Topic 6

Q1. Forum Experience.
Over the years I have participated in many forums. The instance that sticks out in my mind most strongly though was when I was developing little game mods for a game called Morrowind. It came with a very easy to use editing tool. I became very enthused about developing mods for this game, in particular the scripting language that was integrated into it. Because of the ease of use and the creative possibilities there was a large following of modders behind Morrowind. These modders would rally around modding websites that invariably featured forums. The morrowind modding website titled "Morrowindfiles" was where I dropped my roots for a time.
We were there with a common purpose, the development, distribution and appreciation of game mods. The people participating were all fans of the game, most people were merely there to download and use the mods that were being developed. Most were helpful and supportive towards the sites purpose. As far as size goes, it was big. Morrowind was a very popular game and as such there was a strong international following. I know I met people from every continent bar Antarctica while I was participating with this group.
Unfortunately, nothing is forever, and as I recall server hosting became too expensive for the admins as it was only a fan run site and they decided to close their doors. There were plenty of other sites doing exactly the same thing.
I remember feeling great disappointment over the closure of the site but the community dispersed and moved on. Another similar site rose in its wake called "Gamer's Roam" which inevitably followed the same fate. While participating though I loved answering peoples questions on development problems they had. As I had a pretty firm grasp of the scripting language I LOVED helping people realize their creative scripting ideas.

Q2. Wiki & Moodle
Design-wise I notice that wiki's rely more on a search premise while Moodles categorize their information. Apart from that difference they both have left boxed navigation and a centralised display for the requested information.
The thing that strikes me most about the differences between Wikis and Moodles is the way they present their content. A wiki feels like a broader general repository of knowledge used for reference while Moodle seems to have a goal in mind. What I mean by that is that Moodle facilitates information that will achieve a specified objective. They are both, however, facilitators of information. I could see a wiki being used to compliment the objectives of a moodle.

Q3. Trust and reputation.
You know what? Pop-ups. I've only got my own opinion to go on here but as soon as you ram a pop-up down my throat my respect for a site diminishes significantly. Then there's site design; if a site looks badly constructed then chances are it isn't as reputable as you'd like. I know this sounds judgmental but it's simply a rule of thumb. Personally, if I see flaming text for the title, I'm out of there. Fortunately, personal experience isn't the only thing one can do to determine a sites trustworthiness. Look for a privacy agreement, while boring to read they do hold very important information. Coupled with digital certificates of authenticity one has a good footing to begin trusting a website. You can also do a search on the site in question for forum opinions or any word of mouth information to further improve your stance.