Revision as of 12:23, 18 January 2006

SDG Wiki Objectives and Organization

Wiki Objectives

This site has three distinct objectives:

• Provide resources and support for all agent- and individual-based modelers, regardless of their scientific domain and software platform
• Distribute and support the Swarm platform for agent-based modeling
• Provide a home for the Swarm Development Group.

Organization of the main page

This page has five sections. The overall format is designed to let users easily see (a) major news items without having to link through to other pages, while also (b) the full range of content available on the site. Therefore, the page has a left-hand column of news, and three very concise boxes---one for each of the wiki's three objectives---in the right column. A help box is at the bottom.

News (blue box)

• The News box contains user-contributed news items of general interest to agent-based modelers and Swarm users.
• Appropriate items include major announcements concerning Swarm or other platforms, SwarmFest and other conferences, changes to the wiki, new publications of widespread interest, etc.
• News items are labeled with the date they were posted and are eventually moved to an archive. This label is added via the "Your signature plus timestamp" button on the Wiki editor (which adds --~~~~ at the end of an item).
• Contributors are encouraged to include relevant links to other sites.

Agent- and Individual-based Modeling Resources (tan box)

• This section addresses the first objective, by providing information of general interest.
• Items are formatted in an "unordered list" (bullet lists), with each item consisting of a short announcement linked to a page on the wiki where details are posted. This format allows users to see and go to a lot of information in a small space.
• One item is a link to a Modeling Resources main page, where all the content on general resources is available.

Swarm Software (rose box)

• This section addresses the second objective, providing an entryway into the wiki's resources for Swarm software.
• Items are formatted in an unordered list of short announcements linked to wiki pages where details are posted.
• One item is a link to a Swarm software main page, which has links to all the Swarm resources.

Swarm Development Group (green box)

• This section addresses the third objective by providing links to information on SDG.
• Like the previous two sections, items are a bullet list of links. One link is to a main page for SDG.

Help (grey box)

• Includes a link to this description of the wiki's format and objectives
• Includes links to help pages within our wiki and to WikiMedia's documentation.

Organization of the ABM Resources page

The ABM Resources page is the main page for content of general interest to agent-based modelers. It has five sections, with a help box at the bottom.