Website for Consolidated News and Information about keyboards?

[tydlwav]

Hey, I'm kind of new to the keyboard hobby. What I discovered is that getting into the hobby takes considerable effort going over massdrop, gh, reddit and other places to scour information. There's so much crazy but really interesting and fun aspects about this hobby: building, modding, collecting, designing, artisans, DIY etc. But they are all scattered around different sites and are hard to come by for newer members of the hobby. Also, to the decentralized nature of the community, it gets really hard to get quick updates on all the exciting new group buys and discussions in the community.

As an example, I participated in the nutcracker v2 gb, and didn't hear from them until yesterday. To their credit, they kept people updated on their discord server. But man, a discord server for updates? I'm not buying into it.

I sincerely hope that there are some central information hub that can be easily searched, and easy to skim through. This will prevent me from spending an hour or more looking through forum posts only to keep myself up to date on what's happening in the community.

I find the "this week in keyboard" series by @manofinterest on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmAXoFcs-o_jd-LirQMi3qPekzj6hW0Go very helpful, but that's in video format, and he only updates every week. I'm looking to making a website version of that. I hope we can curate some contents for the main page, and leave space for community members to post links and summaries of things they think is valuable for others to read. I want to break things into categories like cases, pcbs, keycaps, modding, gb updates etc for easy navigation and searching.

This is obviously a very immature idea, but I'm interested whether anybody has similar opinions. I'm curious how you guys get your dose of keyboard news every day.

By the way, I'm a developer, so there's interest for this kind of site, I can start working on a prototype.

[JP]

You are correct. There is so so much information. This hobby can indeed be all consuming and there are many facets depending on your particular interests.

This is an impractical goal I think considering we have various forums like GH, Deskthority, DT Wiki, Keebtalk, Reddit (various subreddits /r/mechanicalkeyboards, /r/mechmarket, etc), YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Massdrop, various personal blog sites, and Discord which has no less than 100 channels dedicated to mechanical keyboards, meetups, etc. with some of them being invite only! I'm probably missing something here. Even something as simple as a Github list I think would be helpful.

Now that is a lot of key chatter!

This hobby is just nonstop and isn't my only hobby. Even if it could be all in front of me all the time I guess it would save time but regardless there is just so much out there and sometimes I just checkout of the rat race and enjoy life or of course do responsible adult stuff 

[fohat.digs]

This will prevent me from spending an hour or more looking through forum posts only to keep myself up to date on what's happening in the community.

This is obviously a very immature idea

[tydlwav]

This is an impractical goal I think considering we have various forums like GH, Deskthority, DT Wiki, Keebtalk, Reddit (various subreddits /r/mechanicalkeyboards, /r/mechmarket, etc), YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Massdrop, various personal blog sites, and Discord which has no less than 100 channels dedicated to mechanical keyboards, meetups, etc. with some of them being invite only! I'm probably missing something here. Even something as simple as a Github list I think would be helpful.

You're probably right. It's too hard to get all the information together. It's most likely unfeasible to curate information from all of these sources even with community help.

I still think a good wiki is needed. The DT wiki is kind of trash. They didn't even mention many switches like the pandas, yoks, halos etc. Shouldn't these be common knowledge to the community by now? Even though DT wiki puts information of the many switches in there, they don't include crucial information like force graphs. Also, I don't really see much information about lubing, modding and building keyboards. The newest edit to the whole DT wiki is about a year and a half ago.

Probably we should dial down the ambition and start with a simple site of short posts of updates or links to different places. We can use an upvote/downvote system so we see the best stuff first. We should categorize these into interest checks, group buys, modding, building etc. Under the group buys, we can sub-categorize things to running, ended, and updates. People visiting would be able to upvote and downvote posts, flag posts so mods can go take a look. It's also helpful that people can flag group buys as ended once they end etc. It's sort of like a meta-forum for all the stuff we got on the internet. It's like a Github list, but with community feedback.

[nickheller]

This is an impractical goal I think considering we have various forums like GH, Deskthority, DT Wiki, Keebtalk, Reddit (various subreddits /r/mechanicalkeyboards, /r/mechmarket, etc), YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Massdrop, various personal blog sites, and Discord which has no less than 100 channels dedicated to mechanical keyboards, meetups, etc. with some of them being invite only! I'm probably missing something here. Even something as simple as a Github list I think would be helpful.

You're probably right. It's too hard to get all the information together. It's most likely unfeasible to curate information from all of these sources even with community help.

