WIKI: Grow Your Own for Fun and Profit

WIKI

Table of Contents

Foreword1. The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem: You are Addicted to Software2. The Wonderful World of WikisPreface1. A Brief History of Collaboration1. Introduction1.1. What Can You Expect from This Book?1.2. What is a Wiki and Why Should I Care?1.3. Why the Model of a Static Web is Flawed1.4. Aren’t Wikis Inaccurate?1.5. Where Do Wikis Fit with Web 2.0?1.6. Why Would You Need to Use a Wiki?1.7. Remembering the Alamo1.7.1. Planning – Team collaboration1.7.2. Collecting historical data – Open to contributions from outside experts1.7.3. Drafting and reviewing material1.7.4. Collecting document scans and images for exhibits1.7.5. Planning floor space1.7.6. Directory for team, county officials, local media1.7.7. Easy transfer of information to county website1.7.8. Supplementary information for event attendees1.7.9. A playbook to help organize next year’s event1.7.10. Allow year-round contributions of ideas rather than a short sprint.1.7.11. Fewer meetings and no email trials. 1.7.12. Post-event marketing.1.8. Today’s Business Challenges1.9. Doing it Ourselves2. Defining the Wiki2.1. What is a Wiki Anyway?2.1.1. Wiki markup 2.1.2. Content management2.1.3. Navigation2.2. The Growth of Wikis2.3. What are Wikis Used For?2.3.1. For individuals2.3.2. Small groups2.3.3. Special interest groups2.3.4. Company internal2.3.5. Website replacement2.3.6. Large open groups3. Planting The Seed – Think Before You Implement3.1. Building the Seed Team3.2. Seed Questions3.2.1. What business issue will the wiki resolve?3.2.2. How will you measure success?3.2.3. What is the expected return on investment?3.2.4. Where will the content come from?3.2.5. Who will use the wiki initially?3.2.6. Who will use the wiki in the future?3.2.7. Who will own the wiki?3.2.8. Where will the wiki be hosted?3.2.9. Which wiki should I use?3.2.10. What controls will I need?3.3. Why Use a Wiki?3.3.1. The good3.3.2. The bad3.4. Selecting the Right Wiki4. Nurturing the Seedlings4.1. Finding the Initial Information for Your Wiki4.2. Selecting Information to Seed the Wiki4.3. Importing Information into the Wiki4.4. Wiki Markup4.5. Creating the Initial Navigation and Hierarchies4.5.1. How a new generation navigates4.6. Design for the Culture, not the Process4.7. Social Reinforcement4.8. Setting Expectations for Participation5. First Growth5.1. Structure or Chaos?5.2. Wikis are Content-driven, not Layout-driven5.3. First Steps – Personal vs. Company Approach 5.4. Sustaining Growth – Encourage, Don’t Mandate5.5. Don’t Let Go – Keep Reminding Them6. Maintaining the Garden6.1. Identifying the Gardener6.2. The Gardener’s Tasks 6.3. Scheduled Maintenance6.3.1. Daily6.3.2. Weekly6.3.3. Monthly6.3.4. Quarterly6.4. Developing a Sense of Ownership7. Landscaping7.1. When to Start Landscaping7.2. Recognizing and Exploiting Wikipatterns7.3. Ownership and Control7.4. Reorganizing Content7.5. Redesign is Inevitable – Be Prepared8. Organic Growth8.1. Cross-Fertilization8.2. Single Login 8.3. Cross Linking8.4. Community Gardening8.5. Building Community8.5.1. Points systems8.5.2. MVP programs 8.5.3. Spotlight articles8.6. Reaching Critical Mass9. Harvesting the Information9.1. User-Generated Content9.2. The Myth of Inaccuracy9.3. Defining User-Generated Content.9.4. Managing the New Content9.5. Managing Content Ownership 9.6. Incorporating Feedback9.7. Publishing to the Wiki from Other Sources9.8. Round-Tripping9.9. Publishing from a Wiki10. A Cornucopia of Content10.1. Ongoing Maintenance10.1.1. Archival10.1.2. Periodic10.1.3. Continuous10.2. So What About the Fun & Profit?10.3. A Final Stroll Around the GardenA. Case Study 1: A Wiki-Driven CompanyA.1. The WebWorks WikisA.1.1. Inner wikiA.1.2. Help Center wikiA.1.3. Conference wikiA.1.4. Services wikiA.1.5. Documentation wikiB. Case Study 2: Building an International CommunityC. Case Study 3: Meeting a Specific Business NeedD. Case Study 4: Wiki Document Content StrategyE. Case Study 5: A Wiki Workflow for PublishingF. Appendix A: 10 Questions – A ChecklistF.1. 1. What Business Issue Will the Wiki Resolve?F.2. 2. How Will You Measure Success?F.3. 3. What is the Expected Return on Investment?F.4. 4. Where Will the Content Come From?F.5. 5. Who Will Use the Wiki Initially?F.6. 6. Who Will Use the Wiki in the Future?F.7. 7. Who Will Own the Wiki?F.8. 8. Where Will the Wiki be Hosted?F.9. 9. Which Wiki Should I Use?F.10. 10. What Controls Will I Need?G. Appendix B: Common Barriers to AdoptionG.1. Cultural BarriersG.1.1. We tried one once and no one used itG.1.2. The cost/benefit ratio is too highG.1.3. I’m too busy doing actual work to try anything newG.1.4. It’s overwhelming, and I don’t know where to startG.1.5. If my management doesn’t care, why should I?G.1.6. It won’t be accurateG.1.7. I prefer meetingsG.2. Technical BarriersG.2.1. I need to learn a markup languageG.2.2. Search doesn’t workG.2.3. It’s a black holeG.2.4. It isn’t like (name your favorite application here)G.2.5. It’s a security nightmareH. Appendix C: Anyone Can Edit: Myth vs. RealityH.1. ControlH.2. VandalismH.3. Devalued ContentI. Appendix D: Notes on Popular WikisI.1. ConfluenceI.2. DokuWikiI.3. MediaWikiI.4. MindTouchI.5. MoinMoinI.6. MyWikiI.7. PBworksI.8. ProjectForumI.9. TiddlyWikiI.10. TikiWIkiI.11. TracResourcesJ. AcknowledgmentsIndexK. Copyright and Legal Notices

