Suggestion about more complete BASH Archiving

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magpens

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Yesterday, I was trying to look up some entries in previous BASH contests.

All I could find were winning entries only, and even those were not easy to find unless you know exactly what you are looking for and where it is.

First of all, you have to know where to look, as the website location of these archives is not at all obvious. . Secondly, the organization of the existing information is not consistent from one year to the next. . I know that the contests differ from year to year and the contest titles and moderators change. . But a fairly simple indexing system should be possible and would help a lot.

But ... My main question is this ... Why are only the winning entries archived (or am I wrong in saying that is the case) ? . Does it take up too much website memory to preserve permanent records of ALL ENTRIES ? . If it is a trade-off for memory usage against the usual thread memory requirements then I would say that it could be convincingly argued that the complete BASH entry records could justifiably have priority over lots of threads that have been started, completed, and left in memory over the years.

If possible, I would suggest that all contest entries be archived. . I think it would be extremely useful and a lot of fun to be able to search for and view previous contributions from all who participate in the contests, both winners and, for lack of a better word, the "losers" (although there are really no losers ... NO ... no losers ... and that's what I mean !!).

I know it would require quite a bit of work to do as I suggest, but our BASH contests are such a big part of our heritage on this, the world premier interactive website for penturners, that I am quite sure that the benefits would be well worth the effort ... an effort that would be appreciated by all penturners.

By the way, if I were younger, and if I were more computer literate, I would volunteer. . But I think that someone less computer hostile than me would be better able to do this job, someone like an IT professional, of whom there seem to be plenty among our membership.

Looking forward to thoughts on this subject ....
 
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jttheclockman

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Not seeing what you are seeing. If you click on the event you can click on the threads within that contest and usually the polls are there and everything said.

I believe the more recent ones are saved better than many years ago.
 
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gimpy

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Not seeing what you are seeing. If you click on the event you can click on the threads within that contest and usually the polls are there and everything said.

I believe the more recent ones are saved better than many years ago.

If you read his bottom sentence, he say's he is not computer literate :)
 

mark james

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Hi Mal, I agree that there is a bit of exploratory work involved, but I believe most of the pictures are accessible.

JT is correct that if you go to/click on:

- Forums.
- BASH Forum Archives.
- 12'th Anniversary BASH - Pen Stand Contest.
- Pen Stand Contest Entries and Winners.

You will be able to access all the entries: Entries.

BUT, I will also say that this search is not always successful as it is dependent on the Contest Chair for that contest, that year, to have a good path to access the threads, many of us are also not superbly computer literate.

Just as this year there are some new contest chairs (myself included) that are trying to get up to speed on how to construct an appropriate poll, with appropriate photos and related rules and fair criteria, there is no "manual;" we are doing our best.

Getting a nice standard protocol for conducting and hosting these contests would be a nice project and would (my opinion) be welcomed for new contest chairs.

As for now, I suspect we (contest chairs) just go back to previous contest threads and use what appears to have worked well. And I also agree that a dedicated photo album with all previous contest entries would be nice. As soon as the IAP Staff gets permission to add 2-3 more programmers to the central office I suspect this will be considered :wink::wink::wink:. We all are doing our best.
 

magpens

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Mark,

Thank you.

The Kitless Contest for last year, BASH14, does not have an Archive of entries. . That is the contest I was exploring.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Now, to add to confusion ... at the top of the screen, there is a click box for "Forum" and also for "Forums".

I am not clear on what is the intended difference between these two options, but they can lead you in different directions. . I am not expecting a full explanation, just a corroboration of my experience that they are indeed different.

No software is perfect and I am not expecting that.


EDIT: . Thanks for that reassurance, Jeff !! :) . So presumably it is all searchable also, as long as you know what to search for !!
 
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mark james

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Mark,

Thank you.

The Kitless Contest for last year, BASH14, does not have an Archive of entries. . That is the contest I was exploring.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Now, to add to confusion ... at the top of the screen, there is a click box for "Forum" and also for "Forums".

I am not clear on what is the intended difference between these two options, but they can lead you in different directions. . I am not expecting a full explanation, just a corroboration of my experience that they are indeed different.

No software is perfect and I am not expecting that.


EDIT: . Thanks for that reassurance, Jeff !! :)

As Jeff said, it's all still there.

What you were looking for needed to be accessed via the : Contest Votes Thread. In the 2014 BASH Forum.

Yes, convoluted, but its all there.

EDIT: A 1" bowl gouge to "dig deeper" also helps!
 
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magpens

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OK ... "It's all so clear to me now !" ... well not quite ... but I am starting to get it better.

There may be some variation in the location of information available for a particular contest, depending how the individual moderators processed/filed the entries ... I am thinking, but I may not be totally correct on that either.

It sure helps to know the right people to ask !!! :)

And I am even wondering if I may have raised the same question in a previous year !

The upside to Alzheimer's could be highly over-acclaimed !! :)

I still don't get why we have a "Forum" click box in the website banner at the very top, and a "Forums" click box in the lower blue bar ... each with different results.
 
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magpens

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OK, so I am happier now.

And yes, indeed, if I do a search using the keywords "nib is a Kaweco medium" I do in fact get a hit on the BASH 14 Kitless contest entry that used those words, and it is the only hit on the whole IAP site.

So, if you know what you are looking for, you can find it ... if it's there !
 

jttheclockman

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If you use the forum link on the top of the page and click on activities manager, you will see all the archived events. As I said some of the earlier ones were not as complete as the ones of a few years past. But they are there and can be found.
 

jttheclockman

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Mark,

Thank you.

The Kitless Contest for last year, BASH14, does not have an Archive of entries. . That is the contest I was exploring.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Now, to add to confusion ... at the top of the screen, there is a click box for "Forum" and also for "Forums".

I am not clear on what is the intended difference between these two options, but they can lead you in different directions. . I am not expecting a full explanation, just a corroboration of my experience that they are indeed different.

No software is perfect and I am not expecting that.


EDIT: . Thanks for that reassurance, Jeff !! :)

As Jeff said, it's all still there.

What you were looking for needed to be accessed via the : Contest Votes Thread. In the 2014 BASH Forum.

Yes, convoluted, but its all there.

EDIT: A 1" bowl gouge to "dig deeper" also helps!


That was a tough contest. Pen #1 and Pen #7 were some of the nicests pens I have seen in a long time in that contest.
 
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