WIKIS AND YOUR BUSINESSLearn how to implement Wikis into your business.

All links can be found at:

http://del.icio.us/westervillelibrary/wikis

WHAT IS A WIKI?

A wiki is a website that anyone can easily create and edit.

No special tools or computer languages are required.

Recent changes can (usually) be seen.

“Wikis in Plain English” from the Common Craft Show http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english

WHY WIKI?

Unclog your email. Facilitate creation. Ease group projects. Encourages remote users. Provide easy access to information.

WIKIPEDIA (www.wikipedia.org)

The most famous Wiki. As of April 2008, has over 10 million articles

in 253 languages. All articles written by volunteers. Requires editors to create account (register). Uses MediaWiki. New project – Citizendium

WIKITORIALS

Los Angeles Times Experiment – June 2005 Lasted 3 days. Goal: Encourage readers to rewrite the

paper’s editorials. What happened? Site was flooded with

obscene messages and images.

FEATURES Edit Search History Navigation Links Attach documents Upload media files

SNAPSHOT OF A WIKI

Navigation

Search

Edit & History Tabs Log in/out

SNAPSHOT OF A WIKI (EDIT FUNCTION)

“WYSIWYG” Editor

Save changes!

SNAPSHOT OF A WIKI (HISTORY FUNCTION)

2 recent edits

Rollback changes

EDITING

2 forms of Wiki editing. WYSIWYG or wikitext.

EDITING – WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG = What You See Is What You Get

Using this form of editing, the user is offered a toolbar to complete any markup, such as “bold” or “italics”. This is similar to word processing.

EDITING – WIKITEXT

Wikitext is a markup language (similar to HTML).

Pro: Easy to learn. Con: Not consistent

across Wikis.

Example from MediaWiki:What you type:

You can ''italicize text'' by putting 2 apostrophes on each side.

3 apostrophes will '''bold the text'''.

5 apostrophes will '''bold''' and ''italicize'' '''''the text'''''.

What you see:

You can italicize text by putting 2 apostrophes on each side.

3 apostrophes will bold the text. 5 apostrophes will bold and

italicize the text.

SECURITY

Public – Anyone can view and edit. Protected – Anyone can view, but only

members can edit. Private – Only members can view or edit.

Community – Change PatrolAdvanced Features – Email notification, RSS

Feeds, etc.

COMMUNITY

The community can play many important roles related to a wiki. They contribute to the culture and shared knowledge.

They can be: Authors Users Security Marketing Critics

WIKI ETIQUETTE OR WIKIQUETTE

Be bold! Make changes! Make notes to explain changes. Be prepared to explain your changes. Be polite. Don’t take things personally. Stay on topic. Don’t delete useful content. Provide citations.

CHOOSING A WIKI

Hosted vs. Installed Wikis

CHOOSING A WIKI - HOSTED

Definition: A wiki that is installed on a public server and administered for the users. Offers templates.

Considerations: Ease of set-up. User invitations & limits. Storage space. Public, protected or private ($). Page protection. Cost. Customization. Data export capabilities.

CHOOSING A WIKI - INSTALLED

Definition: A wiki that is installed on a private server and administered by the users/organization. More customizable.

Considerations: Skill level of users. Number of contributors and viewers. Needed security level. Potential size of wiki. Level of automation needed. Technical expertise available. Desire to be a wiki champion.

CHOOSING A WIKI – HELP! WikiMatrix –

Compare Them All

Allows you to select criteria and compare wikis side by side.

Free service.

http://www.wikimatrix.org/

PBWIKI (http://pbwiki.com)

MEDIAWIKI (www.mediawiki.org)

GOOGLE SITES (www.google.com/sites)

Another Common Craft Video: www.commoncraft.com/wetpaint

WETPAINT (www.wetpaint.com)

BUSINESS USES

Reduce Email – Create one wiki entry instead of sending an email to all staff/customers.

Shared Repository – Information can be stored on the wiki instead of in a desk drawer or in someone’s email account.

Knowledge Management – As staff change, information is located in a centralized location.

Training – Centralized information makes it easier to train staff.

BUSINESS USES

Company or Department Intranet – Less complicated than a traditional intranet. Needs less IT assistance.

Web Publishing – Online and easily updated for staff or customers.

Simple Databases – Easily sorted and seen by the user community.

Shared Spreadsheets & DocumentsSave Money – Possibly replace other

costly programs.

WHEN NOT TO WIKI…

Community authorship is not appropriate. Greater control over the visual layout is

desired. The content will not change often. The content is timely and then obsolete

(consider a blog.) Concerns over privacy (copyright, trade

secrets, etc.) cannot be addressed by private settings on a wiki.

There is no one to monitor/maintain the wiki.

QUESTIONS?

Presented by Kristin7/2/08

Westerville Public Library

Presentation can be found at: www.slideshare.net/westervillelibrary

All links can be found at:http://del.icio.us/westervillelibrary/wikis