WIKI

Grow Your Own for Fun and Profit

Alan J. Porter

Foreword

I’m no Lone Ranger. But, I am The Content Wrangler. As a content strategist, I help organizations create, manage, and deliver the information they use to run their businesses, something most organizations are ill-prepared to do, at least not efficiently or effectively. Don’t get me wrong, not every firm misses the mark. Some organizations do it right. But, chances are, your organization doesn’t.

Don’t be offended. That’s not meant as an insult. Wrangling content is tricky proposition for most. It’s a discipline, informed by years of information engineering research, made possible by an increasingly powerful array of software tools and guided by business decisions based on science and mathematics.

Most organizations have yet to master the art of content wrangling, let alone see the value in streamlining their content life cycle. But, it doesn’t have to be this way. By taking time to examine how you do things today, you can find ways to improve the way you create, manage, and deliver information, too.

1. The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem: You are Addicted to Software

The first step, as 12 step programs have touted for decades, is to admit you have a problem. Most organizations go about tackling content challenges by starting from the wrong vantage point. They don’t start with the problem, they start by jumping toward what they believe is the solution – software. It’s only natural. We’ve been programmed to think that software solves problems, when in reality, software introduces as many problems as it helps us to solve ... especially, when you select the wrong software tool for the job.

Avoiding the tool trap is easy. The first step is to admit you are addicted to software and that your addiction, like all addictions, can cause you to make decisions that may have very negative consequences. Don’t allow yourself to start talking about software tools until you understand what your real challenges are. What problems are you trying to solve? Why are they problems? What do those problems cost your organization? And, what are you willing to do to make those problems go away?

Once you’ve identified what you think your problems are and what you’re willing to do to solve them, it’s time to start looking at the way that you do things today – your content life cycle. At a high level you are going to examine how you create, manage and deliver content.

More specifically, you will look for the things that slow you down and that impede your productivity. Are the manual tasks you perform today necessary or could they be automated? What roles and responsibilities will be different if you change the way you do things? What training will be required? How will these changes impact others who need access to your content? What people, processes, and systems rely on your content?

By understanding how you work today, you’ll be able to build a model for how you would like to work tomorrow. And, once you know what your problems are, what you are willing to do to solve them, what your perfect solution looks like, and what changes will need to take place, you’re ready to start talking about software tools.

Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

August 28, 2010,

Palm Springs, CA      

2. The Wonderful World of Wikis

Wikis are one of the most powerful content production tools to be introduced in the Internet age. They can be configured to help you tackle all sorts of content challenges – managing simple authoring projects, implementing complex content collaboration projects, building customer support portals, and running large scale online communities. The possibilities are endless and limited only by your imagination and your willingness to think differently.

Use this book as a starting point for understanding wikis – what they are, how they work, and how others are using them to solve all sorts of content challenges. Wiki-master Alan Porter has provided you with everything you’ll need to know to determine if a wiki might help you solve your content problems and, perhaps more importantly, whether a wiki will be a good fit for your organization.

Preface

A wiki is more than just software for enabling

multiple people to edit Web sites. It is a metaphor

for a new era of collaboration and participation.

— Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams [Tapscott06]

1. A Brief History of Collaboration

As the title suggests, this book is mainly about how to implement, use, and grow a wiki; but as the above quote makes clear, wiki technology is about more than just software; it’s first and foremost about collaboration. To truly appreciate the potential for wikis, and how they can change the way we interact and share knowledge, we need a good understanding of what we mean by collaboration.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists several definitions for the word collaboration; however it is the first listed, and most common usage, that is perhaps the most appropriate here.

col·lab·o·ra·tion \noun\

1: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor.

Wikis are the epitome of a shared intellectual pursuit, as they promote a community of individuals who share an interest or a goal (sometimes both), and where sharing knowledge is central to achieving a desired result.

In his book Wikipatterns[Mader07], wiki evangelist Stewart Mader suggests that There is a special magic that happens when people collaborate. Collaboration touches on our human nature in a way that is easily felt but not so easily explained.

I am writing this introduction in my local coffee shop, and just as I finished typing the quote above, a Beatles tune started to play over the store’s sound system. Is there any greater example of the benefits of collaboration than the Fab Four? One of the things I came to realize several years ago while researching the book I wrote on the Beatles’ teenage years (Before They Were Beatles[Porter03]), was that while collaboration between a group of people can produce great results, collaboration between particular individuals can produce remarkable results.

The band that became The Beatles went through numerous line up changes in the first six years of its existence, growing from schoolboy band to the best rock-and-roll band in Liverpool. Yet it was only when Ringo Starr and producer George Martin were added to the existing mix of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, that they rocketed from local boys made good to an international phenomenon that changed a generation.

The ability and desire to collaborate is fundamental to the human condition. It was through working together that early humans developed into tribes of hunter-gatherers, and then built communities with shared dwellings and shared infrastructure. Without the drive to collaborate and learn from each other, we wouldn’t be the dominant species on this planet.

As Stewart Mader points out, collaboration is a part of human nature. He says that, "when groups work together to find the best way to get a job done, the high quality of work is sustainable because they’re finding the best about themselves, combining individual complimentary strengths and talents, and refining their methods at a very high level. Because they control how they work, people are more self-reflective,