August 15, 2008
From DPCanadaWiki
Issue #18--August 15, 2008
(Full listing of previous issues is available at DPC Newsletters)
Kudos, Bouquets and Compliments
For all their hard work and diligence, dedication and efficiency, patience with us somewhat impatient DPCers.
Kudos for Simon, coachmike and the rest of the team!!
Book Preview
By Warmheart
The Children's Story of the War Volume 1 By: Sir Edward Parrott 1863 - 1921
This is a beautifully illustrated set of 10 volumes detailing the Great World War--which became known as World War I in later years. It was supposedly published as a weekly newspaper reports and directed to keep the children involved and I'm assuming up to date on the current events of the day. It was then re-written into volumes by the publishing firm Thomas Nelson & Sons in 1918 through to 1922.
Highly illustrated by the newspaper, including portraits of the main characters, makes these volumes not only beautiful to read but beautiful to proof. You get caught up in the ease of language that makes learning history easy. I debated about which genre to put these volumes in, as they could have easily gone with the Juveniles. The scans are clean and easy to read, and what I like best is that being a history book the pages do not seem to go on and on. Short and sweet, and fun!
At one point these volumes were recommended by the Minister of Education for use in the Public and Separate School Libraries of Ontario.--Amicus
Volume titles: Vol. 1. From the beginning of the war to the landing of the British Army in France. [Ed.: currently in P1: Available] vol. 2. From the Battle of Mons to the Fall of Antwerp. vol. 3. From the first Battle of Ypres to the end of the year 1914. vol. 4. The story of the year 1915. vol. 5. The first six months of the year 1916. vol. 6. From the opening of the Somme Offensive to the end of the year 1916. vol. 7. The first seven months of the year 1917. vol. 9. From the Battle of Cambrai to the Second Battle of the Marne. vol. 10. The last phase-Victory!
Editorial
Server slowdowns and outages--Well, as you are aware we have changed ISPs. Boy, things are faster now!! However, accompanying the change were the inevitable glitches; some are still being worked out. At the same time, I understand that a few of the preparatory changes for our upgrade (to the new site code) were also included by coachmike. You may have noticed that some of the really "old" glitches and errors have been cleared up: e.g., the "total books" posted to PGC matches the monthly totals, but is out in other areas. There is a thread to report any "bugs" that you might find: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=611 See the "Simon Says..." article below for more details.
What are you going to do over the summer?--Think about it; I'll ask again at the end of August. Comments can be as simple/short as: Sunbathed, Read X books, Typed my fingers to the bone while proofing, Travelled to..., etc. Nothing long or fancy. Thanks for the idea, Warmheart.
ÜberProjects--see the further update on The Young Folks periodiocal under ÜberProjects #4. Hopefully more on this next issue....
Revisions to the Formatting Guidelines--Simple Simon been a bit busy the last couple of weeks. But he hasn't forgotten the revisions--he is working on them, albeit slowly.
Comments regarding bad links to FAQs and Guidelines--coachmike is still at work on this; though some other things have slowed down the process, it will get done. We just have to be patient. Considering all the other things that have ended up on his plate in recent weeks...some things must wait.
Check out the list of "possible future articles" at the end of the newsletter--are you interested in contributing or do you know of someone who could, or would like to, contribute, we'd love to have your article and/or thoughts. And you can do so anonymouslyAnd you can do so anonymously if you choose. It doesn't have to be long: a sentence or two, a short paragraph or two, 500 words or more if you really like to "talk"; send a PM to Quill.
Simon Says...
As you all know, we have had great problems with our hosting company--slow server, due to sharing it with others, and lack of support--and the problems were getting worse with time. They did not offer us an upgrade path, or indeed any proposed solution at all.
So, we decided to change our hosting company, and to specify a dedicated server, with additional resources.
The changeover itself went rather smoothly, most tasks being accomplished overnight, but there have been glitches, and we have a few remaining problems.
First, there were problems getting the Forums and internal mail system (PMs) going at all; these all turned out to be related, and were fixed after about 3 days.
