March 13, 2009
From DPCanadaWiki
Volume 2, Issue #33--March 13, 2009
(Full listing of previous issues is available at DPC Newsletters)
New Wikipage: DP Humour
Simple Simon has set up a new page on the "Hot Topics" area of the wiki, called DP Humour. It's intended to poke a little fun at some of the activities we get so intense over.
Why don't you add any material you think would be amusing to all our members? It doesn't necessarily have to be a cartoon or illustration, it could be an anecdote or a joke.
Please use some restraint--this is a family, and some of our members have tender sensibilities...
http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/DP_Humour
Editorial
"Active users" increase--For those DPCers who have been "out of touch", our huge jump in members (130+ in just the last few weeks) is "courtesy" of server problems at DP-Int in late February. Many of the DP-Int members continue to drop by every day--since our average daily "active users" has gone from around 30 to over 50, there can be no other explanation. We are always happy to see members continue to login on a regular basis.
Server and site problems--Good news: Avatars are working!!! and we can now see the graphics on wiki pages. :thumbsup:
See the Simon Says… article below for further details and updates….
More projects needed--WCPers and PMs need to get busy and make sure that we've got lots of projects to drop into the P1 queue--it's getting rather thin again….
If you are interested in being a Project Manager, please send a private message to Simple Simon, our Site Admin. There are also some experienced PMs who will gladly mentor newbie PMs.
ÜberProjects--see the updates below.
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...
Some "housekeeping" to start. coachmike and the other DPC Beavers have been busy the last week. They woke from hibernation, grabbed some recycled bits and bytes from library Blue Boxes across Canada, and fixed quite a few of the remaining problems. No digits were harmed in this work!
- Most of our graphics problems went away--avatars now work again, and graphics in the Wiki are visible, even if you're not "logged into" the Wiki--this means that visitors can see graphics in our "anniversary project" linked from the Reception page, for example, and all illos in the FAQs now work.
- Some of the links to Guidelines now work, and the others should within days.
- And several more "chron jobs" were fixed and re-started.
- We will not be attempting to fix the remaining problems (unless something crucial suddenly arises) because we plan to abandon the existing site code on August 1, 2009 in our "synch-up" with DP-INT.
Please check out the new Wiki page called DP Humour, and consider adding your own favourite cartoons, jokes, or anecdotes about proofing life. http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/DP_Humour
coachmike, briang and I have started (with great cooperation from DP-INT Squirrels) on a major new project to change virtually all the site pages of DP-INT--it will function and appear exactly the same, but will become capable of supporting multiple "versions" of the site. This means a Site Admin can "flick a switch" and select the "default site code" for that site.
In other words, JulietS would select "DP-INT", I would select "DPC", maybe in future jhellingham would select "DP-Philippines", and so on. The individual members, in their "Preferences" dialog box, could choose between permissible versions on that site.
So, eventually DPC members would get "DPC-English" as their default option, but could choose "DPC-Français". And US members of DP-INT might be able to specify "DP-INT Español".
PLEASE NOTE, this option would only become available once a huge amount of translation work has been done.
coachmike and briang are professional software designers who are working on our site development, and I'm an old klutz who has fooled around with computers for nearly 50 years. Perennial team-members Zero and One are cooperating in this work, and promise that the rights of all integers will be respected.
Essentially, we will take each page, form and template in the DP-INT current site code, and divide it into text blocks, links, code snippets and .incs (inclusions, or "calls" to other pages or code). Then each text block, including any embedded links will be replaced by an .inc. All the .incs are to be stored in a data-file.
Then we create an .inc table for each version of the website. All sites run the same code, code maintainers or developers modify that site code, and anyone authorized to change the text content of the site notifies the person responsible for maintaining that site's .inc table. All "table maintainers" update their tables, or translate the suggested change, and the one site code produces several different sites.
This is a massive job--well understood, but large in size. We will be busy between now and the development cutoff date of July 1. Members should notice no changes in DP-INT, but after the August 1 start date, DPC will look a lot more like DP-INT. All of our "differences" should be maintained, and we'll still be UTF-8, but our Guidelines will largely re-converge with DP-INT's. [Editor: not that they are really all that different anyway….]
The DP-INT Squirrels are working on updating WordCheck to support UTF-8, so we'll inherit WordCheck, get rid of our remaining "glitches", and enjoy the other relatively new features of DP-INT. Our projects, forums and wiki will be unaffected.
Getting this project started has necessitated the delay of the two remaining Guidelines projects I'm working on--the combined summary of the proofing and formatting guidelines, and the summary of differences between DPC guidelines and DP-INT guidelines. I promise I'll have them both for the next Newsletter. In addition, I'm prepping very simple checklists for CPing, PMing, and PPing. These are not intended to replace the other lists, walkthroughs and guides on these subjects--they are to help brand new CPers, PMs and PPers get started without going mad with all the complications.
Revisions to Guidelines, FAQs and the DPC site code
Guideline Differences--There are a few differences between the new Guidelines and what we've used before, and a very few diffs from the DP-INT ones. Simon advises that he'll provide a summary of the differences. He's hoping for a possible issue date of late March.
Combined Proofing and Formatting Guidelines--Simon has 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. Planned date for issuance is April 15.
The "combined guidelines" will be a very summarized version, not a complete document--but it's a huge task, which is the reason for the delay in issuance. Even DP-INT has no such animal--so we can't copy theirs. Once it is drafted, Simon will ask for review by experienced proofers and foofers to ensure that it is understandable--that is, not confusing or missing some extremely important rule.
