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- | Create a | + | Create a website that visitors can edit through their web browsers. |
=== What Problem This Solves === | === What Problem This Solves === | ||
- | + | It is difficult and expensive to create and maintain a large website of resources. | |
=== When to Use This Pattern === | === When to Use This Pattern === | ||
- | + | Use this pattern when you need to create a large resource-based website or documentation project, and have (or can attract) a large audience with knowledge of the subject domain. This pattern works for internal projects too (e.g. intranets, software documentation) if knowledge is spread throughout the organization. | |
=== What's The Solution? === | === What's The Solution? === | ||
- | + | Use a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Wiki] to enable mass collaboration. | |
+ | |||
+ | #Choose Wiki software suitable for your audience; typically, this is a trade-off between flexibility and ease of use. Some users may already be familiar with [http://www.mediawiki.org/ MediaWiki], the software behind Wikipedia. | ||
+ | #Configure the software. Lock it down if necessary: some wiki software allows anonymous contributions by default - you may want to force registration and a valid email address to decrease spam edits. You may also need to install additional extensions; this wiki, for example, uses a [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:FCKeditor_(Official) WYSIWYG Editor Extension] to make editing easier for non-technical users. | ||
+ | #Make a start. Demonstrate the structure and quality of articles that you expect by adding the first few entries. If supported by your wiki software, create a template or boilerplate to help guide the structure of new articles (this wiki uses the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:NewArticleTemplates NewArticleTemplates extension] for MediaWiki). | ||
+ | #Create a maintenance schedule. Wikis aren't 100% self-sustaining, and require some regular maintenance to ensure quality standards and consistency. Most wikis allow you to subscribe to an RSS feed or Email alerts for [[Special:RecentChanges|Recent Changes]]. Put some time aside each day (this may just be 10 minutes) to skim through the changes and edit where necessary. | ||
=== Why Use This Pattern === | === Why Use This Pattern === | ||
- | + | *It's a relatively cheap and easy way to document group knowledge. | |
+ | *No predetermined structure; the information can grow organically to accomodate changes, at page and IA level. | ||
+ | *Empowering and loyalty-building ("''if you don't like it, change it''"). | ||
+ | *Every revision is kept, building a useful archive. | ||
+ | *Changes or corrections can be made faster than through a structured internal publication process. | ||
+ | *Users can document what they need, rather than what you think they need. | ||
=== References === | === References === | ||
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=== Examples Gallery === | === Examples Gallery === | ||
- | [[Image:Wikitravel-wiki.png|thumb|left|WikiTravel - a wiki-powered travel guide website]]<br> | + | [[Image:Wikitravel-wiki.png|thumb|left|WikiTravel - a wiki-powered travel guide website]]<br> |
- | === Categories<br> === | + | === Categories<br> === |
[[Category:Social]] | [[Category:Social]] |
Page last modified 16 January 2011 by . Created by: Admin