wikpa.org - KPA Community Wiki

  • Martin, your contributions has been invaluable. I understand why you might need to devote more time to other things. After all, that's what I experienced myself.
    Thanks for everything dude :)

  • Actually it doesn't take much time nowadays but it certainly takes attention. And I had way to many things taking my attention since I returned from Nepal. And I had (and still have) to reduce the brain load. The wikpa.org is a small site with very little activity yet valuable information collected by a few people investing lots of time. So I certainly don't want to just take it down. But I want to get it out of my mind, checking every day if there's something bad going on, checking if there's security updates (or having a bad vibe when I don't). You know, sometimes, if you feel you have to many things to take care of, then you tend to think "Why am I doing this? Nobody cares, very few are actively contributing. I don't have to do that for my own."


    Let me give you an example for my brainset:
    One Kemper staff wrote me an email some time ago that it would be great to convert the official Profiler manual to Wiki content. Wow, nice offer at first sight. But I quickly realised that the intention seemed to be that I should do all that work alone, in my spare time. They seemed to think they do me a personal favor to make me this offer. But wow, I'm not suffering from to much lazy time!? I told them and haven't heard back since then. No word about help doing it, nothing.
    I tried to label it "the communiy Wiki" ... the concept should have been "many-to-many", not "one-to-many" or "few-to-many".


    Also, some personal disappointments played a role, sadly. Christoph Kemper promised to link to the wiKPA.org site one year ago if we manage to make it happen. This was never done, at least I can't find it anywhere.


    So basically I just want to let it go now. My motivation to play an active role in the Kemper environment has come to an end. I want to be an enthusiastic user, playing guitar and enjoying the sound of this magic box. That's more than enough, isn't it? :)

  • WiKPA is an invaluable resource for all KPA users and it played a major role in me deciding to make the purchase. I wish I could offer to help, and I would be more than happy to do anything I can. Maybe we can make it a community run site to reduce the load on any one person and share it and the love.

  • Too bad I've to agree with most of what Martin wrote.
    Also, as I've pointed out, it doesn't seem wiKPA.org has become something the community perceives as its own. It's very rarely named or advised to newcomers, and this is because even the most experienced users don't really know it. Hence, it doesn't come spontaneously to refer to it.


    When I invented the wiKPA concept I hoped it would become a reference. It has not, and for a number of reasons. OTOH, I realize that "not all the doughnuts turn out with the proper hole", as we say in Italy (or: you can't win them all :D).


    The good part of the story is that I've probably got more gratification than Martin.
    I'll go on with promoting the KPA concept and helping newcomers AFAIC, but I've to acknowledge that my enthusiasm and my daily commitment to updating, enriching, expanding the wiKPA has gone down by a good shot, whereas I used to spend at least a couple of hours per day (believe me, it's a lot as a mean value) on it.


    Well, things and times always change. Let's see what the future reserves us :)

  • The wiki addressed a lot of my questions and concerns. If it not been around, theres a chance I might not have bought the Kemper. It is an invaluable to to potential and present owners. It would behove Kemper to make sure there is someone to keep it up, running and current.

  • I just did a proper local backup of files and database of wikpa.org today.
    It's 225MB zipped, incl. the raw SQL dump.


    If someone is willing and capable to take over, I can write up a quick sheet on request with some information about extensions used. But it shouldn't be a problem for someone who feels comfortable hosting a MediaWiki site.
    Just one thing we'll have to discuss: How about the personal data (accounts)? Easiest way is to just move this data as well, so you guys can keep using the same account you had created. I don't think there's much confidential information to be taken care of. But if someone disagrees until we move the site somewhere ... I'll remove all of this data.


    Hope we'll find a nice new place for this site. :)


    Cheers,
    Martin

  • The wiki addressed a lot of my questions and concerns. If it not been around, theres a chance I might not have bought the Kemper. It is an invaluable to to potential and present owners. It would behove Kemper to make sure there is someone to keep it up, running and current.


    The wiKPA.org is indeed a great source filled with lots of good user info.

  • The last posts have confirmed what I've been believing since the very beginning: the only workin model for the wiKPA is a one/two-man commitment, where the person in charge gets some sort of gratification.


    When wikpa.org was created, I was about to open (along with another member here) a site (which would live on ads and donations, and maybe with Mothership's support) where to transfer wiKPA's contents and go on adding material.
    The birth of wikpa.org stopped this. I could have chosen differently, and gone on with my original idea: I knew that wikpa.org would die AAMOF (and, TBH, my project partner had foreseen is as well), because most people have no time to consistently contribute, and many others are scared by the technical aspects involved in editing a wiki or think they have nothing valuable to give.


    I could have chosen to not let the wiKPA contents be transferred to wikpa.org, and to keep the wiKPA alive; but, to be honest, I was definitely worried about people misunderstanding my choice considering me greedy, and was aware that no commercial project would survive or develop with such premises. I love the Profiler, love this community, love to collect and organize information. And did not want all this to be blemished by the shadow of suspect or envy (something we always have to come to grips with).


