editor Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 HAIF is a wonderful thing, but HAIF has its limitations. So, I've created a new web site called Towrs that I hope will grow into a great resource for pictures, information, statistics, and trivia about buildings, architecture, and cities.So far, I've only created two pages on it. But one of them is Houston. You can see it here:http://www.towrs.com/wiki/index.php/HoustonTowrs is a wiki. If you've ever used Wikipedia, Towrs runs on the same engine. You can add your own information about buildings, information, and even pictures. If you've never heard of a "wiki," it's a web site that anyone can add information to. All you have to do is register and then you can make new pages, or add pictures or information to existing pages. It's a collaborative effort, and I'm hoping people find it useful.In spite of the title of the site, this is not just for skyscrapers. It's for all kinds of buildings -- even your own home if you're especially proud of it.To create your own page about a particular building, just enter the building's name in the Search box. Be sure to spell it correctly and use proper capitalization, because if it doesn't find a page for that building you can just click "Create this page" and it will let you make one all on your own -- no bothersome interference from me or anyone else. It's all automated.Hopefully with your help we can put together a great database about Houston architecture to compliment HAIF. If you have any questions, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonzo1976 Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Very cool. I'd be more than happy to contribute old pictures of structures and historical facts (population, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 Very cool. I'd be more than happy to contribute old pictures of structures and historical facts (population, etc.).Great to hear. I look forward to seeing your posts.One of the reasons I created it was because someone offered a large historical document on Houston to us. I wanted to keep it online where it would be available for everyone to see, but HAIF didn't seem the right place for it. I think Towrs will be good for people researching historic Houston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Okay, but what is wrong with the Houston Wikipedia.Won't this eventually share the same info? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Okay, but what is wrong with the Houston Wikipedia.Won't this eventually share the same info?It is more concentrated & detailed. Although it could eventually overshawdow the listing on HAI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 27, 2006 Author Share Posted October 27, 2006 Okay, but what is wrong with the Houston Wikipedia.Won't this eventually share the same info?I imagine there will be some overlap. But Towrs is intended to be more focused on urban development and architecture, while Wikipedia is more generalized. For example, if I wanted to look up an artilce about which celebrities came from Houston, I might go to Wikipedia. If I wanted to see a history of Main Street construction I would go to Towrs. Of course, it's only been online for a few hours, so I expect it to evolve quite a lot over time, just as HAIF did. HAIF's original intent was to discuss the buildings on Houston Architecture Info. But HAIF has long since eclipsed HAI in scope and usefulness. Towrs is meant to be a supplement to both HAI and HAIF. Again, with the Main Street example, there really isn't a place for a timeline of Main Street construction on HAIF, but Towrs would be a perfect place for it. I'd also like to use Towrs to archive pieces of Houston history that might otherwise be lost. As everyone knows, researching Houston's history can be a difficult thing. But if we can put some of the oral history of the city online in a place that's searchable, it would be of value to future generations.It is more concentrated & detailed. Although it could eventually overshawdow the listing on HAI.I think this will definately happen. HAI is cumbersome to maintain. I don't be upset if Towrs evolves into a better resource than HAI.I see Montrose1100 is already busy chronicling the history of Houston over at Towrs. Thanks for that.For some people, when you add content it will ask you to do a simple piece of arithmetic (19-5 or 1+6 or whatever). This is a system to help cut down on spambots that look for wikis and try to fill them with ads for herbal "supplements" and such.The reason I bring this up is that for some reason when I do it, the explanation is displayed in Chinese. So if you've added some content and see some squigly characters at the top of your screen with a math problem, just enter the answer and all will be well. I'm new to this wiki stuff and trying to figure out why it does that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 If you've never heard of a "wiki," it's a web site that anyone can add information to. All you have to do is register and then you can make new pages, or add pictures or information to existing pages. It's a collaborative effort, and I'm hoping people find it useful.I'm not too familiar with the code required to make a wiki entry look nice and slick. Some of it seems intuitive, some not so much. If you could make a help page available, it would be...helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 I'm not too familiar with the code required to make a wiki entry look nice and slick. Some of it seems intuitive, some not so much. If you could make a help page available, it would be...helpful.I'm still learning it, myself. Most of what I've learned has come from viewing the source of other wikis.But here's a good cheat sheet that covers the basics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cheatsheet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 I bearly have time to read Haif. I got a new nickname for you editor Time Burgler I think this is gonna be alot better than Wikipedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 I think the whole concept is quite fascinating. If we can take our collective knowledge of the city and concentrate it in certain parts until it's pretty much done, then move into a new building/neighborhood. Maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 I think the whole concept is quite fascinating.If we can take our collective knowledge of the city and concentrate it in certain parts until it's pretty much done, then move into a new building/neighborhood. Maybe? Sounds like a great idea. Where to start? Downtown seems natural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 Sounds like a great idea. Where to start? Downtown seems natural. Has anyone been adding to this lately? Or have people forgotten? I updated Wikipedia, but I have yet to contribute, just thought I'd bring attention to this too. Could use some more love. Update, the last contribution was done on December 20th, yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Has anyone been adding to this lately?Or have people forgotten? I updated Wikipedia, but I have yet to contribute, just thought I'd bring attention to this too. Could use some more love. Update, the last contribution was done on December 20th, yikes! I havn't seen much updates. I'm guilty of not updating. It seems like a universe of space to fill up, and I am not sure about the Building discriptions, if I have permission to just copy what is down on HAI... Also, it takes a little bit of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Heh, number 15 on Towrs, and number 1 in your hearts. It's me TJones. I added a neighborhood that you suspiciously "forgot" to add. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rio Grande Valley Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Editor, on Towrs, on the featured building, JP Morgan Chase tower, it says that is passes the 1000-foot "supertall" mark. Is "supertall" an official category? Im just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 I'm sorry editor, but editing the Houston Architecture Wiki is too much of a hassel... HAI is alot simpler, and the format is much better! For example, the wiki is a free for all, not really organized... I'm not sure how to manage websites in the first place, so maybe I'm just sounding stupid, but to look for building information on HAI is alot easier then wiki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted April 26, 2007 Author Share Posted April 26, 2007 Editor, on Towrs, on the featured building, JP Morgan Chase tower, it says that is passes the 1000-foot "supertall" mark. Is "supertall" an official category? Im just curious. "Supertall" isn't an official designation anywhere, but it is a common term used by internet architecture geeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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