Wikis For Dummies

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