Appropedia Blogs

This is a follow up to Making a sitemap (opensource documentation wild goose chase).

So, thanks to the OLPC folks, we finally have a working google-compliant sitemap. The code below is adapted from http://wiki.laptop.org/go/SEO_for_the_OLPC_wiki/sitemapgen. Here are some notes about the implementation:

1. Save the code as makesitemap.sh on the root directory (appropedia.org/)
2. Add executing permissions to the file, by typing chmod u+x makesitemap.sh
3. Run it from the site root by typing sh makesitemap.sh, or even better run using cron.

#I had to download a new version of generatesitemap.php from http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:GenerateSitemap.php. I was getting a Class 'MWNamespace' error.

We've been talking* about how to make Appropedia something that the community as a whole takes greater ownership of. Here's some ideas:

This is a new blog, and we're experimenting with Drupal, as that has the potential for forums and cross-login with the wiki. But we've also been throwing other ideas around.

Let us know what you think, what's not working, what you suggest. Thanks!

Damian Doyle writes:
The latest "Better Ways" booklet from RedR is called Better Ways to Find Humanitarian Employment. It provides guidance and practical advice both for those seeking their first humanitarian job and for those who have already established themselves. Well worth a read. It can be downloaded from the Eldis site.

Cool indoor ecosystem: http://www.farmfountain.com/

I'd love a sustainable, sunlit version.

Now I'm just pondering exactly what they mean by "edible plants, fish and humans" :).

(Hat tip: Seth Woodworth, a fellow who appreciates appropriate technology, from OLPC)

This is the blog to accompany Appropedia, the wiki for solutions in the challenge of building rich, sustainable lives.

Follow our blog to understand how things work, and how we're dealing with the challenges of a growing wiki expanding into new areas. Your contributions are very welcome - you can start contributing, let us know your questions (commenting here is one way). You can also keep watching here as we talk about how things work in this wiki world, and figure out where you fit in. (But we'd still love it if you dropped us a line.)

Appropedia made it to semi-finalist in the Buckminster Fuller Challenge. (Yay, recognition! Sob, no cash prize.) From our entry:

Difficulties in tracking down existing solutions to appropriate technology problems has led to engineers and fieldworkers wasting time, energy, and resources solving the same problems over and over again. A single shared infrastructure is needed so that the existing disjoint community of appropriate technologists can more easily and openly collaborate on their projects.

...and that's exactly what we're doing, in appropriate technology and many related areas.