Posted in Content Management, Web Development, Wiki on 10/03/2013 | 1 Comment »
Wiki’s are no longer the spearpoint of the ‘social media’ that they were a few years ago. That does not mean they have gone away or, worse, have become irrelevant. It’s good to see that a major player like Ars Technica publishes a nice Mediawiki installation manual: “Web Served 7: Wiki wiki wiki!“.
The rest of the ‘Web served’ series – on how to setup and use a secure webserver – is worth reading as well, if you have little or no experience with the subject.
JSPWiki is (finally) almost ready to become a first-class citizen in the Apache universe. That’s good news, of course, and it proves that JSPWiki is indeed a stable and worthwhile open source product, that deserves global recognition as such. Of course, an official Apache release of JSPWIki also requires official documentation. The ‘old’ site already had new branches for several releases, and I guess the same approach will be used for the upcoming 2.9 release, albeit in the official Apache infrastructure.
The JSPWiki crew plans a move of the current ‘http://www.jspwiki.org‘ content to the Apache infrastrucure – and what I read about this on the Apache issue tracker is somewhat worrying. Yes, the current content is not really very up to date, but still: it may contain useful information for those of us still running older releases of JSPWiki. There’s the list of not all too official plugins, there are comments all over the place that may be useful – or not, etc.
Rather than throwing everything away, wouldn’t it be possible to keep a read-only copy alive, for example under the name ‘old.jspwiki.org‘ or so?
Posted in Content Management, Knowledge Management, Web Development, Wiki on 02/11/2012 |
The W3C, the standards body that oversees the development of HTML, is starting a Wiki to (hopefully) create a definitive, up-to-date collection of documentation on all the web standards (and more). In the words of Webmonkey: “The W3C has managed to bring together some of the biggest names on the web to help create Web Platform Docs. Representatives from Opera, Adobe, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and Nokia will all be lending their expertise to the new site“.
Of course, the really interesting part – for me, that is – is the Wiki that will encompass all those Web Platform Docs. I do wonder how much “non-expert” material will be added to the site – writing documentation is not the same as writing code, as evidenced by the lack of decent documentation in many software projects. Then again, not just developers can (should) add their expertise.
I guess the W3C will be exercising some kind of editorial supervision. To their credit, the creators of the site have clearly indicated how anyone can help, even if you’re unfamiliar with the technologies mentioned – that’s a good idea for any Wiki, by the way.
Posted in Content Management, Internet, iOS, Wiki on 24/09/2012 |
Of course, Robert Cringely writes about the snafu with Apple’s iOS6 maps application troubles: “Apple’s Maps is so spectacularly bad it’s inspired its own Internet meme. Funny? You bet“.
But as always, it pays to check your facts before publishing. Even Google Maps knows about the “tiny hamlet in Austria where every street name starts with the F word” – because that hamlet does exist in the real world! Just check the Wikipedia: Fucking, Austria.
Then ask yourself: why does Google Maps call the streets in that hamlet “Hucking” ? Creative spelling indeed!
Posted in Content Management, Python, Software, Software Development, Wiki on 11/09/2012 | 1 Comment »
WikiNotes is a wiki-based note-sharing platform created to facilitate student collaboration (beware: the site can be slow!). Basically it’s a system that allows students (and others ;-) to publish course notes, questions from examinations, study notes, etc. The current version of WikiNotes is based on the classic MediaWiki-software that also powers the WikiPedia. But a small team of student developers is rewriting the system from scratch. A beta version can be explored at http://beta.wikinotes.ca/ – and its source code is published under the GPLv3 on GitHub.
Why do I mention this project? First of all: I am a Wiki fan ;-)
Secondly, it’s a good example of what a Wiki can be used for: the creation of a public body of knowledge that is fed and maintained by anyone who wants to help. Of course, not all courses are equally well documented, but since a Wiki can be edited anytime that might change rapidly (or never ;-). Not everyone was (is) convinced of the value of such an initiative – users of WikiNotes should be aware of possible copyright issues, to name the most frequently mentioned counter-argument – but I have found several pleas for a more nuanced approach that can benefit both the students and the University. Check out this editorial from the McGill Tribune for suggestions on how to govern the WikiNotes site.
Thirdly, the new version is being written in Python and created on top of the Django framework. I find it stimulating to see the progress in the development of this application, from a developers prespective.
Last but not least, this Wiki started out as a student initiative – there are clearly smart students at McGill!
At the same time, this project illustrates an essential aspect of any content management project. Before choosing any CMS, or writing your own, you have to analyse your requirements. You have to know what you will be dealing with: what type of “content” (text, image, video, …) about which subjects will you be handling; what metadata do you need for each content type; who is going to handle that content, and what will they be doing exactly; who is the target audience for the content, and what are their expectations; etc. Without clear answers to these and more questions you will never be able to set up a suitable CMS, let alone claim a succesful implementation.
