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Other Uses for Wiki Software?
Posted by
Cliff
on Sat Jan 21, 2006 07:48 PM
from the unintended-applications-for-software dept.
from the unintended-applications-for-software dept.
CodeMonkey22 asks: "The much-discussed Wikipedia could be considered the quintessential definition of what Wiki software is capable of. More recently, however, a plethora of specialized reference websites, such as Wookieepedia (Star-Wars) and the Marvel Database (Marvel Comics), have popped up. This got me to thinking, are websites the only viable use for wiki software? Working in an IT department, the first alternative that came to my mind was an intranet knowledge-base. TWiki, for instance, touts itself as 'an Enterprise Collaboration Platform'. What other uses could take advantage of Wiki? What changes would be needed to make it more applicable in other areas of use?"
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Tech Support? (Score:3, Insightful)
Seems pretty sensible to me, even if it's a little overkill.
Re:Tech Support? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Tech Support? (Score:3, Informative)
Database Dictionaries (Score:2)
I'd been thinking that a wiki might be more useful than JavaDoc for providing the business analysts with a view of an implementation model. They just need to know what attributes are available and where to find them, not the implementation details. Maybe provide links to the corresponding JavaDoc details.
If you had a way to share filtered content between wikis, you could create a few aspects and let a user set a preferred default aspect. Other aspects would be available as cross-links between the wiki
Collaborative Writing (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Collaborative Writing (Score:2)
What we used was just the wikimedia software with a username/password infront of it.
Collaborative Documentation (Score:5, Interesting)
CVS, anyone? (Score:4, Interesting)
Modern wiki software is really just a subset of what any good repository offers (versioning, resolving conflicts, moving files around, etc.). The only difference is that they provide a nice LaTeX-like syntax and a pretty front-end with an on-the-fly interpreted syntax.
Really, LaTeX backed by CVS would give you many of the same features. The possiblities of a repository-backed work are virtually endless!
However, the front-end on Wikis make them extremely nice for collaboration on numerous distinct text-based documents. The inter-linking and (relatively) simple syntax allow users to focus on sharing their knowledge. I think the next step for Wikis would be WYSIWYG editing, to de-emphasize any kind of syntax at all. This would make them truely user-focused.
Re:CVS, anyone? (Score:3, Funny)
Oh well, if THAT's all....
Re:CVS, anyone? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:CVS, anyone? (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Documentation (Score:3, Interesting)
Lage corporations are great that way.
Re:Documentation (Score:2)
It's probably more that you IT director want to jump blindly head-long into something that will becoma an unsuportable monster.
Re:Documentation (Score:3, Interesting)
I never asked for advice. I just installed a wiki (which didn't need a database) in my account on a development box. Then maintained a quotes database, just for the fun of it. When other devs heard about it, it quickly gained speed and last thing I heard were the sysadmins. They had asked a manager and a teamleader if we could start using another wiki which came with Debian, so they could support it....
Re:Documentation (Score:4, Interesting)
If you start using it for yourself and incorporate stuff that your cow-orkers need, it will soon become an indispensible tool. If you really made the right choice to begin with, you will get the credit (sprinkle your name throughout the app and label yourself sysadmin, support etc so they remember who did it). If it sucks, they will hate you for turning it into the corporate standard.
Parent
TiddlyWiki (Score:5, Interesting)
It's obviously not for multi-user use but great for personal stuff.
Development (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:Development (Score:2)
From my experience Wiki syntax generally works well for webistes' CMS. Unlike JS-based WYSIWYG editors Wiki makes users think about text structure rather than just pretty colors and pictures.
Database-like table tools, for overgrown pages. (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been looking for a good table manipulation tool. Wiki tables like the HardwareComparison [seattlewireless.net] quickly grow out of control. A way to sort and filter records, show and hide columns, an define alternate views for tabular data, would be great.
I picture sort of a webmail-like interface. Perhaps the data shouldn't live in the wiki page at all, but in a real database back-end with the appropriate interface(s) for adding and editing records.
In some projects I work on, the bosses email a "tracker" spreadsheet back and forth, where each site has a row, and each stage or activity has a column. They sort and filter the spreadsheets to get a picture of progress. One challenge is getting the data in, since it comes from dozens of different field techs, shippers, other companies, and arbitrary other events. Another challenge is making sure everyone has the most updated version, since emailing a file around is effectively file-level locking, so no more than one person can be working at once.
