Details

<p>Foreword xvii</p> <p>Introduction 1</p> <p><b>Part I: Introducing Wikis 7</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 1: Understanding Wikis: From Ward’s Brain to Your Browser 9</b></p> <p>Finding Your Way to Wikis 10</p> <p>What makes a wiki a wiki 11</p> <p>Comparing wikis and other communication tools 13</p> <p>The (almost) formal definition of a wiki 14</p> <p>You, Too, Can Wiki 16</p> <p>Starting your wiki engines 16</p> <p>Creating your first wiki page 17</p> <p>Putting Wikis to Work 21</p> <p>Who are wiki people? 21</p> <p>The lifecycle of wiki people 22</p> <p>Herding a small group with wikis 23</p> <p>Wide-body wikis for your company 23</p> <p>Going public with your wiki 24</p> <p>The History and Future of Wikis 24</p> <p>HyperCard and other wiki precursors 24</p> <p>Ward’s challenge 25</p> <p>Ward’s solution 25</p> <p>The not-so-overnight success of wikis 26</p> <p>Hosted wikis open the door to everyone 29</p> <p>Where wikis will go 30</p> <p><b>Chapter 2: Contributing Content to a Wiki 31</b></p> <p>Basic Wiki Skills 32</p> <p>Navigating wiki webs 32</p> <p>Editing and creating wiki pages 38</p> <p>Linking wiki pages 44</p> <p>Attaching Documents to Wiki Pages 49</p> <p>Printing Wiki Pages 51</p> <p>Tracking Versions and Changes 51</p> <p>How versions keep wikis safe 51</p> <p>Tracking changes in a wiki 52</p> <p><b>Chapter 3: The Thousand Problem-Solving Faces of Wikis 55</b></p> <p>The Many Categories of Wikis 56</p> <p>Content-Focused Wikis: The Goldmine of Shared Content 57</p> <p>Doing research with reference wikis 57</p> <p>Sharpening skills with hobbyist wikis 60</p> <p>Going around the world with travel wikis 62</p> <p>Finding technical documentation wikis 64</p> <p>Process-Focused Wikis: A Shared Space for a Shared Mission 65</p> <p>Managing projects and productivity with wikis 66</p> <p>Getting the job done with task-oriented wikis 66</p> <p>Making it happen with advocacy wikis 70</p> <p>Finding educational wikis for students and teachers 72</p> <p>Community Wikis: Exploring Common Bonds 73</p> <p>Goofing off with entertainment wikis 75</p> <p>Hanging around at clubhouse wikis 76</p> <p>Getting nerdy with technology wikis 77</p> <p>Ease-of-Use Wikis: Web Site Creation Made Easy 77</p> <p>Creating small business brochure wikis 78</p> <p>Making connections with personal and family wikis 78</p> <p>Hunting for More Wikis 79</p> <p><b>Chapter 4: Using and Improving the 800-pound Gorilla of Wikis: Wikipedia 81</b></p> <p>Understanding How Wikipedia Works 82</p> <p>Run by volunteers 84</p> <p>Editing Wikipedia entries 85</p> <p>Dressing up your Wikipedia entries 86</p> <p>Previewing and saving your changes 87</p> <p>Linking pages and Web sites in Wikipedia 88</p> <p>What Wikipedia Can Do For You 90</p> <p>Using Wikipedia as a research tool 90</p> <p>Is Wikipedia reliable? 91</p> <p>Sharing your knowledge on Wikipedia 92</p> <p><b>Part II: Making Your Own Wiki 95</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 5: Finding a Hosted Home for Your Wiki 97</b></p> <p>Choosing the Right Hosted Wiki 98</p> <p>Exploring hosted wikis 99</p> <p>Ease-of-use wikis 102</p> <p>Community wikis 102</p> <p>Process-focused wikis 103</p> <p>Content-focused wikis 103</p> <p>Creating a Hosted Wiki with WikiSpaces 104</p> <p>Creating pages 107</p> <p>Editing pages 108</p> <p>Linking pages 109</p> <p>Protecting pages and wikis 110</p> <p>Inviting others to your wiki 112</p> <p>Changing the look, feel, and design of a wiki 113</p> <p>Adding images, video, and other widgets to a wiki 115</p> <p>Adding premium services and advertising 115</p> <p><b>Chapter 6: Creating Content for Your Wiki 117</b></p> <p>Applying Markup as Content Makeup 118</p> <p>Editing Pages with Wiki Markup 118</p> <p>Creating hierarchy with headings 120</p> <p>Inserting bullets 121</p> <p>Building tables 122</p> <p>Formatting text 123</p> <p>Controlling Layout and Formatting with HTML 125</p> <p>Choosing Wiki Page Modes 126</p> <p>Using document mode 128</p> <p>Implementing thread mode pages 129</p> <p>Using structured mode 130</p> <p><b>Chapter 7: Linking, Categorizing, and