Now, we have the following problems that we know about:
1. Some of the links in the Forums appear in a large font, unbolded. They all work, as far as we can tell, but they're ugly. (on the other hand, the "double log-in problem" with the Forums went away)--minor problem
2. dpscans is not working properly: (by the way, to access dpscans, you have to change the setting in your FTP client software--the server address is now pgdpcanada.net, without the ftp at the front end, other settings the same)
a) we cannot delete or modify any of the sub-directories that are "left over" from before the server change--no real problem, just uses space on server
b) we cannot successfully load scans or text pages from dpscans into a Project folder (so no new projects can be created)--BIG PROBLEM
3. the connection between the archives, dpscans and the project folders is not correct--so pages cannot be "corrected" during P1, as they usually can, and loading to projects is not working--important problem. I am avoiding marking projects as "Posted to PGC" until this one gets solved
4. some wiki pages (notably those with large database content) do not display
5. the "bad page" correction routine does not work
There may be others (please let me know if you find any), but the good news is--all except #1 are related to one another, and may be caused by just one coding problem. coachmike and crew are looking hard, and hopeful of solving this soon. Actually, the problem(s), as with almost every problem we've had since Day 1, is/are caused by inconsistencies between the design of the DP site code and the server configuration (whichever hosting company we use).
We believe that, because of the great help we're now getting from the host, once we clean up the remaining glitches, we'll be very close to being able to "synch" our site code with that of DP-INT. Good news!
Of course, there'll still be some differences between DP-INT and DPC. For example, we're UTF-8, they're still ISO-8859-1. But JulietS, the SA at DP-INT tells me that they know they have to change over within a year, so perhaps the arrows in our head will serve a good purpose.
In the meantime, the new server is blindingly fast (complex pages with huge numbers of database references "pop up" in a few seconds), and there's no reason it should slow down, and we have huge amounts of server cycles, disk space and bandwidth.
Bottom line--please continue to be patient, we'll clean this up soon. Unfortunately, it does appear that we have lost a few members along the way--but we count on our stalwarts to carry us through until everything's cleared up. Then we can go on a recruiting campaign.
Thanks to you all. I should have some more interesting announcements within a month.
Revisions to Guidelines, FAQs and the DPC site code
Revisions to the Formatting Guidelines. Simple Simon started a thread ( http://pgdpcanada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=479 ) for comments. He promises to get on with the revisions very, very soon.
He has also reiterated his promise that he will put together a combined Proofing/Foofing wiki page for those Formatters who like to have only one document open at a time but also want to be able to check on certain Proofing Guidelines
Of course, we'll keep working our way through all of the FAQs and Guidelines, one by one--does anyone have any suggestions for other areas/activities that should have Guidelines or FAQs prepared?
Guidelines translations--Simple Simon has found a translator for the French version of our Proofing Guidelines which, since we plan to be a bilingual site, is the most important. Translators for other languages are still needed, so...send a PM to Simple Simon if you would like to help. All that's necessary is the translation--we can put them into wiki page format.
Simple Simon noted a previous Simon Says... article that there are lots of things to get properly converted/coded before we upgrade and synchronize our site code with that of DP-INT or at least as close as we can since DPC is a UTF-8 site where DP-INT works in iso-8859-1. We must thank coachmike for all his hard work and try not to get too frustrated with the waiting....
ÜberProject #1: Chronicles of Canada
There continue to be lots of spaces for volunteers to PM, PP and even CP. To see the current status of the volumes, check out the ÜberProject wiki page for The Chronicles of Canada here: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/The_Chronicles_of_Canada.
- De2164 prepped a number of volumes and there are also several others that need prepping, so there's lots to do. CPers, PMs, PPers are all needed.
- Volume 18: The Adventurers of England on Hudson Bay, A Chronicle of the Fur Trade in the North, is in the F1: Available. Volume 1: The Dawn of Canadian History is in P1: Waiting. Volume 27 is listed as a New Project. Volumes 2 and 3 are in Post-Processing.