A central store like a database, with web interfaces that any Excel weenie could use, would alleviate much of the trouble. A hybrid of spreadsheet functions, database query tools, and wiki-like markup, could be really powerful. Anyone know if such a thing might exist, or if such projects might be in the works?
Re:Database-like table tools, for overgrown pages. (Score:3, Informative)
JotSpot [jot.com] might be relevant to the discussion in general, as well. They do a lot of work with wikis. Are there any other web development companies out there doing stuff like this? I hope so, but I haven't run across any others yet.
[I'm not an employee or anything; I just
Movie scripts (Score:2)
ITIL (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyways, it's kinda pie-in-the-sky for me at the moment, but I'm convinced it will work, and cost considerably less than the commercial ITIL tools that suck
IT uses (Score:4, Informative)
-documentation on a project
-knowledge base for various IT stuff
-sharing various infos (guides, training stuff, etc)
Internal project tracking (Score:4, Insightful)
It has worked pretty well, and quite a few people in other departments have started using it too. It's a nice way to do "brain dumps" and record those things people tend to say in passing in the hall! I still have a few people that "forget" about it and call / barge into my office to ask a question. "Did you check the wiki?" standard response now!
Some wiki uses (Score:5, Interesting)
Agenda tool, (non-profit here, lots of meetings), you create an agenda wikipage for the next meeting, participants add or make changes to the topic list after the meeting the notetaker completes the page by ading in the outcomes and creates the next agenda page, not only do you have less paperwork you also have a building history that all can refer back to without hving to look up file names.
Staff directory - (assuming you don't have like AD or LDAP), includes addresses emails, etc. Changes are made on the spot and therefore most up to date.
Knowledgebase - either a replacment or an extension to the job procedure manuals, all staff can add into it and make changes as needed, as well as add content as special circumstances arise.
Documentor - if the apps are web based you can even program wiki links into your pages to the documentation (as well as link in your job procedures if on the same wiki) As program changes or as better instructions/definitions the documntation gets updated.
Project notes repository - self explanitory
Simple CMS - Keep the editing behind a password/access system but offer up the content as read-only to the public, opens the sirte for editing beyond just the webmaster.
I like the story board idea.
University project (Score:2, Interesting)
We talk, argue, link and plan on the pages. Our tutor has access and leaves daily comments, along with his own arguments and links. When we have something to hand it, we just let him know which page it is.
He can track who has done what, and how active we all have been, and since everything is dated, he can t
the D-word: documentation (Score:3, Informative)
Group Projects (Score:2)
Also, we're unofficially using it as a collaborative note-taking tool for class. Someone takes notes on their laptop during class, then posts them, and the other members go through them with corrections/additions.
So far it's working out rather well.
- shazow
Knowledge base and caveats (Score:3, Insightful)
Took you long enough. Anyway, the one thing lacking from Wikis in that area is group-page access control. TWiki is the only Wiki which claims to sort of have it, but also warns vigorously that it doesn't work securely.
The main criticism of the company Wiki I set up is that there is not an easy way to control access to different groups. Management doesn't want, for example, Marketing to have access to edit (or maybe even view) Accounting's wiki material. I've had to set up a parallel MW instance with restricted access in order to lock down some material, but I don't want to have to do that for all possible Wiki-using groups.
Unfortunately most Wikis are not developed with alternative uses in mind. MW development is notorious for not supporting or adding any feature not required by WP and its information-should-be-free philosophy. TWiki seems to specifically court that market, but they can't be that serious about it or they'd close the search hole [bcs-oops.org.uk].
Re:Knowledge base and caveats (Score:2)
Patches to add this feature (i.e. make search respect access controls) would be of interest to the development team (which I'm part of).
ZOPE has some of this (Score:2)
Are there any free hosts running Wiki? (Score:2)
Live Lecture Notes; alternative to the whiteboard (Score:3, Interesting)
Basically, wiki is so fast that one can create a fully functional and cross-referenced web site on the fly, while carrying out a discussion on the topic. This could be used as a lecturing tool and/or as a note-taking system.
Creativity Enhancement (Score:3, Interesting)
I won't post a link to it here, naturally.
CMS and database (Score:2)
intranet wiki (Score:2)
I head an IT department. Our internal wiki is gold; half of the answers I give out are along the lines of either "have you rebooted?" or "take a look at the wiki."