Tagging Wiki Pages 131</b></p> <p>Linking Wiki Pages 132</p> <p>Linking WikiWords automatically 132</p> <p>Preventing false WikiWord links 133</p> <p>Free linking 134</p> <p>Creating pages using links 135</p> <p>Giving life to stubs 136</p> <p>Viewing all links to a page 137</p> <p>Renaming all links in a web 138</p> <p>Linking Outside Your Wiki 139</p> <p>Linking URLs 139</p> <p>Linking between wikis using Interwiki names 140</p> <p>Linking to other webs and namespaces 141</p> <p>Linking to Files, Images, and Multimedia 141</p> <p>Uploading attachments 142</p> <p>Linking to file attachments 144</p> <p>Inserting images 145</p> <p>Linking to multimedia 147</p> <p>Categorizing and Tagging Pages 148</p> <p>Using MediaWiki categories 148</p> <p>Tagging content 149</p> <p><b>Chapter 8: The Four Dimensions of Wiki Design 151</b></p> <p>Architecting the Information in Your Wiki 152</p> <p>Understanding wiki taxonomy 152</p> <p>Surveying common wiki taxonomies 154</p> <p>Linking in patterns 157</p> <p>What’s in a page name? 158</p> <p>Plotting Navigational Paths through Your Wiki 159</p> <p>Designing the front page 159</p> <p>Designing section pages 162</p> <p>Categorizing pages 163</p> <p>Planning headers, footers, and left-hand navigation 165</p> <p>Adding supporting pages to your wiki 169</p> <p>Using Templates to Design Content Pages 169</p> <p>Adding Visual Panache to Your Wiki 172</p> <p>Using themes and skins 173</p> <p>Choosing color 174</p> <p>Personalizing wikis with logos 175</p> <p><b>Part III: Promoting, Managing, and Improving Your Wiki 177</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 9: Attracting Users to Your Wiki 179</b></p> <p>Wiki Don’ts 180</p> <p>Don’t confuse your audience 180</p> <p>Don’t fire and forget 180</p> <p>Don’t spam 181</p> <p>Don’t get the Field of Dreams syndrome 181</p> <p>Don’t overdesign 182</p> <p>Don’t overmanage 182</p> <p>Don’t go on wiki suicide missions 182</p> <p>Wiki Do’s 183</p> <p>Seed your wiki 183</p> <p>Remove barriers 184</p> <p>Encourage wiki-users to be bold 185</p> <p>Starting a Community Wiki 185</p> <p>Focus the wiki 186</p> <p>Advertise the wiki 186</p> <p>Assist the wiki 186</p> <p>Promoting Wikis in the Office 187</p> <p>Living with Wiki Life Cycles 188</p> <p>Deploying the wiki 188</p> <p>Growing your wiki 189</p> <p>Taming large wikis 189</p> <p>Ending a wiki’s life 190</p> <p><b>Chapter 10: Choosing an Installed Wiki Engine 191</b></p> <p>Evaluating Basic Wiki Groups 192</p> <p>Assessing Your Wiki Requirements 194</p> <p>The skill level of the user population 194</p> <p>The number of people who will add content 194</p> <p>The number of people who will view the content 195</p> <p>The wiki’s security level 195</p> <p>The wiki’s potential size 196</p> <p>Whether you need automation 196</p> <p>Your technical expertise level 197</p> <p>Your willingness to become a wiki champion 197</p> <p>Comparing Wiki Engines  197</p> <p>Making the safe choice 198</p> <p>Exploring the WikiMatrix 199</p> <p>Going on a Wiki Walkabout 202</p> <p>Points to ponder on your wiki walkabout 204</p> <p>XWiki walkabout 204</p> <p>MoinMoin walkabout 205</p> <p>TWiki walkabout 206</p> <p>MediaWiki walkabout 207</p> <p>DokuWiki walkabout 207</p> <p><b>Chapter 11: Getting Your Wiki Engine Up and Running 209</b></p> <p>Finding a Home for Your Wiki 210</p> <p>Hosting on a shared or dedicated server 210</p> <p>Hosting inside your organization 211</p> <p>Contracting all-in-one hosting and consulting 211</p> <p>Finding an Internet Mechanic 212</p> <p>Starting Your Wiki Engine 215</p> <p>Meeting system requirements 215</p> <p>Finding installation help 218</p> <p>Downloading and unpacking binaries 219</p> <p>Connecting to the Web server 220</p> <p>Running the configure script 221</p> <p><b>Chapter 12: Managing Wikis 225</b></p> <p>Wiki Maintenance: Pruning, Training, and Making Changes 226</p> <p>Deciding what to cut and what to keep 227</p> <p>Training your troops 228</p> <p>Rolling back changes 231</p> <p>Avoiding wiki spam 233</p> <p>Refactoring your wiki 233</p> <p>Grinding through Routine Administrative Tasks 235</p> <p>Daily tasks 236</p> <p>Weekly