- PP standards have been set and the books do not have anything extremely difficult at all. Check the Chronicles wiki page for the PP standards. There is currently some discussion on Index formatting. Once that is decided upon, it will be added to the PP standards.
- Volumes 13, 17 and 24 are being done at DP-Int since the authors of these volumes are out of DPC's copyright purview. They will be posted to PG-Int in due time. For those that are interested, the books are in either the P2 or P3 waiting queues
- Three volumes have been posted to PGC: Volume 5: The Seigneurs of old Canada: a Chronicle of New World Feudalism, Volume 20: Adventurers of the Far North, A Chronicle of the Arctic Seas and Volume 29: The Day of Sir John MacDonald, A Chronicle of the Early Years of the Dominion.
ÜberProject #2: Jesuit Relations
Vol. 65: Lower Canada, Mississippi Valley, 1696-1702, our first, is currently in P3: Available. Simple Simon is the PM and has decided that he will definitely PP this first volume, though he says that he will undoubtedly seek help from someone fluent in French to "look over his shoulder" on that side of things. He'll probably do the same for other languages as well.
Vol. 66: Illinois, Louisiana, Iroquois, Lower Canada, 1702-1712, our second, is in P1: Available. It is just like Vol. 65: strange characters, old style French spellings and accents, bits and pieces of other languages--lots of fun.
A set of standards has been determined and added to the Project Comments. An ÜberProject wiki page for Jesuit Relations has been created. It includes the basic instructions for proofing and formatting.
ÜberProject #3: Governor General's Award Books
Warmheart has created an ÜberProject page for this uberproject. The page looks very good and has lots of links. You can see the details of what she has completed to date here: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Governor_General%27s_Literary_Awards Check it out, you might find something interesting there....
There are only a couple of books that are available since many of the authors are still alive--ah, well, we'll get them eventually. :)
ÜberProject #4: Periodicals
Graham's Magazine has been confirmed as the first part of our ongoing ÜberProject #4: Periodicals. Simple Simon has the entire first year of volumes in hand and will release them as demand calls for them. There are 3 volumes currently undergoing proofing and/or formatting: one each in rounds P2, F1 and F2. One volume has made it to PPing. The 5th volume is now waiting in the wings at the P1: Waiting stage.... Simon also needs some volunteers for PPing these periodicals--if you are interested, send him a PM.
In the starting block...--(that is, being prepped...) Our Young Folks, An illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls; Issued monthly; Publication Dates: January 1865 thru October 1873 when it merged with St. Nicholas.
Comments from Warmheart:
- I am planning on adding a few (20 or so) pages to the "test" project so people can have a peek--when I can get it to P1: Available...
- Remember there will be 106 individual issues, 9 omnibuses, and an unknown number of serialized stories. There will be plenty of help required, further on down the line. Right now De2164 is handling the CP, and I will do the PM... but of course if either one of us becomes overwhelmed we will be screaming for help.
- Since these periodicals are geared towards children, they are not really that difficult to CP or PM, and I'm sure that the PF's will be of great help with the answering of forum questions. Of course we have our wonderful proofers and foofers who will, I'm hoping, enjoy these issues as much as the children of the time.
Warmheart's wikipage for the Periodical can be found through this link: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Our_Young_Folks.
Remember, these aren't the only periodicals that we can do--there are lots of others out there and some that are very different than "Graham's". Is there one that you'd like to do? Suggestions for favourite OLD periodicals are always welcome, but they must meet 3 criteria:
- published before 1860 to avoid the need for copyright checking
- good quality scans of a reasonable number of issues (preferably in whole volumes=a year)
- interesting content, out of the ordinary
We Grow Every Day
We are now up to 422 members. Welcome to all new members; I hope you find some projects that you will enjoy doing. Many of our members are also members of DP-Int/US and/or DP Europe--we welcome them and thank them for all their continued support and interest in DPC. (Numbers are accurate up to "press" time.)
| New | |
|---|---|
| August 2008 | 6 |
| July 2008 | 8 |
| Q2 2008 | 63 |
| Q1 2008 | 106 |
| 2007 total | 237 |
| Total to date | 422 |
Milestones
We are going to use this space to "celebrate" notable milestones achieved by a member, team, group or project. For example, we'll report when a member completes 5,000 pages in any one round; then we'll let you know when they've done 10,000 pages and so on.