I still think a good wiki is needed. The DT wiki is kind of trash. They didn't even mention many switches like the pandas, yoks, halos etc. Shouldn't these be common knowledge to the community by now? Even though DT wiki puts information of the many switches in there, they don't include crucial information like force graphs. Also, I don't really see much information about lubing, modding and building keyboards. The newest edit to the whole DT wiki is about a year and a half ago.

Probably we should dial down the ambition and start with a simple site of short posts of updates or links to different places. We can use an upvote/downvote system so we see the best stuff first. We should categorize these into interest checks, group buys, modding, building etc. Under the group buys, we can sub-categorize things to running, ended, and updates. People visiting would be able to upvote and downvote posts, flag posts so mods can go take a look. It's also helpful that people can flag group buys as ended once they end etc. It's sort of like a meta-forum for all the stuff we got on the internet. It's like a Github list, but with community feedback.

Wikis are a community effort, you have identified things you feel should be in the wiki, you should try to get them added yourself instead of complaining that they are missing.

[tydlwav]

Wikis are a community effort, you have identified things you feel should be in the wiki, you should try to get them added yourself instead of complaining that they are missing.

I didn't know there's a wiki before JP mentioned it. What I'm hoping for isn't exactly a wiki, it's a place we can easily read about the newest and hottest stuff happening in the community. But we sure do lack a good wiki page too. Also, I'm not complaining. I went to DT wiki for the first time after reading JP's post and found out how unimpressive it is.

I am willing to build stuff (as I have mentioned I'm a developer and am willing to work on prototyping a website if there's interest or good ideas) and I want to know whether other people feel the same way and what exactly I should work on to benefit the community most. I sure don't want to spend tons of time building something that people don't want or need.

[JP]

This is an impractical goal I think considering we have various forums like GH, Deskthority, DT Wiki, Keebtalk, Reddit (various subreddits /r/mechanicalkeyboards, /r/mechmarket, etc), YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Massdrop, various personal blog sites, and Discord which has no less than 100 channels dedicated to mechanical keyboards, meetups, etc. with some of them being invite only! I'm probably missing something here. Even something as simple as a Github list I think would be helpful.

You're probably right. It's too hard to get all the information together. It's most likely unfeasible to curate information from all of these sources even with community help.

I still think a good wiki is needed. The DT wiki is kind of trash. They didn't even mention many switches like the pandas, yoks, halos etc. Shouldn't these be common knowledge to the community by now? Even though DT wiki puts information of the many switches in there, they don't include crucial information like force graphs. Also, I don't really see much information about lubing, modding and building keyboards. The newest edit to the whole DT wiki is about a year and a half ago.

Probably we should dial down the ambition and start with a simple site of short posts of updates or links to different places. We can use an upvote/downvote system so we see the best stuff first. We should categorize these into interest checks, group buys, modding, building etc. Under the group buys, we can sub-categorize things to running, ended, and updates. People visiting would be able to upvote and downvote posts, flag posts so mods can go take a look. It's also helpful that people can flag group buys as ended once they end etc. It's sort of like a meta-forum for all the stuff we got on the internet. It's like a Github list, but with community feedback.

There are certainly things to critique regarding the DT wiki. I not surprised many of the newer switches are missing. When I do find switch entries they can be very detailed and meticulously photographed. That takes time and effort from members. There are certainly active updates by members but the main landing page hasn't been updated in quite a while. There is a very small yet active volunteer force of contributors. It really is an underappreciated job. I know I could contribute quite a bit but haven't. DT traditionally is more vintage focused so many of the people building keyboards aren't going there or contributing their knowledge to the wiki. Also information sometimes is scattered so you might for example find a post with force curves which is missing in the wiki.

To me it seems like Keebtalk offers a bit of what I think you are envisioning. You can like posts an can view top posts. They have a lot of build guides and general info on all of the latest hype switches. I could care less about about upvoting/downvoting since that's what Reddit is but is a nice feature. I would like to see better organization and management of group buys. Is it too much to ask to see when group buys start and end and filter them, setup alerts, visualize popular or trending group buys, and even rate completed ones? I'd also like to see a single wiki that encompasses knowledge from all the main communities like Reddit/GH/DT/Keebtalk but I don't know the logistics of how something like that would work though.

