User:Stewartadcock/notes

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Contents 1 An introduction to the wonderful world of WikiWikiWebs and one research group's experiences 1.1 Wiki - a powerful, community-based, collaborative editing environment 1.2 The McCammon group had an internal website 1.3 The "McWiki" 1.4 Many lessons

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] The "McWiki"

• Implemented using Zwiki.
• 

[edit] 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!