    As a matter of fact, we have to admit that the amount of contributions to the contents of wikpa.org has practically been null, except for 3-4 contributors (2 of whom have done 95%+ of the whole work). This means that, for wikpa.org to stay alive and work as a meaningful source of knowledge for current, future and potential customers, three things have to happen IMO:


    1. One person has to take the burden of sistematically adding contents to the site and conducting it;
    2. This person has to get an income somehow;
    3. Kemper have to commit to the project more directly, either paying for the job and/or assuring a strong support to the leader both from a logistic and technical POV.


    I don't see other solutions on the horizon: community's efforts have been close to zero, and the overall work is huge for one person only, like leading any site or blog on a daily basis with the further load of having to keep all the old information update and valuable, constantly checking for and deleting obsolete entries for example.


    It would be really bad if all this went lost, specially because the Profiler's community is getting bigger and bigger and there will always be more things to know and explain about the device (not to mention satellite devices such as the pedalboard, the power amp and what else the future will bring): IOW, the wiKPA's importance will grow in the time. While the first users were real experts, passionate with the new concept and willing to deepen all its aspects, the machine will be more and more accessed by people who just want to use it in the simplest way.
    The wikpa could become THE online resource for the Kemper Guitar Department (LOL), and the manuals could be published online and kept updated as per Mothership's vision (which I'd agree with).


    This is the ideal scenario as I see it, and this was from the beginning my aim. But, as a matter of fact, someone have to pay for this. A well-done job remains a well-done job after all.


    :)

  • I agree with everything said above,


    with this


    1. One person has to take the burden of sistematically adding contents to the site and conducting it;
    2. This person has to get an income somehow;
    3. Kemper have to commit to the project more directly, either paying for the job and/or assuring a strong support to the leader both from a logistic and technical POV.


    being the key.
    Nothing really to add here.
    Actually it's Kemper's turn to show some initiative.

  • I don't think this will ever happen (paid administration and content creation).
    Maybe it would have been enough to just promote it better and show some appreciation for the work done. Sadly I just got work thrown at me in the style of "hey, take this and do your work if you like". That wasn't encouraging at all, imho, and it showed me that even Kemper staff didn't understand the concept of an open Wiki platform where you can add content anytime ... sometimes in less time than throwing the work at someone else.

  • I don't think this will ever happen (paid administration and content creation).
    Maybe it would have been enough to just promote it better and show some appreciation for the work done. Sadly I just got work thrown at me in the style of "hey, take this and do your work if you like". That wasn't encouraging at all, imho, and it showed me that even Kemper staff didn't understand the concept of an open Wiki platform where you can add content anytime ... sometimes in less time than throwing the work at someone else.


    They clearly have underestimated the importance and value of a wiki.
    Still do.
    But here's hoping... ;)

  • I hope that:


    1) Kemper improves their published documentation so that much of the need for Wikpa.org is eliminated; and
    2) Kemper adds a Wiki section to this forum and, with the authors' permission, incorporates the Wikpa.org contents into it and maintains it (and user submissions should be welcomed)

  • Could you explain that? I'm not sure I'm following you...


    If there's no longer need for the wiKPA why should Kemper "add a Wiki section to this forum and, with the authors' permission, incorporate the Wikpa.org contents into it and maintain it"?


    Anyway, you probably know that no static documentation will be able to contain all the things you'll typically find in a wiki, just by its definition. Tricks, users' findings, experiments... I've never seen an official manual containing as much info as a forum-generated document or site.
    Unless it's maintained like a wiki, but at that stage it has become a wiki...


    However I look at it, your post seems quite contraddictory to me :/

  • I think you misread my post; I wrote "so that much of the need for Wikpa.org is eliminated", not "all" of the need is eliminated. As you said, the manuals will never contain all of the information in the wikpa so there will always be a need for the wikpa. But I do think that a lot of the information in the wikpa should be in the manuals (IMO, the KPA manuals are somewhat weak and poorly organized).

  • Yep, I think I got it. But if you agree on the convenience of having a wiki anyway, how much of information is contained there becomes secondary, I guess.


    It would be great to have a single, online source of information where we could find everything is related to the Profiler, manuals included! :)


    I'd do it, if I had the resources X)

  • Yep, I think I got it. But if you agree on the convenience of having a wiki anyway, how much of information is contained there becomes secondary, I guess.


    It would be great to have a single, online source of information where we could find everything is related to the Profiler, manuals included! :)


    I'd do it, if I had the resources X)

    Agree! As far as how much information is in the wikpa, as you say, that is secondary. I'd just like to see much better manuals that contain more detailed information. But, clearly, that's just IMO...

  • I just want to thank the contributors of the wiki page because it has helped me countless times and I've referred potential buyers to the site as well. It is a wonderful resource and a first stop if you encounter a question about the kpa. It actually does away with silly questions on the forum as well. I hope that it lives on, but I totally understand the time/resource discussion and wish you all the best. On my behalf, I sincerely thank you for all of the effort put into such great resource that doesn't exist for many other pieces of gear out there. Thanks.