Improving the BIKI

[vilas 473]

many functions in BIKI are not prescribed , so for example making config if you not know which parameter will be good , you won't know still

[NeMeSiS 11]

Example of bad search: fireAt finds nothing, despite command fireAtTarget. There are better examples, but it was the one I remembered right now.

I often go to this page, press CTRL+F and then search for relevant keywords on the page itself. The fact that i have to do this means that the built-in search engine isn't very good.

Also, try to quickly look up the ArmA2 weapon classes using the search. I cant find it with 'arma2 weapons classes', 'arma2 weapons' or 'arma2 weapon' but only by 'arma 2 weapons'. 'arma 2 weapons classes' however does not give any relevant results.

Previously i browsed trough the categories directly until i found the relevant page because i did not want to try 50 different search terms in order to please our search engine. :D

[Deadfast 43]

There should be more redirect pages. I can't think of an example now and to be honest as soon as I do I'll add it myself. Just something I'd like others to consider doing as well :)

[whisper 0]

Biki is awesome for anyone who knows the exact biki_term_name for any item/function/command/list he/she's searching for. Other than that it´s shite :rolleyes:

And then again, i´m not browsing the biki to find out that i need to nag real-time people in order to get existing relevant information from an unusable search algorhythm :rolleyes:

Thumbs up for the Biki as is and how users make it be, but other than that it´s crap. What do i need information for that in 4 of 5 cases i cannot find *shrugs*

Just for you :

http://www.google.fr/custom?hl=en&cof=&domains=/community.bistudio.com&q=&btnG=Search&sitesearch=/community.bistudio.com (courtesy of Sickboy)

:rolleyes: *shrugs*

Edited January 7, 2011 by whisper

[[aps]gnat 28]

Lots of hits on "Search is a problem" I think, and agree. My #1

As CarlGustaffa and other suggest, its dim, and the output is not very usable.

Fix that, and thats a 100% improvement of the BIKI

Another problem I have;

Script Commands. I use this page a lot;

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Category:ArmA:_Scripting_Commands

But is not up to date.

So who would update this? Us, I dont think so. Who outside BIS can honestly say they are up to date with every command thats added (and changed and deleted) ?!

Too few, if any I suggest.

Another problem with it, it doesnt clearly show if the command is ArmA only, OFP and ArmA, OA etc etc ......

And the last from me for now, related to: why have I contributed very little to the BIKI?

Because I feel I know something about something, that maybe others would benefit from.

BUT, I not convinced its fact and I certainly don't know everything about that "something".

So, what I'd like to be able to do is add a "Speculation" Comment to any command or subject.

A reader can clearly see, the author isn't sure if its fact and true 100% time, but has added it anyway because it may help.

I don't want anything I add to be consider totally reliable (lets face it, a beta or patch can change that LOL and you need 10 years and 20 beta testers to prove anything) .... so I'd like to see a "rough comments" section to every page.

This may open the BIKI up a bit more.

The potential downside (maybe) is too much "noise". But, hell, some noise in the BIKI at the moment would be a good thing.

Edited January 7, 2011 by [APS]Gnat

[whisper 0]

Try using Google search into community.bistudio.com (the link I provided above), it opens up search results a great deal (no more case issue, etc...)

[Dwarden 1124]

i was informed about this effort before it started

the authors know my opinion on how it could be improved

i'm in the skype channel available for any discussion / oversight if needed ...

properly improving the BIKI (easier to find info, more logical structure of some parts, more examples/templates, easier to read and so on)

is always welcome

Edited January 7, 2011 by Dwarden

[rexehuk 16]

The WIKI is coming along nicely, just so everyone knows.

I do have a few research questions to ask though...

1. What do you feel is missing from the current WIKI?

2. What are the most common threads you see on the forum in terms of troubleshooting / general questions about the engine.

[galzohar 31]

Currently a lot of functions have either lacking or no description of how they work in multiplayer, and a lot of them actually do have a few or a lot of things you really should know before you use them in multiplayer. I guess those could really use filling.

And like I said, the "scripting commands by functionality" is missing commands. I still once in a while find out about a command I never knew exists, and there are probably more I'll discover in the future... Arranging them into categories like the ones on the "scripting commands by functionality" page is a useful thing.

