Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Wikipedia like psub building wiki

[Jon Wallace <jonw@psubs.org>]

Alex,

I also considered wiki's for PSUBS.ORG and have been playing with 
numerous wiki's for some time since we need to get our FAQ page up to 
date and more manageable.  The problem with open wiki's is:

1) They are difficult to customize for a particular look and feel.
2) They require special notation for formatting, links, photos, etc.
3) There is no control of content, accuracy, or accountability.  Anyone 
can write anything they want.

Originally designed for team collaboration on documentation editing, 
it's purpose on the web has been essentially as an over-glorified 
traditional FAQ.  The most effective FAQ for PSUBS is one that promotes 
community participation.  Unfortunately, a large number of people will 
not understand the special notation required for customizing a wiki 
page.  While text can just be entered without special notation, so can a 
traditional FAQ without the overhead or maintenance of a traditional wiki.

For a group like PSUBS.ORG, accuracy of content and restricting access 
from trolls and troublemakers who might jeopardize content accuracy is 
paramount. Unable to find wiki software that suited our special 
requirements, I simply wrote my own.  I have not announced it yet 
because I was waiting until I finished copying content from the existing 
FAQ to the new WikiFAQ (which I think is exactly what I will call it).  
However, you can view the limited existing content at 
http://www.psubs.org/faq/.  I can even supply a separate SEARCH for the 
FAQ's only.  I have not decided whether to keep the answer section in a 
separate pane, or pop it out into it's own window.

I'm still willing to entertain a traditional wiki if the three issues 
listed above can be handled.  It's not a problem for people who are use 
to writing software code, but anyone who doesn't know how (or does not 
want to know how) to write HTML pages is likely not going to be 
interested in writing wiki pages either.

As always, we are open to further discussion and ideas on this issue.

Jon





Alex wrote:
> On the minisubs list someone suggested a sub building wiki. I thought this was
> a good idea. How does everyone here feel about this idea?
>
> I installed wikimedia here to see what it can do. It's just like wikipedia
> except it doesn't have any pages yet. You can get on it here if you like:
>
> ** http://nomad.ignorelist.com/wiki/ **
>
> Feel free to go on it and experiment with any of the features there and create
> a page or something so you can get an idea as to whether it is the kind of
> thing that could be made in to a useful psub resource. Remember anyone can
> edit, and anyone can undo the changes and fix it back, just like wikipedia.
>
> Alex
>
>   




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