I proposed this in a comment in a separate thread, but after some more thinking I actually think this is a good idea. Here it is:

Make a sort of archive source about the technical aspects of lighting, including but not limited to:

• Electrical workings of lamps
• Physical construction/manufacture of lamps
• Explaining the "why" behind every practical aspect of lamp design
• History of different types of lamps

I know this sounds sort of similar to Lamptech by @James , but this resource will be a collaborative project by the most knowledgeable users on lighting gallery, and less focused on specific lamps and more on lamp workings in general and what different factors do to them. There would certainly be some sort of approval process to go through to become a contributor to this resource to avoid false information. This resource will be for people who want to be more like the people who give advice on LG and who just seem to know all. The goal is that if the contributor knows something, it is on the site and easy to find. I know this would be a lot of effort of behalf of the contributors, but I think it is worth it to pass on this knowledge.

Lighting-Gallery is great, and does it's job nearly flawlessly. But it's job doesn't seem to be "passing on the as much accurate information to a new generation as possible", and that is completely okay. I (and some others probably) would just like a site that specializes in this specifically. Lamptech is also a great resource, but one person can only do/know/contribute so much (nothing personal of course, we all know James is great).

How would we even start? Is anyone willing to start a website? I could do it if I had to in Google Sites or something, it doesn't have to be flashy it just has to do it's job. How would we pick and choose contributors without starting an all-out brawl on who gets to contribute? Is anyone willing to be a contributor and spend time writing out what they know for the world to see?

Even if I were to start the website I would not be a contributor because you all know that I am not that knowledgeable. But I have many many users on LG in mind that would be PERFECT for this, even if they only do a small part. To be clear, I really don't want to be the one in charge of this, but if I have to do that I will. Maybe a moderator from LG can help, but obviously it is up to them.

Whadaya think? Bad idea?

Alright then, I suppose I will just get a start on this. Here is the link: https://sites.google.com/view/luxarchive/home

I called it Lux Archive. There isn't anything there yet as of 11/3/25. It is just a google site, nothing fancy. Here is a beginning list of LG users that I have determined to be excellent candidates for knowledge contribution:
@James
@RRK
@Medved
@Ash
But this is not all inclusive of course. And obviously if you find yourself on this list you are not obligated to do anything, just an invitation. If you would like access, just tell me and I can give you what you need to edit the site. Any recommendations of more contributors would also be appreciated.

Is this a bad idea? I feel like this would be a more popular idea amongst the younger members here like me. Any feedback?

I personally think this is a good idea, but if you all disagree I won't continue.

Edit: I am actually thinking that a published google sheet might be better/easier to make than a google site, and would be more similar to existing resources. I'll figure it out eventually.

If by Sunday 11/9/25 there are still no replies I will assume there is no interest in such a resource, and I will pursue it no further. As much as I would like to see this come together, I of course won't be able to do it without help and support from you all.

Going once, going twice...

I suppose a wiki hosted on Miraheze would also work. It's kinda like Fandom, except it's not basically Ad Paradise.

I would have to look into that, that sounds possible.

Another option is building it into LG or Lamptech, but that would require consent from the LG mods which I am almost certain would not happen.

You must keep in mind that LG is run using SMF, which is for forums and galleries, so adding a dedicated page would require some HTML and JavaScript skills, because of course adding a dedicated forum page would be highly impractical if not outright impossible. As for Lamptech, there already is a lot of information on there so adding a dedicated page would be a waste of time. I'm not trying to discourage you, I am just saying that doing it on LG or Lamptech would be highly impractical. As @ScienceGuy722 said, using Miraheze is probably the best course of action, unless of course you get the google site thing to work out, but then again google sites do not look that good in my opinion and you are limited to what is provided by google, which can be rather limiting in many cases.

@NeXe Lights
Yes, adding to Lamptech or LG would definitely require a lot more help, and that is unlikely to happen

I really am not aiming for aesthetics here just something functional. I know Google Sites is bottom of the barrel, but it is easy to use. I am currently investigating Miraheze as we speak.

Add Globe Colector to your list.

@lightsofpahrump He isn't even active on here anymore.

Okay, my thoughts on this:
The idea is good, however the time for people to participate is most likely no there. To make quality content to a scientific standard is very time consuming. It is nothing that is done in an two hour side quest. Were in lies the second problem: An encyclopaedia like you think of need valid references. Searching, accessing and curating them is a time intensive and possibly expensive task. And the wedding of these informations is maybe one of the most important tasks…

I tried to collect the most basic information about lamps, electrical parameters, datecodes, factory locations and type designations. That alredy had me put around 500hrs if work in with maybe 20% of it finished. Hadn’t I acces to primary sources by my university i would have to pay $1000+ in costs for sources, and even know with university sources i still had to pay a few houndert bucks to get sources that i could not access thru university…