The "team" numbers are the cumulative totals for each round for each member of each team. So that's why, for the "10,000 pages" totals Team German has the most F2 pages (because of uwe-joachim) and for the "15,000 pages" totals Team USA has the most P3 pages (because of rolands). Another reason to join a team or two....
Completed 15,000 pages in a round:
- rolands in P3 (new!!!)
- Team USA in P3
Completed 10,000 pages in a round:
- uwe-joachim in F2
- Team Canada in P1 (new!!)
- Team German in F2
Completed 5,000 pages in a round:
- De2164 in F1
- yajeulb in F1
- hugger1935 in F2
- Team Canada in P2 and F1
Great work, people!!!
Proofing & Formatting Stats
Please note, some of these numbers might be out somewhat due to the glitches from the changeover; however, once the glitches are fixed, I hope that I can get you more accurate numbers.
Well, we're at the half-way point of August (more or less); P1 looks like they are headed for another month of exceeding their page goal--unless, of course, they decide to take a nap or two... :) :) P2 and P3 are in the running, too.
| Round | P1 | P2 | P3 | F1 | F2 |
| August goal | 3,100 | 3,100 | 2,325 | 3,100 | 2,325 |
| *August to date | 2,142 | 1,407 | 984 | 790 | 607 |
| August to date % | 69.10 % | 45.39 % | 42.32 % | 25.48 % | 26.11 % |
*Numbers accurate to "press" time.
For more statistics and related links go to: Statistics Central.
Books In Process And/or Posted To PGC
At press time, we had 70 Gold Star books posted to PGC (with 5 in PPV). Fantastic work, all.
There are currently 67 Silver Star projects in post processing and 105 Bronze Star projects which are currently undergoing proofing or formatting. For more details about these projects, please see the listings on the bottom of the DP Welcome page.
User Team Talk
Have you checked out our user teams? To check out the teams or to join one go to: User Teams. The Team threads are located under Proofing Team Talk. Is there a team that you'd like to see? You can create a team from the link on the User Teams page--you might be surprised by who shows up to join you.
We have 17 teams; but more are always welcome.
Our newest team is "Infomaniacs"--those people who spend lots and lots of time searching for the elusive life dates and other information that we need to prove that an author or illustrator or other contributor has been dead for at least 50 years…. Welcome aboard, you are needed very, very much.
Possible Future Articles
This is YOUR newsletter: yes, there are forum posts and user team posts, but is there something that you want to tell the whole DPC community? You are allowed to brag here. You can also be anonymous if you choose ... we won't tell.
- Tips or Hints: for those people who do/did a lot of proofing and/or formatting on DP-Int/US &/or DP-Eur, do you have any tips or "rules" that you follow to help yourself while you proof or format? Even a re-wording of a guideline that helps you remember how to do something specific.
- Tell us why you joined DPC.
- Quotable Quotes: have you seen a thought-provoking quote that is relevant to the DP Community while you were doing your proofing that you just had to pass on?...
- The most interesting, outrageous, or strangest line you proofed: before it was proofed (if that was the outrageous or strange part) and what it was after proofing (please do not submit obscene language, it will not be published).
- New projects: PMs is there a series of books or books by a very prolific author that you'd like to do?--let us know so that we can help pass the word to the proofers so they'll be there to jump in and work on them.
- Kudos, Bouquets & Compliments: are there any DPers that you would like to give special thanks and/or recognition to: a mentor who gave you lots of guidance, a PPer that made your project into a very wonderful looking book for posting to PG, a CPer or image/text preparer who went the extra little bit to provide you with clean scans, well OCR'd text, or good illustrations for your project, another DPer who made you feel really welcome or provided you with some good advice or....
- "Guest articles" by anyone and everyone who wishes to....