[tj72 0]

Example of enhancement of the join command.....

join command will destroy the joined from group in memory if all units leave it.

That is to say the group "object" is no longer in memory and cannot be used to join back unless a new group is created.....

deleting or killing all group members DOES NOT destroy the group object so it can still be used to spawn to or join to. This is a very important distinction in my opinion.

If you get an array of the group units with units command, join them to a new group and then look at the units array (the old one not a refreshed array) the array will automatically list the units as they are in the new group.....

I didnt know this untill last week and I have been at this for years.....

Clarification of these things will save people time which means more projects finished which means faster delivery of content for the community.

This could be added to the wiki..... I guess I could do it when I get around to it but the point is someone probably knew it before this, BIS probably know it of course but they dont share notes on the BIKI.

BIS should add notes to every command so we can all get insight onto them as the above example displays perfectly.

[t_d 47]

That's a major problem. A lot of people dont write what they know to the scripting pages. The question is if this can be changed somehow? We cant expect BIS to document their over 1200 commands into very detail, as this is not their task. Their task is to develop games. That's my opinion at least. They are not selling a programming language which of course you would expect to be documented into very detail. Although that would be super nice it is unlikely to happen.

[galzohar 31]

Considering the missions that come with the game (aka the need for user-made missions), they pretty much do sell a "programming language", and some better documentation is definitely something one would expect.

Also, as far as I noticed users can only add notes, and not fix the actual command description, so it seems like without BIS interference, the "multiplayer: - " is going to remain. Unless I'm missing something. Same goes for the "see also: ..." which can also be improved for some pages.

[sbsmac 0]

Here's a thread which may be relevant (from nearly 3 years ago :( )

Frustrations with BIKI

[rexehuk 16]

Here's a thread which may be relevant (from nearly 3 years ago :( )

Frustrations with BIKI

I have sent you a PM regarding these :).

[xeno 230]

I hope you find a better way to update one BIKI page.

It's currently almost impossible to find any interesting new information in the recent changes page (it's the only interesting page in the BIKI) because of the x.th change to the same BIKI 2.0 page (plus somebody is uploading gazillions of unit and vehicle images).

Xeno

[Tankbuster 1733]

We cant expect BIS to document their over 1200 commands into very detail, as this is not their task. Their task is to develop games.

Presumably there's some documentation that BI use internally when a new command or statement is made? Why can't we have access to that?

At the moment, we are lucky enough to be getting a few nice new commands, but they aren't in the biki. How are we supposed to write documentation for them? ESP? Guesswork?

[rexehuk 16]

I hope you find a better way to update one BIKI page.

It's currently almost impossible to find any interesting new information in the recent changes page (it's the only interesting page in the BIKI) because of the x.th change to the same BIKI 2.0 page (plus somebody is uploading gazillions of unit and vehicle images).

Xeno

The images are unrelated to the BIKI update, but its still a useful contribution. I'm sorry about the updates to the pages... but I'm not sure "what" can be done without us stopping work on the BIKI altogether? If you have some method of making "content" appear without any logs, please share young wizard.

[t_d 47]

Presumably there's some documentation that BI use internally when a new command or statement is made? Why can't we have access to that?

At the moment, we are lucky enough to be getting a few nice new commands, but they aren't in the biki. How are we supposed to write documentation for them? ESP? Guesswork?

The basic command description is always incorporated into the game. Simply go into editor type the new command you want info of in an init line and press F1 and you will get info for the command. Then you can go to the Biki and add the command if it is missing ;)

@Xeno: yeah any ideas are welcome. Maybe I have one myself, will need to try though. This won't stop normal contributions like the ones from Marseille to appear in the log though. The log doesnt filter what's interesting for you ;)

[Tankbuster 1733]

The basic command description is always incorporated into the game. Simply go into editor type the new command you want info of in an init line and press F1 and you will get info for the command. Then you can go to the Biki and add the command if it is missing ;)

I had no idea it did that! :) Many thanks.

[t_d 47]

@Xeno:

I will use my bot account now for Biki rework. This way no log messages will appear from me.