Wikis for System Builders

A wiki (from the Hawaiian word for "quick") can be thought of as an online encyclopedia that is created through group collaboration. The central feature of a wiki is the grouping of Web pages under a single title—the wiki. On each page is a search function that can perform a text-string search on all pages in a particular wiki. There will also be an editing function that visitors can use to modify the page or add new pages. Plus, a facility to track changes or store previous versions of the page.

On a wiki, hyperlinks can be used to cross-reference pages. Typically, there is also a directory page listing all the pages in the wiki, and perhaps an indexing feature. There is usually a way to subscribe to a page to get e-mail or RSS notification of any changes made, so changes can't be made to your entries behind your back.

To quickly set up a wiki, there are scores of sites called wiki farms that you can use. Some are free. Others insert ads on the screen or limit a user's storage. Some support WYSIWYG editing, while others require knowledge of HTML. Still others have their own tagging system. A few support file attachments. Apparently, all of them let you upload graphics for use on a page. A few supply custom domain names. Some are in foreign languages.

You can set up a wiki to be public, private (that is, password-protected), or a hybrid that contains both public and protected pages. Many wiki farms have features that let the creator of a wiki restrict access and control editing privileges. The ultimate example is the Wiki Foundation's Wikipedia, which has more than 1.6 million entries in English alone. All are written by volunteers, and anyone with Web access (and who is not currently banned by the organization for disruptive posting) can create or edit an entry.

Large IT vendors have discovered wikis. Examples include Novell Cool Solutions, Microsoft's Channel9 Wiki, and the Adobe Labs Wiki. The vendors are devoting serious resources to these wikis. For example, most of these wiki sites have full-time moderators.

A TALE OF TWO WIKIS

Enterprise wikis typically fall into one of two types: encyclopedias and cocktail parties.

Encyclopedia wikis are publicly-accessible reference works. They cover the products and development projects of a sponsor. Examples of encyclopedias include wikis run by Novell, IBM, and Adobe.

Basically, encyclopedic wikis are elaborate, searchable FAQ files. They are compiled from contributions submitted by subject experts within an organization, and they are edited and formatted for consistency. In these cases, the wiki environment amounts to a simple, easily launched Web-based content-management system. Major topics may also have an attached discussion forum, but that's about the only nod to the Web 2.0 philosophy of mass participation.

Cocktail-party wikis, on the other hand, are intended to support a specific project, with scheduling and background information needed by the participants. In contrast to encyclopedias, these cocktail party-style wikis invite mass participation.

Some wikis combine the two approaches. For example, Microsoft runs a wiki that combines both corporate and external contributions. There is an etiquette guide spelling out unacceptable behavior, such as deleting other people's contributions. There is a gentle warning that violators can be identified by their IP address, which implies there is ongoing monitoring. SEEDWIKI FOR SYSTEM BUILDERS

In this Recipe I'll walk you through the process of quickly launching an encyclopedia-style enterprise wiki. I will use the wiki farm at Seedwiki.

With scores of wiki farms to choose from, its selection is nearly random and should not be considered an endorsement. But Seedwiki does possess several useful features, including:

• WYSIWYG editing: This lets you prepare formatted files offline, then turn them into a wiki in mere minutes. Some other wikis use arcane tags for formatting. These tags may give you more control over the formatting, but they do present a learning curve. Seedwiki doesn't use arcane tags, so the learning curve is minimal.
• Free and Paid Accounts: The use of paid accounts may seem like a disadvantage, but it means the site is not supported by advertising. Some free wiki farms are entirely supported by advertising. But third-party advertising on your wiki pages may be off-putting or even demeaning to your clients. At Seedwiki, you can start with a free account and upgrade later on. Either way, there's a storage size limit of just under 50 MB per account.
• Access Control: You'll probably want to limit access or editing privileges to members of your organization or your client's organization. At Seedwiki, access control requires that you have a paid account.

INGREDIENTS

Nothing fancy here. You'll need Web access, of course. With Seedwiki, you'll get best results using Internet Explorer as your browser, and it must be set to allow pop-ups. If you opt to upgrade your wiki to a paid account, you'll need a Paypal account. And you'll need an e-mail address to set up the account.

