Passing my hobby off to the masses

[wisepilgrim]

Hello everyone! I am a long time listener here but a first time caller. The reason for the post is to gather some opinions on a camino based website that I have built. I began the project in 2007 after having walked a handful of caminos. I was living in Iceland at the time (still am actually), was bored by a long dark winter, and wanted to learn a bit about computer programming. As such, it was a hobby. I updated it from time to time as I discovered more about the camino and various routes. I got a bit lazy with it, and 2011 saw little to no action whatsoever. I plugged in a few of my favorite camino blogs and let the beast run wild on it's own.

I have found myself with a surplus of free time on my hands and had the thought to pick up the project again but feel it has moved beyond being a hobby and being a 1 editor site. I have found that if it is to be a useful resource it needs enough caretakers to keep it contemporary.

To that end I was curious to know if the community here thinks that a community supported database of resources for pilgrims is a useful thing to have. It would need enough helper editors to stay on top of new albergue openings or closings, or similar adjustments. Not too many I wouldn't think. I am open to every idea out there; different views of what data is necessary, best ways to display or print, and everything else.

This stuff exists out there already on dozens of sites. Like mine it is updated according to the schedules of those that maintain it. A few of the larger sites are more up to date, but treat english as an afterthought or give it a chromey translation. My site has been built to suit my own learning schedule and leaves much to be desired as well. If I had a wish for all future pilgrims it would be that before setting off on a long walk that they could peacefully embrace the concept of walking without any guides whatsoever and simply walk with confidence in the magical nature of the camino making things right. Barring that, I would like them to have the most accurate one they can get their hands on.

So what do you think? Should I scrap it? Should I stay on it, walk lots and keep it up to date? Is there any room for an open-source source of camino data which can be amended by the masses? And most importantly, if the latter is a good way to go, are there any among you that would be interested in contributing. This website has never earned a penny, and I am not sure that it needs to.

The website in question is wisepilgrim.com.

Thanks for your ears,

Michael

 

[dougfitz]

snip ... The website in question is wisepilgrim.com.

Michael, I like the site, and have bookmarked it. Only time will tell if there is general interest in this resource.
Regards,

 

[jennysa]

snip ... The website in question is wisepilgrim.com.

Michael, I like the site, and have bookmarked it. Only time will tell if there is general interest in this resource.
Regards,

What a great idea and useful resource.

 

[daesdaemar]

Nice site! Thank you for sharing with us.

 

[jpflavin1]

Michael:

Nice site. Thank you for sharing.

Joe

 

[wisepilgrim]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. In the end I decided to take advantage of my newly acquired "free time" to renew the website a bit.

It was actually quite nice to do so. I had forgotten that even the slightest connection to camino activities is motivational. Perhaps that is why these forums are so successful.

Anyhow. I have updated much of the Camino Frances content with the help of hospitaleros everywhere. A bit of configuration tweaks to the actual pages and it should be a bit more user friendly to the online browser. I am also nearly complete with polishing up the data for a few other routes; namely the Aragonés, the Primitivo, San Salvador, those lovely days to Finisterre and Muxia, and the Invierno. These should be online by the end of the month.

But the biggest bit of new news is that the wisepilgrim website is moving beyond the computer and into the world of being an iPhone app. I was afraid that I might be stepping on Ivar's toes a bit by announcing this here to you guys, but after using his app I came to the conclusion that the apps do not overlap or compete in any way.

All the best to everyone here, and if you happen to be on the Primitivo this July give me a shout out because I would love to meet the folks behind all this good stuff.

Michael

 

[vagabondette]

Great info. If, going forward, you want it to be community monitored/generated content, I'd suggest switching to a wiki format where people can log in and update the info as needed. This will take the pressure off of you for making the updates and allow a lot more information to be added than a single person can generate as people can/will add information that they're familiar with. There are lots of free wiki apps out there which are quick and easy to install and could just be tacked on to your header as "camino wiki". Good luck with the project!