Where do the wiki readers come from?

Studying this map shows you where in world there are Mini treasures wiki readers. A lot of green already :). Never been in so many countries myself but now I have created something that goes where I can´t go. :)

Translating web pages with help of Google

There was a question in wiki about how to translate a page into English. Thanks Pauline for asking :). I added the answer to wiki faq but I´ll share it here as well.

1. Go to translate.google.com

2. Give the url of the page you want to translate and the languages (e.g. from Finnish to English).

3. Hit translate

The translation is made by a machine, but users can improve the translations. Also if you are using the translated versions of the wiki you might find odd translations - in that case go ahead and correct them. :)

And now that you know how to do it go and study Maria´s Indian headgear.

Merry Christmas

me and the tree
Originally uploaded by Johantti ~ Mini treasures

and happy new year and decade to you my treasured mini friends!

Playing with the wiki has been like an adventure. I have the background from Finnish wiki but changing the language and to bigger audience has really challenged my creativity. I knew how to reach the Finnish miniaturists but reaching the miniaturists all over the world is a completely different thing. If you any ideas how to spread the word, I am listening. :)

My simple strategy is to create wiki content I love and I have been so happy to see that others are doing the same: adding amazing stuff to the wiki. Thank you for that and keep it going: let's make the wiki a place all miniaturists love.

Hoping you will get some mini treasures from Santa :).

4000 visitors in our wiki, interviewing Hanna&leijona

Few weeks ago the milestone of 4000 visitors in our wiki´s home page was passed and the visitor number 4000 was Hannajaleijona (Hanna&lion). So let´s ask her a few questions...

Hi Hanna - how does it feel to be the visitor number 4000 in our wiki? It's cool! It's good that there are more and more people visiting and using wiki. This is our common database and a great way to get lost in all the eye-candy you find following the links at wiki.

Tell a little about yourself: who you are, where do you come from and what do you do? I'm Hanna, soon 38, a mom, a dance-teacher and a mini-maker from Finland. (Psst: here´s a link to her Etsy shop)

Do you have any other hobbies than miniatures?
I try to get myself to do something else sometimes, but it's difficult! I watch tv when I'm lazy and I do stuff with my daughter a lot, but I don't think I have any other hobby.

When and how did you start doing miniatures?
I've done miniatures in one way or another all my life, but in an almost obsessive way for about four years. It started with my daughter's first doll's house.

What is your latest/next mini project?
I have all these ideas and projects going on and getting mixed up in my head and in our home... I've made two small houses, it's sort of a beginning of a neighbourhood, but I'm collecting stuff for a theatre too.

How did you find Mini treasures wiki and what is your favorite page in the wiki? At the moment my favourite is the advent calendar, of course! It's so much fun to see a new page every morning. I used a lot of the Finnish version so it was a natural shift to international wiki.

What would you like to see in the wiki in the future?
Hmmmm.... dunno really. A lot of new links to all kinds of dollhouse blogs and homepages. I'd love to see different projects like zoos or circuses or amusement parks. It would be lovely to see really cool sci-fi or fantasy-settings or a hommage to Simpsons. Also it would be cool to have links to all kinds of historical dollhouses around the world. But then again... there might already be things like these at wiki!

Thank you for the interview Hanna, it was a pleasure (like always) to talk with you :). You are right, there were some of the pages already but I would also like to see them growing so keep adding cool links to the wiki :).

How to follow the Mini treasures wiki?

I just updated the FAQ of the wiki and realized there are quite many ways to follow the wiki.

1. you can order emails from the wiki
2. you can order RSS feeds from the wiki
3. you can follow this blog
4. you can join Facebook fan page to get notified of some wiki news
5. you can follow Twitter to get these notifications:
* notifications of new blog entries of Mini treasures blog
* notifications of Facebook updates
* some notifications of wiki updates (not all)
6. you can bookmark the wiki and visit it when ever you have time

Now it is up to you to choose the one that suits best for you. :)

It would be nice to hear how you do it?

Calling for Dutch dollhouse miniaturists out there!

As I just showed Netherlands was the most active country in Mini treasures wiki during the last month by the number of visitors. It was a surprise for me that there were so many Dutch visitors since as far as I know we do not have any active wiki user from there yet. But I hope we soon have as the Netherlands is one of the home countries of the dollhouse hobby. :)

So to celebrate&welcome our Dutch readers I just added a new tag for Dutch wiki pages.

See e.g. Dutch projects or Dutch miniature shops.

