, I will delete the new page for Cyprus. Lighthouse 19:31, 29 May 2011 (BST)

Didn't even realize they were two separate countries. ??? --Haiqu 19:37, 29 May 2011 (BST)
More, from wikipedia - "The international community, with the exception of Turkey, does not recognise Northern Cyprus as a sovereign state." If you're Turkish, I'll concede the point.
Been trouble there for many years. VERY separate there in terms of cruising. Lighthouse 20:58, 29 May 2011 (BST)
Been trouble with Customs in several Queensland ports too, but that doesn't make it another country. Although now that I think about it, maybe it is. We have a saying in Victoria: "Going to Qld? Don't forget to turn your watch back 10 years."
Perhaps you could explain your criteria and rationale for selecting different regions and treating them as countries, it might help. Not meaning to be difficult but if it's just a matter of someone making their own flag, minting their own currency and declaring themselves a country, we even have one of those here: Hutt River Province. Prince Leonard even has his own Navy, and some awards and international recognition.
This also seems inconsistent with the way Ireland is managed on one page, even where they are recognised as quite separate internationally. Edit: OK, I just found Northern Ireland, retracted! --Haiqu 22:28, 29 May 2011 (BST)

Africa

Note that the Africa regions already exist. For the Cruising Wiki, only coastal countries should be included - of interest to cruisers/sailors. Lighthouse 08:34, 30 May 2011 (BST)

Yep, noticed that. Obviously no point making a page for the Central African Republic, it doesn't have a river or lake in sight. Some others may be accessible however. You can go right through Europe on inland waterways, even into Russia if you can get permission. There are some inland seas too. --Haiqu 10:46, 30 May 2011 (BST)

Wiki Contributions

WOW! You have done an amazing amount of work on the Wiki. Well done indeed! Lighthouse 16:42, 31 May 2011 (BST)

Working like a man obsessed! I've seen comments from some people going back as far as 2005 and yet I kept seeing old templates, and missing flags and maps, so I decided to do something about it. Glad you're enjoying the progress. I started off thinking I'd just cover the SE Asia region (which I know a fair bit about) and then things just snowballed from there. I figure I needed a revision in geography anyhow before putting to sea. The world has changed a lot since I was at school. --Haiqu 17:05, 31 May 2011 (BST)
Would you by any chance be interested in a promotion? We need more Admins on the Wiki and you have sure learned the inner workings in a hurry. It would mean that you would need to watch (and correct formatting, etc.) others' contributions, etc. i.e. Keep checking "Recent Changes" and check formatting and assist to correct, and, check for (and delete) any spam (there is almost none), etc. As an Admin, you will have the ability to Revert edits, create categories, etc., etc. Also, accept new member applications, ban members, etc. Not difficult but spreading the load over a few "Admins" helps a great deal. Lighthouse 17:22, 31 May 2011 (BST)
Sure, sounds good to me. Do I get access to the "Countries (A-Z)" page as well? That's a bugbear at the moment. BTW I used to contribute to WikiPedia until the internal politics got me down, so already knew how to use this stuff. --Haiqu 17:28, 31 May 2011 (BST)
Yes, access to "protected" pages. I will arrange for Admin status - thanks for joining us. Lighthouse 17:58, 31 May 2011 (BST)
Done. Thanks for joining this great project. I will give you more info regarding new members, etc., shortly. Lighthouse 18:13, 31 May 2011 (BST)
List of co-admins - http://www.cruiserswiki.org/index.php?title=Special%3AListUsers&username=&group=sysop&limit=50 - Lighthouse 18:19, 31 May 2011 (BST)

Admin

Welcome aboard fellow Admin. Lighthouse 18:20, 31 May 2011 (BST)

Thank you very much! --Haiqu 18:27, 31 May 2011 (BST)


Haiqu - I just wanted to say thank you for contributing to the World Cruising Wiki. Lighthouse couldn't be happier to have someone like yourself helping out, he's emailed us a few times to point out your contributions. If you ever need technical help (ie. software or server issues) please don't hesitate to email me at andy [~at~] socialknowledge.com.