[tydlwav]

This is an impractical goal I think considering we have various forums like GH, Deskthority, DT Wiki, Keebtalk, Reddit (various subreddits /r/mechanicalkeyboards, /r/mechmarket, etc), YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Massdrop, various personal blog sites, and Discord which has no less than 100 channels dedicated to mechanical keyboards, meetups, etc. with some of them being invite only! I'm probably missing something here. Even something as simple as a Github list I think would be helpful.

You're probably right. It's too hard to get all the information together. It's most likely unfeasible to curate information from all of these sources even with community help.

I still think a good wiki is needed. The DT wiki is kind of trash. They didn't even mention many switches like the pandas, yoks, halos etc. Shouldn't these be common knowledge to the community by now? Even though DT wiki puts information of the many switches in there, they don't include crucial information like force graphs. Also, I don't really see much information about lubing, modding and building keyboards. The newest edit to the whole DT wiki is about a year and a half ago.

Probably we should dial down the ambition and start with a simple site of short posts of updates or links to different places. We can use an upvote/downvote system so we see the best stuff first. We should categorize these into interest checks, group buys, modding, building etc. Under the group buys, we can sub-categorize things to running, ended, and updates. People visiting would be able to upvote and downvote posts, flag posts so mods can go take a look. It's also helpful that people can flag group buys as ended once they end etc. It's sort of like a meta-forum for all the stuff we got on the internet. It's like a Github list, but with community feedback.

There are certainly things to critique regarding the DT wiki. I not surprised many of the newer switches are missing. When I do find switch entries they can be very detailed and meticulously photographed. That takes time and effort from members. There are certainly active updates by members but the main landing page hasn't been updated in quite a while. There is a very small yet active volunteer force of contributors. It really is an underappreciated job. I know I could contribute quite a bit but haven't. DT traditionally is more vintage focused so many of the people building keyboards aren't going there or contributing their knowledge to the wiki. Also information sometimes is scattered so you might for example find a post with force curves which is missing in the wiki.

To me it seems like Keebtalk offers a bit of what I think you are envisioning. You can like posts an can view top posts. They have a lot of build guides and general info on all of the latest hype switches. I could care less about about upvoting/downvoting since that's what Reddit is but is a nice feature. I would like to see better organization and management of group buys. Is it too much to ask to see when group buys start and end and filter them, setup alerts, visualize popular or trending group buys, and even rate completed ones? I'd also like to see a single wiki that encompasses knowledge from all the main communities like Reddit/GH/DT/Keebtalk but I don't know the logistics of how something like that would work though.

Yeah. I kinda wanted a mashup of keebtalk and reddit. Keebtalk's hottest counts likes, but it doesn't seem like a central feature of the forum. Only 9 out of 513 viewers liked GMK dots, hmm, less than the amount of people who paid for it. The like button is drowned at the bottom of a long post, and I would definitely have missed it if I didn't actively look for it.

I totally agree that we do need some way of organizing group buys better. Filtering and alerts are really nice features. You never know if a gb is open or closed on GH, and you have no mailing list, rare updates etc. The group buy part should be fairly simple as long as people are willing to use a new site. I don't see how we can incorporate those features into existing community sites that aren't really designed for that kind of stuff. As to a single wiki with all the info, I'm kind of fearful of how much work there is to be done.

I just read through a few of the entries in DT wiki and they're really detailed and wikipedia-like. Props to the people who worked on them. My gripe is the newer stuff are really lacking. The holy pandas is like the hottest thing for the past year and they didn't even mention Invyr pandas, halos etc. It gave me a false impression that the whole thing is not maintained properly. And by the way, the best place to look for force graphs is HaaTa's plotly: https://plot.ly/~haata#/. There sure are some switches missing, but that's a huge collection of switches he tested.

[fohat.digs]

We can use an upvote/downvote system so we see the best stuff first.
 

What is an "upvote/downvote system" and who is to say what is "best"?

[SpAmRaY]

We can use an upvote/downvote system so we see the best stuff first.
 

What is an "upvote/downvote system" and who is to say what is "best"?

Usually it's a popularity contest not based on any actual merit. i.e. reddit

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[tydlwav]

We can use an upvote/downvote system so we see the best stuff first.
 

What is an "upvote/downvote system" and who is to say what is "best"?

Usually it's a popularity contest not based on any actual merit. i.e. reddit

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

It's supposed to be used on active group buys, so it should be a popularity contest. How do you compare group buys according to merit? I'd love to hear constructive criticism of why and how to do better, not just "this is bad".