PS. This is why I fear that the brand new Brussels Wiki (‘Wikibru, the wiki of the City of Brussels‘) will be a failure: a wiki needs more justification than the possibility “for people to add something to the site”…
Posted in Literature, Wiki on 27/06/2012 |
“Choose your own adventure“ is a Wiki unlike any I had seen before, but it’s actually a fine example of what a Wiki can be: a tool where multiple authors create content, packaged in linked pages. In fact, it might be an excellent example to teach the basics of a Wiki!
How does it work? It’s simple, and the site explains itself thus: it’s “a wiki that contains stories where the reader assumes the role of the main character. In each page you choose how the story should progress. If you don’t see an option that you would like to pursue, click the edit tab on the top of the page and add a new path to the page. Then you get to write in your own adventure for the character…”
There is no guarantee as to the quality of the stories of course; you’ll have to explore them and assess that aspect for yourself. At the same time, you’ll experience what a Wiki is all about. Enjoy!
PS. For a dutch version of this post, see the innologos website…
Posted in Content Management, Software, Wiki on 21/06/2012 |
On Tuesday, Bruno and I repeated our workshop “Getting Started with Wikis“. Have we failed in our mission if one of the participants decides that a Wiki is not the solution for his specific problem? Of course not. Wikis are tools, not a magic wand to solve all your problems in one fell swoop. If I had to summarize the core of Wikis in two words, then those words would be “co-authorship” and “interlinking”.
If these characteristics are not essential to solve your problem, then a Wiki might help – or not (it could even be counterproductive). If that is what you learned during our workshop, then you did not waste your time!
PS. For a dutch version of this post, see the innologos website…
Posted in Apple & Macintosh, Internet, Software, Software Development, Wiki on 08/06/2012 |
No matter how you describe it, Apple’s HyperCard was (is!) an amazing tool. The simple concepts behind it, together with a programming language that looked a lot like plain English, made it a tool used by many non-programmers. And it had “links”, allowing you to jump from “card” to “card”, thus offering a first glimpse of the power of hypermedia and hypertext that we all take for granted today in our web browser. Ars Technica has a good overview of “25 years of HyperCard — the missing link to the Web“. Too bad they don’t mention this little nugget: HyperCard inspired Ward Cunningham to flesh out the basic concepts of the WikiWiki software that made him famous.
HyperCard diskette from 1990
I still have the original disks that (probably) came with my first Mac, a Macintosh IIsi in 1990… I used a later version of HyperCard in 2000 (on Mac OS9) to write a small stack with simple math exercises for my kids. Nothing fancy, but it worked well, and it allowed the kids to familiarize themselves with a computer. My son now dabbles in the construction of web sites and simple web apps; I’m pretty sure he would learn more (and have more fun at the same time) by using a modern HyperCard clone, rather than writing code in C# without a serious background on classes, objects, inheritance, etc.
Posted in Android, Content Management, Mobile Computing, Software, Wiki on 28/02/2012 |
There are several good apps for editing text on Android, and one of them is Writer. Whereas Textwarrior (see my previous post) is a developer tool, Writer is for those of use who just want to produce well-formed texts. Yes, you can take simple notes with it, but since Writer supports the Markdown markup it’s a good tool for the preparation of nice office documents – or poetry, or literary exploits.
The Markdown syntax gives Writer a touch of Wiki-ness, and the philosophy of its creator is similar as that of Ward Cunningham: “keep is simple” .But no, Writer is not a Wiki, and it was never intended as such. I can’t help thinking, though: would it be difficult to add a mechanism to link to either other Writer documents or external http:// links?
Luckily for me, Joel Spolsky isn’t a prolific blogger – so I can read most of what he writes during occasional visits of his blog. And when he writes, it pays to read his words. You may not always agree with his points of view, but he will have you thinking – and that’s a good thing.
Another good thing is his announcement of Trello. Trello is a web-based applications, that essentially allows you to juggle with lists of “cards” on a “board” – you can think of it a tool to play with small, adhesive note slips on a virtual wall. Sounds simple, and it is simple, actually. Trello is smart enough to help you organize the cards and lists and boards in a more sophisticated way, by providing the possibility to add dates and “organisations” of users. That’s why some call it a Kanban tool: one of the possible applications is indeed a Kanban board.
But Trello can do more than that. Use it to manage your personal to-do list, or to organize projects, or to gather ideas around a specific subject. I can see how it can help you structure and write articles or even a book. And that’s where Trello differs from more project-specifc tools like Basecamp. Basecamp has projects, customers, to-do’s, calendars and a dashboard – a practical approach. But if you want to organize your projects other than by calendar, then it gets harder. And that’s where Trello could help you, with its more unstructured concepts of lists and cards. No, Trello isn’t “better” than Basecamp, it’s different.