Thanks again for jumping in and helping out. We are trying to build a more active team so fostering any other editors you see passing by would be greatly appreciated. --Andy R 14:31, 4 June 2011 (BST)

Hi Andy, thanks for the welcome. No problems with the system yet, it seems to be working just great. --Haiqu 15:18, 4 June 2011 (BST)

Flag Icons

For flag icons use the extension: Country_icon.png . Flag icons here http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/flags/ (use .png images). If you want me to download them let me know. Lighthouse 18:59, 31 May 2011 (BST)

I was in the middle of correcting that whe you rolled back, good thing a had the whole page in the buffer. Thanks for the link, I had been Photoshopping down to size so it should save some time. --Haiqu 19:01, 31 May 2011 (BST)
Damn, they're too small!
All done. --Haiqu 20:04, 31 May 2011 (BST)
Please let me know if you can see the Wiki Admin section on the Cruising forums. There is one topic to read. Lighthouse 20:33, 31 May 2011 (BST)
Checked and understood.

Free maps

http://www.maps4free.com/index.php - Lighthouse 17:43, 1 June 2011 (BST)

Awesome, thanks buddy! --Haiqu 17:44, 1 June 2011 (BST)
You have done a mountain of work - stuff that so badly needed doing. Well done! Lighthouse 08:04, 2 June 2011 (BST)
I've approved two new editors today, maybe I'll get some help! There was a third who owns a website called the Yucatan Cruising Guide but he mistyped his email address and couldn't get replies. I've emailed him privately asking him to apply again. Busy day all round. --Haiqu 08:10, 2 June 2011 (BST)

Replace text tool

Note the useful tool - http://www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/Special:ReplaceText It is advisable to test on one change before selecting a whole string to do at once. Useful for changing links, etc., i.e. Find [[One Name]] and change to [[Another Name]]. Use with extreme care. Lighthouse 10:49, 3 June 2011 (BST)

Discovered it yesterday! Works really well. --Haiqu 10:52, 3 June 2011 (BST)

Always keeping Google in mind

Bear in mind that we must also always think about search engines crawling the pages and try to optimize as best as possible. Google will place the opening sentence/s (with it's search keywords) as the most important for listed search results. i.e. If someone searches for "cruising South Africa" it is best to have such search terms at the top of the page's content for best results. Others may search for "sailing South Africa" so best to have "sailing" at the top of the page as well. See the South Africa page to see what I mean. The search engines do crawl the entire page but most weight is placed on what is read at the top of the page. Clear as mud? Lighthouse 19:01, 4 June 2011 (BST)

There are a number of search keywords and phrases at the top of the SA page. Lighthouse 19:03, 4 June 2011 (BST)
Page names are of course the best for search terms. Lighthouse 22:40, 4 June 2011 (BST)
I think I can see where you're going with this - you'd rather I didn't "simplify" all the lengthy and inefficient (and hard to remember) page names like "Wakatutu Cruising Guide" down to simply "Wakatutu". Well I'm a newbie here so I'll leave those alone for now, but perhaps it's appropriate to point out a few things at this stage, as a kind of mini-cv: 1. I've been on the internet daily since 1995 and know how it works. 2. I've assisted in writing a web server, called Xitami. 3. I've been writing webpages since 1997 starting with raw html in Windows Notepad, and ran a server for several domains as early as 1999, long before Google even rated a mention. 4. I'm aware of how search engines categorize search strings, which may or may not agree with what you've stated above. (Clue: They only look for phrases if you specifically enclose the phrase in quotes, and most people don't. The Wiki search box doesn't know the difference.) 5. I'm also aware that no matter how clever you are, spammers and porno vendors are more persistent and pay very clever people lots of money to stay on top of the heap. Executive summary: I believe the best way to have a good rating is to have a great website that others refer their friends to, and worthwhile content that makes them come back for more. Now, I'm getting back to the coding. :^] --Haiqu 00:43, 5 June 2011 (BST)
Wow! You impress me daily and I certainly know you a whole lot better now. Where have you been all my life? Anyway, we should always be aware of SEO as you well know. Lighthouse 08:42, 5 June 2011 (BST)
Someone Else's Opinion? <grin, duck, run> --Haiqu 08:50, 5 June 2011 (BST)
LOL! Lighthouse 09:07, 5 June 2011 (BST)