Feel free to add your links there - we want to learn to know you better since your canal houses are so charming. :)

Statistics from Mini treasures wiki

In the spring I tried to add Google Analytics to Mini treasures wiki but gave up too early after problems. In November I met an Analytics expert who also had trouble - and only after that I asked help from PBworks team. They gave the answer quick as always and now I am sorry I did not asked them before. Well, better late than never.

So now I have some statistics to share with you. It is not perfect as the Analytics code is added only to about 5% of the wiki pages but as time goes on I try to add it to all pages.

Now that we have the Advent calendar (see 12th window by Pubdolls) ongoing the number of daily visitors has grown a lot - 10 times more than in November! :) Cool and thank you for your interest :).

From Sitemeter (measuring only the main page) I have learned that there are visitors all over the world but Analytics is giving more detailed information.

The wiki visitors in the last month came from the following countries

1. Netherlands (a surprise for me)
2. Finland (not a surprise as I am Finnish myself)
3. Germany (another surprise)
4. United States (I was expecting this)
5. Spain (a surprise too although Spanish are very active in our Flickr pool)
6. Austria
7. France
8. Belgium
9. United Kingdom
10. Canada
11. Norway
12. Singapore
13. Italy
14. Australia
15. Portugal
16. Mexico
17. Switzerland
18. Sweden
19. Israel
20. South Africa
21. Russia
22. Denmark
23. Hungary
24. Brazil
25. Argentina
26. New Zealand
27. Japan
28. South Korea
29. India
30. Malaysia
31. Malta
32. Ireland
33. Chile

and from the following countries there were one visitor:
Sri Lanka, Algeria, Thailand, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, Gibraltar, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Ukraine, Senegal, Venezuela, Vietnam, Peru, Latvia and Isle of Man

Mini treasures in Facebook

In the spring I created a Facebook group for Mini treasures wiki. Currently there are 16 people in it and there is not that much happening there. What I have learnt from other organizations in Facebook is that fan pages tend to be more active than the groups - mainly because the fan pages you will see on your own wall while group messages can be read only if you remember to visit the group - or if you will get email messages.

So this week I took the time and moved Mini treasures wiki to a new level by setting up a fan page for us as well. After just 2 days we have more members (fans) than we have in the group - wow!

So if you are using Facebook join our fan page to get updates about the wiki easily on your Facebook wall. :)

1000 pictures in our pool, interviewing AiClay

Mini treasures wiki has a group in Flickr and it is quite active, three weeks ago we got the 1000th picture. :)

It was posted by AiClay and I asked if I can interview her.

AiClay says: wow 1000!! :) congrats to the pool, and lucky me! :) i shall do the interview soon! :) thanks Johantti!
Posted 3 weeks ago.

So here we go again:

Tell a little about yourself: who you are, where do you come from and what do you do? Hi! :) I'm Jocelyn Teo from Singapore, 22. I'm a fresh university graduate with a degree in Communications and New Media but have fallen head over heels with miniature sculpting and polymer clay that I find it hard to imagine myself doing anything but it, for the rest of my life! :)

Do you have any other hobbies than miniatures?
Before I knew polymer clay, I've always thought myself as being weird, because I didn't have a hobby like any other kid, and there wasn't something I particularly liked to do, besides the usual 'hanging out with friends'. NOW, I know I have found a hobby, deep passion actually, in sculpting miniatures. so the answer to the question would be no! Although I still really enjoy hanging out with friends and family! :P

When and how did you start doing miniatures?
I started clay sculpting in the start of 2009 with airdry clay, and very soon, I chanced upon this intriguing photo of a giant hand peeling open an extremely tiny realistic orange. (later I would discover it is Angie Scarr's famous oranges!) and of course, I HAD to scout around for polymer clay, and that was soon my first and only love (clay types at least. :))

What is your latest/next mini project? Currently, I've been MADLY at work in producing as many miniature stock as I can with my slow hands and ill self-discipline lol. It's for my very first fair in mid-December, and I'm really excited to fill my table! Crossing my fingers that it would be empty by the end of the day though! :)and besides that, I really want to venture beyond sculpting pastries, and start sculpting meals and savories. :)

How did you find Mini treasures wiki and what is your favorite page in the wiki? I found it when the wonderful Johanna started commenting on my photos, and I was extremely flattered when my photos were used for some of the mini wiki pages. :)

My favourite page would be minitreasures.pbworks.com/swaps. I really adore the idea of swaps, and you wouldn't believe how my eyes brighten up when I know I've got a parcel! Would really want to participate in one soon. :)

Lastly, thank you so much Johanna! :) Do take care, and wishing you all the best in your new job! :)

Thank you Jocelyn and good luck with your first fair, it will be fine as you are such a talent, can´t imagine you just started. :)