Wiki - a comprehensive quick-guide

Evaluation for 2008 March 2009 By Michael Gaigg Wiki ( /wiːkiː/ )

Agenda
Characteristics
Definition of a wiki
Components & Wiki Syntax
Software Architecture
Keys to get a wiki going
Choosing a wiki: What to consider
Critical Success Factors
March 2009 Wiki

Wiki = quick
No editing in Dreamweaver
No FTP-ing to the server
No waiting for webmaster to update pages
March 2009 Wiki Ward Cunningham developed the first wiki: WikiWikiWeb (1995), “ the simplest online database that could possibly work”.

Characteristics
Perpetual work in progress
No one owns the content
No specific organization (hyperlinks)
Anyone can edit other people’s work
Discussion area for each page
Version control: list of all changes made to a page
March 2009 Wiki

Definition of a wiki
A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.
A wiki is a collaboration tool – it enables documents to be written collaboratively.
March 2009 Wiki

Components March 2009 Wiki the wiki wiki page wiki page wiki page wiki page … user
view (read)
create (write)
update (edit)
links A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content...

Wiki Syntax March 2009 Wiki … using a simplified markup language Edit mode Output

Software Architecture March 2009 Wiki Application Server RDBS Web Server File System Web Browser web Iexplorer, Firefox,… e.g. MediaWiki IIS, Apache, … (+ extensions) e.g. MySql

Choosing a wiki: What to consider
Criteria
Cost (open source license)
Programming language (PHP, C#, Java)
Data backend (File system or DB)
Extensibility & user community
Features
WYSIWYG editing & Syntax
Version control & Discussions
Permissions & Security
March 2009 Wiki

Find dedicated helpers
Partner with groups/people related to your mission
Offer structural templates for new pages
Add some content to major categories
Do lots of marketing
If possible, offer training
March 2009 Wiki

Critical Success Factors
Only 10% contribute; only 1% on a regular basis.
Obey the characteristics of a wiki.
Power to the people
Trust the user
Authority to change something
Refuse defined structure
March 2009 Wiki

Characteristics
Perpetual work in progress
No one owns the content
No specific organization (hyperlinks)
Anyone can edit other people’s work
Discussion area for each page
Version control: list of all changes made to a page
March 2009 Wiki

http://www.mgitsolutions.com	27
http://www.michaelgaigg.com	27
http://mms.sites.fcps.org	4

Wiki - a comprehensive quick-guide

by Michael Gaigg on Aug 28, 2009

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Wiki - a comprehensive quick-guide — Presentation Transcript