Moved pages

Hi Rob. Deleting original pages after moving them to a new page name often creates a lot of broken internal links (no "reverted to" links). I take it you have it all under control? Cheers! Lighthouse 13:32, 7 June 2011 (BST)

Sure do!! Thanks for keeping an eye out though, it's nice to know someone is checking. How are things your end anyhow Bob? --Haiqu 13:35, 7 June 2011 (BST)
Fine here thanks. Also, the reason for extended page names is to properly identify common place names when visitors search the Wiki. Do the Wiki search for "Portsmouth" (an example) to see what I mean - there can be many Portsmouths around the world. Duplication of place name links could lead to chaos. Just keep this in mind. Cheers! Bob Lighthouse 13:44, 7 June 2011 (BST)
Yup, aware of that. I do a Google search first to ensure there's no conflict. If there is, but one town is significantly larger, I give it the shorterned name. None of the towns in Victoria had major conflicts - unlikely to be another "Mallacoota" anywhere in the world for instance. :-) --Haiqu 13:58, 7 June 2011 (BST)
Spot on! Lighthouse 14:19, 7 June 2011 (BST)

Navbar

Hi Rob, the last (current) "text replace" has lost the existing navbar links (and any possible categories). Do you have it in hand? Lighthouse 19:36, 7 June 2011 (BST)

I don't think so, show me an example. All links have been retained as far as I can see. --Haiqu 19:37, 7 June 2011 (BST)
Sorry Rob - seems just the viewed page's link in the Navbar. Lighthouse 19:47, 7 June 2011 (BST)
On which page(s)?? --Haiqu 19:49, 7 June 2011 (BST)
Quite a few Rob - e.g. Ireland Island. Lighthouse 20:00, 7 June 2011 (BST)
Check the changelog to see what it replaced!!

http://www.cruiserswiki.org/index.php?title=Ireland_Island&diff=44651&oldid=28646

Another - LaHave. I see what has happened though. It needed to be done and we will just have to clean up some current page links and some "trailing" unused links in some of these navbars. Lighthouse 20:14, 7 June 2011 (BST)
There's nothing lost, it still has a link back to Canada. Only now we can add the rest of the links as well. Certainly beats doing it manually. --Haiqu 20:16, 7 June 2011 (BST)
You have become an absolute whiz at this. Good night! Lighthouse 20:21, 7 June 2011 (BST)

Replacement text

Rob, can you get the following to run? It won't work for me.

Original text: [[HF_Radio|Cruiser's Nets]]
Replace with: [[World MM Nets|World Cruiser's Nets]]

Lighthouse 09:59, 13 June 2011 (BST)

Nope, I can get [[HF Radio|... but not [[HF_Radio|... . Weird. Oh yeah, and I guess that makes the big list I just put on the HF_Radio page redundant, didn't even know that table existed until now. Haiqu
OK, found the problem. It was [[HF_Radio|World Cruiser's Nets]]. I did the substitution for you. --Haiqu
I've shifted my list to the new page. It's arranged by UTC net time, so probably more useful. Try out the internet ham receivers, they're awesome. --Haiqu 10:55, 13 June 2011 (BST)
I found after the first batch there were still a lot of pages that didn't convert, marked [[HF_Radio|Cruiser's Nets]] so I went in and had a look at them. They all had unbalanced quotes for italics (front pair only), and that's probably what made your initial search hang up. Doing a bulk change using the whole line - ''Also see [[HF_Radio|Cruiser's Nets]] - fixed them too. --Haiqu 00:40, 14 June 2011 (BST)

Melbourne

The Melbourne page is looking great! Lighthouse 14:59, 14 June 2011 (BST)

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