Creating a database of conversations

Help & feedback
1

Hi,

Thinking of creating a database of whatsapp chat as a some kind of a manual so that people can refer it before asking a new repair question in the groups.

Is it doable with free resources?

Please suggest idea?

Thanks
Purna
(on behalf of Repair Cafe Bengaluru)

1 Like
2

Hi Purna,

Great question! Just to clarify, what kinds of information are you hoping to collate? Is it info about repairing particular kinds of products, info about running repair events, or something else?

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3

Yes we would like to collate local repair information which was exchanged between participants.

Would you suggest any example?

We would like to use free tools to make the most of it.

Thanks
Purna

4

For information about repairing certain types of products, we tend to store this in our repair wiki. The wiki contains quite a lot of info about how to diagnose problems and fix many types of common electronic and electrical devices. The wiki is a free community resource; anyone with an account can contribute to it to share their knowledge.

It doesn’t really cover specific models of product though. For that we tend to use other sites, such as iFixit.

Would the repair wiki cover what you’re looking for?

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5

This repair WIKI is a good idea. Iam also working on adding some points.

But for here in India we look for information and practices locally.

There are many brands which are difficult to find in local shops.
Like Iam searching for water based enamel paint for doors and windows. Many recommended it to be eco-friendly. Like I got a suggestion of Benjamin Moore Advance which locally we haven’t heard off.

Thanks
Purna

1 Like
6

I see. So you’re hoping to build a public resource that lists information about local repair options.

Our repair wiki is great for general information about repair.

But I guess making your own wiki of some kind would work better for that local information. We use MediaWiki software to do this (the same software that Wikipedia uses). It’s free and open source, but it does require learning how to use the software. And you’d either need to set it up on your own server, or find someone to host it for you. For the second option, Miraheze might be able to host a wiki for you for free.

There are simpler alternatives like Notion, which offers a limited free plan or Gitbook which is free for registered non-profit organisations.

Would any of those work do you think?