You should prepare the content of the wiki pages in advance. If you use good old Microsoft Word, most of the text formatting will translate to the wiki page. Save any artwork in separate files, using Web formats.

BUILDING A WIKI

First, go to seedwiki, and click the "Start A Free Account" button, shown here:

Follow the directions to create a free account, giving an e-mail address, password and your name. You'll then get an account page, as shown here:

Here you can create a wiki by inputting the name you want to use and clicking the Make This Wiki button. You then get the first page of your new wiki, titled with the name you previously gave. It will be filled with default text that includes some basic instructions, as seen here:

At this point, call up your word processor, and copy the text that you want to use on the opening page of your wiki. Then, go back to your browser window and click the Edit Page button on the left. Bring up the WYSIWYG editing window. Then, highlight all the default text.

Next, click the Paste From Word icon (a clipboard with a W) on the assumption that you're using formatted text from Microsoft Word. (There is also a Paste As Plain Text icon). A pop-up screen will appear. You can paste the text you previously copied from your word processor into the pop-up screen. The results will look something like this:

Click "OK" in the pop-up window, and the saved text is placed in the editing screen, where you can perform edits and formatting. The available options amount to a combination of basic Word and HTML formatting. These include text size (in relative gradings rather than point sizes), fonts, text color, background color, buttons, check boxes, lists, horizontal lines, page breaks, special character inserts, smiley face inserts and hyperlinks. There is no columns feature, but you can create tables and insert text into the cells to create a columnar layout. Tables are also good for controlling the positioning of pictures.

Simply cutting and pasting artwork from a Word file will not work. Instead, to insert a picture onto your wiki page, click the Insert/Edit Image icon in the WYSIWYG editing window. You'll get an Image Properties pop-up window. Click the Browse Server button. You'll get the file upload pop-up window, which looks like this:

After you click the Browse button, you'll get the file-selection screen for your computer. Pick the file you want to use, and click OK. You'll then return to the file upload window, and the file you just uploaded will appear in the list in the bottom half of the screen. Click it.

You will then return to the Image Properties pop-up window with a preview of the picture, as shown here:

Adjust the image size and other properties to fit your needs, and click OK. The picture will be inserted onto the page at the cursor position. Finally, click the Save Your Changes button, and you will be returned to your newly created wiki page, as shown here:

You can create additional pages by clicking the Make A Page button on the left. Each time you click it, you'll get the WYSIWYG editing page, although this time it will be blank. Simply cut and paste your material, save the changes, and go on to the next page.

Alternately, you might want to create blank pages as "stubs," to be filled in by the content experts in your organization. ADDITIONAL FEATURES

Access control and other features are possible if you upgrade to a paid account. As I mentioned, you'll need a Paypal account, which is easy to get by anyone with a credit card.

Seedwiki has three levels of paid accounts: Blue ($9.95 a month), Red ($19.95 a month), and Gold ($49.95 a month).

Blue accounts can be password protected. Alternately, they can be publicly accessible while editing privileges remain password protected. While there is no access control on a free account, it can be "hidden" so that searches from other wikis don't see its contents.

Red accounts include all the features in a Blue account, plus access or editing can be restricted to invited members, and you can monitor their activities through management reports. You have more control over the layout, too. Plus, you can make the pages look like a non-wiki Web site. You can also use your own domain name (acquired separately) as the wiki's Web address.

To all that, Gold accounts add a search command that is restricted to the contents of your wikis alone.

CONCLUSIONS

It's easy to dismiss Web 2.0 and wikis as a fad. But remember, some "experts" thought the Web was going to be a fad, too.

Already, several large corporations use wikis, and plenty of small businesses will likely want to emulate them. That's where smart system builders come in.

In today's information-based economy, enterprises need to communicate a lot of data, and customers will appreciate the benefit of offering it to them in a wiki. Your clients, meanwhile, will appreciate your ability to create wikis for them. Who knows, you may find a wiki useful for your own projects, as well.

LAMONT WOOD is a freelance writer in San Antonio, Texas, who has been covering technology for nearly 25 years.