User:Stewartadcock/notes

An introduction to the wonderful world of WikiWikiWebs and one research group's experiences
Or, a short Wiki case-study

See also: An associated article

Wiki - a powerful, community-based, collaborative editing environment

 * enables documents to be authored collectively using a web browser
 * e.g. Wikipedia
 * the world's largest encyclopedia.
 * Alexa traffic data for Wikipedia


 * Freely editable.
 * e.g. Tessella (company)


 * Auditable history
 * e.g. Page history

The McCammon group had an internal website

 * awkward to maintain content.
 * Hand-crafted HTML.
 * Non-standard Apache configuration.
 * "Secret" passwords.


 * progressively more out-dated content.

The "McWiki"

 * Implemented using Zwiki.
 * [[Image:Mcwiki_front_fullsize.gif|200px]]

Many lessons

 * Good...
 * Easily maintained contact information
 * Constantly maintained HOWTO and FAQ documents.
 * A collaborative forum.
 * Interactive documents.
 * Auditable history.


 * ...and bad (but not so many!)
 * slight learning curve (more behavioural than technical)
 * no formal editorial or peer-review process
 * poor medium for discussions and debates
 * addictive!