I could help but think of Wikis, when I found that Trello allows you to use Markdown markup in your cards. Simple markup for texts in combination with a lot of freedom in how you organize your content: two essential features of a Wiki. But Trello isn’t a Wiki: it has more structure than a Wiki (which only has “pages”), and it does not use a Wikilink mechanism to connect bits and pieces of the content. Still…
You can use Trello for free, and if Joel can be trusted that will be the case for a long time – so why not give it a try?
Posted in Content Management, Personal, Wiki on 07/11/2011 |
In September 2006, Clay Shirky published a column on his view about the editorial process of the Citizendium: “Larry Sanger, Citizendium, and the Problem of Expertise“. A few days later, Larry Sanger – co-founder of the Wikipedia and founder of the Citizendium – responded to the criticism in “Larry Sanger on me on Citizendium“. Basically, the debate is about an essential question for any “content store”: who is going to produce the content to publish?
For a paper encyclopedia, this question is a non-issue: there is no simple way to have everyone chip in and write (or draw, or whatever) a piece of what is wanted, and then ask a panel of experts to wade through the collected material and distill a coherent encyclopedia from it. So there you have the essential “expert model”: an editorial panel looks for the “best” expert on the subject matter required, and asks them – with or without a form of peer review – to produce texts etc.
Does that model, which more or less corresponds to what Larry Sanger organised for the Citizendium, work on the Internet? Well, according to Ars Technica, it doesn’t: “Citizendium turns five, but the Wikipedia fork is dead in the water“. The comparison, in terms of existing lemmas and in terms of daily edits is clearly in favor of the Wikipedia model… Time to call victory for Clay Shirky?
I’m not entirely convinced, since there may well be other reasons for the limited succes (I don’t call it a straight failure, because it isn’t) of Citizendium. Does the world really need two (or even more) encyclopediae? I don’t think so, and I do not think that I am the only one to do so. So why would anyone, expert or not, invest time and energy in a less successful endeavour, compared to the Wikipedia?
The expert model, albeit in a modified model, does seem to work for other encyclopediae. Take the Austria-Forum (http://www.austria-lexikon.at/), for example. The Austria-Forum is using Wiki-software to build an encyclopedia about Austria, but they do not allow any user to edit the content of the encyclopedia itself. Users can interact with the editors through the “community section” of the site. A 2008 paper titled “AUSTRIA-FORUM: A CITABLE WEB ENCYCLOPEDIA“ explains the system. The number of entries in the Austria-Forum may not match that of the austrian version of the Wikipedia, but it would take a detailed analysis of a significant number of articles to call one of a higher quality than the other.
In the end, the real question is not whether one way of working is better than the rest. What matters is that the way things are organized fits within the context. If it helps you reach the stated goals, works fluidly, and can (is) adapted when circumstances change, then it can’t be bad? Just make sure that you what you’re doing – and reading the articles mentioned is a good way of getting to know quite a few obstacles that you might encounter.
Posted in Java, Ruby, Software Development, Wiki on 29/03/2011 |
These days, at least in Europe, the word ‘Ruby’ is mostly associated with the frolicking of Italy’s prime minister, and not with the programming language of the same name. From the diminishing number of news items on the Ruby Inside news site I deduce that the language has reached a mature and stable state – which is good, really!
But that doesn’t mean that people like Charles Nutter just sit back. Charles took the Ruby syntax and used it to define Mirah, a JVM programming language that looks a lot like Ruby (but isn’t Ruby nor JRuby). What does it look like? Well, check out the intro that Charles wrote for DDJ: “Language of the Month: Mirah“. It’s a most interesting effort, and apparently Mirah can even be used to develop apps for Google App Engine and Android.
Of course, I also have to mention the fact that the Mirah site contains a Wiki, written in… Mirah, of course. Nothing fancy, but if that bothers you, just grab the code and make it better!
Posted in Content Management, Internet, Software, Wiki on 01/02/2011 |
Aah, the power of RSS. Check out wikiriver.org, aka. “All the news about WikiLeaks in one place, updated in real time“. Wikiriver.org is an example of a “river of news RSS aggregator“, as Dave Winer calls it, and Dave knows all about it, since he wrote the software and the HowTo.
Is wikiriver.org important? I think so. It’s a political statement, of course, but one that I like. Freedom of speech is important, and “la raison d’état” has been called upon too many times in the past to be a valid excuse for hiding diplomatic and political conversations.
But I also want point to the technical/technological aspects of the “river of news” concept: using a well-known, simple and widely available protocol (RSS) to build topical news pages may not be revolutionary, yet in a not too distant future it may well change the way we use the Internet to find the information we’re looking for. Since it’s “just RSS”, you can wrap it up and present it any way you want – it doesn’t even have to remain a web page…
I’m filing this under the Wiki category – after all, even if Wikileaks is not a Wiki, it’s name will remain linked to the concept for a long time ;-). But essentially, this is about content management – expect features like a news river to pop up in other CMS systems!
