[HP4GU-FAQ] Catalogue questions and New FPs

[elfundeb]

Cindy on new FPs:

> It would be nice to get certain important FPs done
> before less important ones.

Does that mean, for example, that we should have an HP on all important
characters, like, erm, Harry Potter?  Should we push to get the main
characters done?

My other thought was whether it would make sense to focus on FPs that are
less likely to be completely outdated when OoP comes out.  For example,  I
have an interest in some of the social issues, and I think what we've said
to date will remain quite relevant and interesting.

Third, folks should work on things that
> interest them, so if no one is interested in a particular FP, it
> simply won't get done (hey, we're all volunteers, right?). Fourth,
> I'd like us to work in teams, if possible, because we need to get
> the FPs written quickly and launch them, if at all possible.

Yes and yes.
>
> Lastly, what, if anything, can be done to, er, minimize the impact
> of OoP on all of our work?  In other words, will we be toiling to
> write FPs that will be outmoded almost as soon as we complete them,
> and can anything be done about that in the way we write the FPs or
> choose which FPs to write?
>
> Another idea I had was a method of doing very quick and dirty
> updates to existing FPs.  Rather than try to re-work an old FP in
> its entirety, we could just add an update notice.  As an example,
> let's say I wanted to update the Weasley Family FP.  I would add a
> note in brackets with certain key message numbers that I could find
> using the catalogue, like the Bully Thread.  Does that sound like a
> good use of someone's time?

I think the "quick and dirty update" is a great idea, and maybe a good way
to handle this would be for each cataloguer to nominate posts or threads
from the blocks that they catalogued.  Speaking particularly with reference
to the Bully Thread (if 150 impassioned, soul-searching posts could properly
be labeled a thread), I've tried to identify the ones that introduced
landmark ideas to the discussion as I went along.
>
Porphyria:
>
> I've duly trimmed my snarky remarks. I'm still not sure making this
totally
> public would be a good plan (what about ANN and OMG?), but at least mine's
not
> patently offensive right now.

I have to agree with Porphyria; I've got some comments which are not really
fit for public consumption (such as referring to certain shipping posts as
"gush").
>
> Regarding the new FPs: I think I signed up to do a Death
Eater/Aurors/Justice
> one once.

Yes, I can't imagine why we would not do this one.  Besides, that's
something most of us are interested in.

Eloise:

So that amazing and invaluable 'green' thread *could*
> have been represented by just one post. If that's called up, then the rest
of
> the thread should appear under the replies bit on Webview, shouldn't it?
>
Yahoo! does a rotten job of threading, especially for posts that are sent
via e-mail.  A lot of my posts don't thread, and I think that's the reason.
So I've tried to make a judgment of the likelihood that people would
actually want to look at a post in determining whether it should be entered
into the database.  The green thread probably could be represented by a
single post; others I might catalogue separately.

> I've got a lot more ruthless recently.

Me too, though that hasn't stopped my current catalogue from running 30
lines longer than the number of posts.

And I've used ANN where the person wrote intelligently, but it had all been
said before.

> Actually, I seem to remember that Debbie and I came across what we thought
> was an anomaly in the cataloguing of the Dursley, Weasley and Malfoy
> (individual) adults, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was,
or
> what we decided to do.
>
> Do you, Debbie? <waves at Debbie, to whom she's not spoken for ages>
>
<waving back>  I'm still here!  I graciously conceded to our fearless
leader's ruling, which is that Lucius is Malfoy but Arthur is Arthur and
James is James.  I'm not sure about Frank Longbottom, though.  I think I may
have used his full name or Longbottom, because there's also Frank Bryce.

Debbie
who's finally made it to post 43465 on her latest block, but is well over
half done if you measure the block by bandwith instead of message numbers