Wikis-

What, Why and How By

Sukhdev Singh

What is a wiki?

• a special type of website that can be edited by its readers.

Example of Wiki - Wikipedia

Key concepts of wikis

• Different wikis look different– formatting may differ

• Basic concepts of wikis are:– fast editing– collaborative– retains previous edits

A wiki is not just for Wikipedia

Other uses of a wiki

• Project management. Assign tasks, make a timeline, add notes, paste images and other media.

• Operations manuals. Things change so quickly these days that a printed version of a manual is outdated as soon as it’s printed and distributed.

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• Checklists, Notes, Snippets and To-do lists. Put it on your wiki.

• Plan an event. Conferences, seminars, off-site meetings, parties … events of all kinds have been planned with wikis, Multiple people can access the plans, you can create different sections for different planning areas, create checklists, add notes, ideas, images, contact info, and much more.

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• FAQs. If you get a lot of questions about your work, or product, or just about yourself personally, you can keep an ever-growing FAQ to prevent having to repeat your answers too many times. Then just point people to your FAQ url.

Collaboration

• Collaboration. – Wiki was originally used for collaboration in

technical fields (programmers). – You can work on a project or even just one

document with another person or group of people or the entire Internet.

– Changes are made and tracked, and you can revert to previous versions if necessary.

Knowledgebases

• Wiki for knowledgebase– Content is keyword searchable– Content can be organized by category to allow

easy browsing– Anyone can add/edit/read content regardless of

location– RSS feeds available for new edits

Let us have a walk through a wiki

Let us choose a hosted service for our walk

• all you need is an email address and Internet Connectivity

• Pbwiki – a Freemium wiki • http://pbwiki.com/

Wiki Software

• Now you’re ready to pick a wiki!• So many out there… how to choose?• Wiki Matrix– http://www.wikimatrix.org/ – compare wiki features

Self-Hosted vs. Hosted Service

• Self hosted:– software is installed on a server computer at your

location

• Hosted Service:– software is accessed online– does not involve local servers

Self-Hosted

• Positives:– more control/customization of wiki

• Negatives– may have system requirements (Apache, MySQL)– will likely require some software installation

experience– may require some programming experience (PHP,

Java)

• Some popular choices: MediaWiki, PhpWiki

Hosted Service

• Positives:– no software experience needed– very quick set-up

• Negatives:– less control over wiki– usually charged a fee for this service

• Some popular choices: PBwiki, SeedWiki

Related Resources• http://www.opal-online.org/5weeksBoeninger_files/frame.htm • http://www.opal-online.org/5weeksHoffman_files/frame.htm• http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki • http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/week3#intro • http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/courses/wiki/• http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm

THANK YOU