[Findecanor]

Wikis are a community effort, you have identified things you feel should be in the wiki, you should try to get them added yourself instead of complaining that they are missing.

This.

Deskthority and the Deskthority WIki was created by people who collect vintage keyboards, and that is what it is best for: When you see an old keyboard for sale on eBay and want to know what it is, and what switches and keycaps it has.

Of course info lags behind the latest stuff — it is a repository of knowledge, optimised for looking things up, just like Wikipedia and other wikis.  A wiki is not supposed to be a news site.
Like any public Wiki, it created by the users on their own time for no compensation whatsoever.
Nobody who contributes to a public Wiki owes you anything.

If you want there to be information about new popular switches, then by all means create an account and contribute it yourself. If you have ever written anything on another Wiki (such as Wikipedia), you would know the syntax and how to cite references.

[romevi]

Just stick to geekhack.

[fohat.digs]

I'd love to hear constructive criticism of why and how to do better,

I'm not sure I really understand the rationale behind the "upvote/downvote system" whatever that is, but from my perspective it goes against the grain of Geekhack and would be absolute anathema to Deskthority.

[Sintpinty]

Hey, I'm kind of new to the keyboard hobby. What I discovered is that getting into the hobby takes considerable effort going over massdrop, gh, reddit and other places to scour information. There's so much crazy but really interesting and fun aspects about this hobby: building, modding, collecting, designing, artisans, DIY etc. But they are all scattered around different sites and are hard to come by for newer members of the hobby. Also, to the decentralized nature of the community, it gets really hard to get quick updates on all the exciting new group buys and discussions in the community.

As an example, I participated in the nutcracker v2 gb, and didn't hear from them until yesterday. To their credit, they kept people updated on their discord server. But man, a discord server for updates? I'm not buying into it.

I sincerely hope that there are some central information hub that can be easily searched, and easy to skim through. This will prevent me from spending an hour or more looking through forum posts only to keep myself up to date on what's happening in the community.

I find the "this week in keyboard" series by @manofinterest on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmAXoFcs-o_jd-LirQMi3qPekzj6hW0Go very helpful, but that's in video format, and he only updates every week. I'm looking to making a website version of that. I hope we can curate some contents for the main page, and leave space for community members to post links and summaries of things they think is valuable for others to read. I want to break things into categories like cases, pcbs, keycaps, modding, gb updates etc for easy navigation and searching.

This is obviously a very immature idea, but I'm interested whether anybody has similar opinions. I'm curious how you guys get your dose of keyboard news every day.

By the way, I'm a developer, so there's interest for this kind of site, I can start working on a prototype.

Key chatter best describes the website you’re looking for.

[tydlwav]

Hey, I'm kind of new to the keyboard hobby. What I discovered is that getting into the hobby takes considerable effort going over massdrop, gh, reddit and other places to scour information. There's so much crazy but really interesting and fun aspects about this hobby: building, modding, collecting, designing, artisans, DIY etc. But they are all scattered around different sites and are hard to come by for newer members of the hobby. Also, to the decentralized nature of the community, it gets really hard to get quick updates on all the exciting new group buys and discussions in the community.

As an example, I participated in the nutcracker v2 gb, and didn't hear from them until yesterday. To their credit, they kept people updated on their discord server. But man, a discord server for updates? I'm not buying into it.

I sincerely hope that there are some central information hub that can be easily searched, and easy to skim through. This will prevent me from spending an hour or more looking through forum posts only to keep myself up to date on what's happening in the community.

I find the "this week in keyboard" series by @manofinterest on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmAXoFcs-o_jd-LirQMi3qPekzj6hW0Go very helpful, but that's in video format, and he only updates every week. I'm looking to making a website version of that. I hope we can curate some contents for the main page, and leave space for community members to post links and summaries of things they think is valuable for others to read. I want to break things into categories like cases, pcbs, keycaps, modding, gb updates etc for easy navigation and searching.

This is obviously a very immature idea, but I'm interested whether anybody has similar opinions. I'm curious how you guys get your dose of keyboard news every day.

By the way, I'm a developer, so there's interest for this kind of site, I can start working on a prototype.

Key chatter best describes the website you’re looking for.

Wow that looks awesome. Seems like they haven't been updating it as frequently as I would wish, but it sure has some great information and presentation. I'll probably see what I can do to help contribute.

[Legonut]

The KeyCommerce discord is a decently sized effort to try to consolidate keyboard group buys.
https://discord.gg/xhDdU79