FAQs--In a recent newsletter, Simon advised that he is looking to create "checklists" to help members get into new areas where they haven't worked before: CPing, PMing, PPing,… You can find the article here
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.
- We've arranged to get "mint condition" copies of the full set and so will be able to get good scans of all the maps and illustrations as well as picking up missing pages (if any). Thank you to hugger1935 for the use of the books.
- Volumes 1, 3, 8, 11, 18 and 21 are in Post-Processing. I know that there are several more that have been prepped.
- We need a PM or two to shepherd more through the rounds.
- 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. Some of the standards for PPing have been updated.
- 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 the P3 waiting queue.
- Five volumes have been posted to PGC:
- Volume 2: The Mariner of St Malo: A Chronicle of the Voyages of Jacques Cartier,
- 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,
- Volume 27: The Winning of Popular Government: A chronicle of the Union of 1841, 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.
There has been some recent renewed interest in the idea of doing 2 versions of the books: one an "historically accurate" version and the other a "more readable", modernized French language version. The posts have been pulled together in this thread. Comments are welcome.
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 is the first part of our ongoing periodicals uberproject. Simple Simon has the entire first year of volumes in hand and will release them as demand calls for them. There is four issues currently undergoing proofing and one is in P1: Waiting. Two issues are in PP; another has been sent to PGC for posting; and one issue: Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXII, No. 2 (1848) has been posted to PGC.
Simon also needs some volunteers for PPing these periodicals--if you are interested, send him a PM.
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.
Two issues are in P2: available, one in P1: available and one in prep.
Warmheart's wikipage for the Periodical can be found through this link: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Our_Young_Folks.
Scientific American--these are very early issues, too--from 1846. Simon hopes to get an issue up within the next week or so. I guess he has been rather busy, don’t you think?...
We've started a wiki page for it: http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Periodicals/Scientific_American. I've also been told that Tizz has agreed to co-PM/PP it.
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
ÜberProject #5: Works by Charles Dickens
Simple Simon and IonaV are Dickens fans. We know that there are many more out there. Although there are some of Dickens' works on the other PG sites, some of it is text only. We've got early editions of those books with illustrations as well as stories that have not yet been posted. As well, there are letters and essays and ...
- A Christmas Carol is in P3: Available.
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood is currently in F1: Available.
- Two short stories for our anniversary blitz are posted to our wiki (http://www.pgdpcanada.net/wiki/index.php/Dickens_%22First_Anniversary%22_project): The Christmas Tree and What Christmas is as we get older. They will be posted to PG Canada with other Dickens' short stories.
More details and an ÜberProject wiki page to come.
We Grow Every Day
We are now up to 630 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 | |
|---|---|
| March 2009 | 6 |
| February 2009 | 136 |
| January 2009 | 14 |
| 2008 total | 235 |
| 2007 total | 239 |
| Total to date | 630 |
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 while they are members of a particular team. So that's why, the team pages go up whenever a team member's totals increase. Another reason to join a team or two....
Completed 25,000 pages in a round:
- rolands in P3
- uwe-joachim in F2
- Team USA in P3 NEW!!!
Completed 20,000 pages in a round:
Completed 15,000 pages in a round:
Completed 10,000 pages in a round:
- Team Canada in P1 and P2
- Team German in F2
- Foofers' Corner in F2
Completed 5,000 pages in a round:
- Bibi in P3 NEW!!!
- Daniel G in P1
- rcool in P2
- snowseraph in P2
- supo88 in P2
- De2164 in F1
- Warmheart in F1
- yajeulb in F1
- hugger1935 in F1 and F2
- Team USA in P2
- Team Canada in F1
- DPing with Cats in P2 and F1
- Foofers' Corner in F1
Great work, people!!!
Proofing & Formatting Stats
WOW!!!... All rounds reached their February page goals. P1 was over 300%!!! And it's all thanks to our new members, most from DP-Int. We were very happy to be around to accommodate their DPing needs when their server was done for a few days over a recent weekend in February. You guys are welcome back anytime….
Now for March--we're almost half-way through the month. Oh my,… P2 has exceeded their page goal for March--I wonder what their final total will be?… The rest of the rounds are following; some closely, some farther behind: P3, F2, P1, F1…. Come on, people, there's still 18 days to go; you all have time to reach and exceed your March goals.
| Round | P1 | P2 | P3 | F1 | F2 |
| March goal | 3,100 | 3,100 | 2,325 | 3,100 | 2,325 |
| *March to date | 1,972 | 3,604 | 1,991 | 1,451 | 1,823 |
| March to date % | 63.61% | 116.26% | 85.63% | 46.81% | 78.41% |
| February goal | 2,800 | 2,800 | 2,100 | 2,800 | 2,100 |
| February final | 8,551 | 5,529 | 4,071 | 3,090 | 3,824 |
| February final % | 305.39% | 197.46% | 193.86% | 110.36% | 182.10% |
*Numbers accurate to "press" time.
For more statistics and related links go to: Statistics Central.
Books In Process And/or Posted To PG Canada or PG-International
At press time, we had 145 Gold Star books posted to PGC or PG-Int (with 6 in PPV). Fantastic work, all.
There are currently 122 Silver Star projects in post processing and 108 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 currently have 22 teams; more are always welcome.
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....