tasks 236</p> <p>Monthly tasks 236</p> <p>Yearly tasks 237</p> <p><b>Chapter 13: Protecting Your Wiki 239</b></p> <p>Evaluating Threats to Your Wiki 240</p> <p>Vandalism 240</p> <p>Passion.240</p> <p>Enthusiasm 242</p> <p>Mistakes 242</p> <p>System failure 243</p> <p>Running Your Own Change Patrol 243</p> <p>Rolling back changes 243</p> <p>Tracking recent changes 247</p> <p>Controlling Editing Access 249</p> <p>Preparing for Disaster 250</p> <p>Backing up your wiki 251</p> <p>Finding a new home for your wiki 252</p> <p><b>Chapter 14: Creating Applications Using Structured Wikis 253</b></p> <p>Reviewing Structured Wiki Basics 254</p> <p>To structure or not: That is the question 254</p> <p>Using wiki variables 255</p> <p>Performing functions with variables 256</p> <p>Some favorites from the wiki variables vault 257</p> <p>Searching Your Wiki 259</p> <p>Templating Your Wiki 260</p> <p>Creating a base topic 261</p> <p>Creating a basic template 261</p> <p>Making new pages from templates 262</p> <p>Finding pages created from a template 263</p> <p>Simplifying page creation 264</p> <p>Adding Forms to Your Wiki 265</p> <p>Creating a database home page 266</p> <p>Defining a form 266</p> <p>Enabling a form 268</p> <p>Creating a template topic 268</p> <p>Adding a form to the template topic 270</p> <p>Building an HTML form for topic creation 270</p> <p>Building a formatted topic list 272</p> <p>Improving the topic list 273</p> <p>Adding Wiki Plug-Ins 275</p> <p>CommentPlugin 276</p> <p>SpreadSheetPlugin 276</p> <p>EditTablePlugin 277</p> <p>InterwikiPlugin 278</p> <p>TWikiDrawPlugin 278</p> <p>Finding more plug-ins 279</p> <p><b>Part IV: The Part of Tens 281</b></p> <p><b>Chapter 15: Ten Essential Wiki Attitudes 283</b></p> <p>Shared Authorship 283</p> <p>Easier Is Better 284</p> <p>Throw It Up There 284</p> <p>Unfinished Is Okay 284</p> <p>Bold Is Beautiful 284</p> <p>Set an Example 285</p> <p>Let It Happen 285</p> <p>Structure Can Wait 285</p> <p>We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Rules 286</p> <p>Follow the Community 286</p> <p><b>Chapter 16: Ten Roles People Play When Using Wikis 287</b></p> <p>Reader/Researcher 287</p> <p>Contributor 288</p> <p>Evangelist 288</p> <p>Editorial Quality Maven 288</p> <p>Administrator 289</p> <p>Operations and Hosting Engineer 289</p> <p>Wiki Engine Developer 289</p> <p>Policy and Process Contributor 289</p> <p>Critic 290</p> <p>Champion/Founder 290</p> <p><b>Chapter 17: Ten Ways How Wikis Work at the Office 291</b></p> <p>Shared Repository 292</p> <p>Reducing “To All” E-Mail 292</p> <p>Simple Databases 293</p> <p>Knowledge Management 293</p> <p>Training 294</p> <p>Intranet 294</p> <p>Web Publishing 294</p> <p>User Documentation 295</p> <p>Shared Spreadsheets 295</p> <p>Project Management 295</p> <p><b>Chapter 18: Ten Innovative Wikis 297</b></p> <p>TiddlyWiki 297</p> <p>Wetpaint 298</p> <p>Central Desktop 298</p> <p>StikiPad 299</p> <p>wikiCalc 299</p> <p>WikiTree 300</p> <p>WikiTimeScale 300</p> <p>Swicki 301</p> <p>Kwiki 302</p> <p>FlexWiki 302</p> <p>Index 303</p>

<p>Dan Woods, an early adopter of wikis, has built technology for companies ranging from Time, Inc. to TheStreet.com and has written many books about technology. Peter Thoeny, the founder of TWiki, invented the concept of structured wikis and is a recognized thought-leader in social software and wikis at the workplace.</p>

<p>Create content, link pages and webs, and grow your wiki</p> <p>Set up your own wiki for personal or business use</p> <p>So you want to wiki? This friendly guide gets you up and running in the wiki world in no time, from creating and editing wiki pages and going public to handling maintenance, promotion, and project management. You'll see how to handle the hurdles of shared authorship, use structured wiki applications, and prepare for the wikis of the future.</p> <ul> <li>Create your first hosted wiki</li> <li> <p>Invite others to your wiki</p> </li> <li> <p>Add images, video, and other widgets</p> </li> <li> <p>Use a wiki in your business</p> </li> <li> <p>Choose your wiki engine</p> </li> <li> <p>Secure your wiki</p> </li> </ul>

US