The development team and the sales team also use the wiki to a degree - it helps in collaboration and notes. Lots of people keep notes to themselves that would actually be quite useful to others in their department or even the whole
Photo/video gallery (Score:2)
Mediawiki (of wikipedia fame) lacks in two places when it comes to image galleries: First, there is no pager (i.e. first, previous, next, last, index). Second, uploading updates t
Congress needs a Wiki for Legislation! (Score:3, Interesting)
Then, I think that Wikis would make a wonderful forum for developing legislation. Especially those 400+ page variety bills that seem to contain all sorts of pork. Of course, modification of a Wiki page would be restricted to Congressman and their aids (hopefully not lobbyists..). State and local legislative wikis might also be useful.
Hyperlinking between chapters/portions of bills might make reading the bill easier and focus attention on poorly written parts.
Of course, for a Wiki to be useful, the debate has to be in the open and not in the proverbial "smoking room". O well!
Re: Congress needs a Wiki for Legislation! (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, they could make life easy for the legislators by providing templates such as -
{{pork|money for my district}}
{{drillANWR}} (for Ted Stevens personal use)
etc.
Home paging made simple (Score:2)
Dating and Social Networking (Score:2, Interesting)
A few months back I started up a Wiki to tie in people that use different dating and social networking sites. I also use it to quickly bookmark items I want to share with others, or have them do so likewise: the idea is not so much to be a "dating" site vs. a means of creating a social web.
http://www.wikidating.net [wikidating.net]
Unfortunately, the most activity I get currently, are the spambots. (history -> save -> co
May the ... (Score:2)
As a personal notetaker (Score:2)
The one I currently use is WikiPad [jhorman.org] a Windows-only app which doesn't use/need a webserver. It just allows me to add free form notes very quickly without structure, but automagically adds
Anonymous Gift Giving (Score:2)
Setting up (Score:2)
Living Help Document (Score:2)
Wikalong - Collaborative Annotation (Score:5, Interesting)
I just released a new version of Wikalong that is compatible with Firefox 1.5 last night.
Wikalong is a Firefox Extension that embeds a wiki in the Side Bar of your browser, indexed off the url of your current page. It is probably most simply described as a wiki-margin for the internet.
Wikalong [wikalong.org]Wiki Uses (Score:3, Interesting)
So a brief caveat here - I'm a bit biased as to the potential uses for wikis, since I started and run PBwiki [pbwiki.com] (which was developed at an all-night hackathon [superhappydevhouse.com], but that's another story). If you're interested, I also gave a talk at Xerox PARC about wikis [pbwiki.com].
I think pretty much any time you email out a Word document and ask several people for changes or edits, you're in need of a wiki. Any time there's a "Document Master" for a particular piece of information a la "Oh, Linda's in charge of the phone list, you should let her know you have a new number" or "Tell Jimmy what you're bringing to the potluck" or "Coach Z has the schedule for the softball season" -- those are ideal spots for wikis.
While many people do use wikis personally, as a sort of notepad-on-steroids, and others use wikis as a simple web page publication tool, the killer app for wikis is in letting groups speak as one and create their own little universes of knowledge. Sometimes this means collaborative fiction or Dungeons and Dragons and sometimes this means documenting your project plans or brainstorming your next company idea.
While wikis have been around for some time, they're only just now starting to cross the chasm from geekland to the leading edge of regular people. Wikipedia can take nearly all of the credit for that. But hopefully we'll now get some of the power that geeks have had by way of CVS and Subversion and put it in the hands of regular people to collaborate and coordinate their thoughts, hopes, and ideas. This has been a long time coming [google.com].
Apparently, they're great for open source projects (Score:3, Insightful)
Wiki technology must be great for open source project pages, or at least Novell thinks so... As best I can count, they have eight (or more) projects set up that either they manage, contribute to, or support using MediaWiki.
These are:
Mind you, these are all great sites, with good content. They seem to really be embracing the notion of community-driven projects, to the point of not only accepting community code, but also accepting additional community support though the use of Wiki for the websites and documentation. Take a browse through these sites, if you have time - they are full of great ideas on how to use a wiki.
Kudos to Novell for once again being innovative in open source. Give me even more hope for their future and for the success of SUSE Linux.
Re:More exotic (but simple) idea.... (Score:3, Interesting)
I can honestly say that Tomboy changed the way I work. And it's just a very simple note taking with wiki linking feature that runs in the sys tray and opens all pages inside a new window on your desktop.