A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites, usually as a very simple form of content management.
#29197
Wiki-fying Docs: Is Using Customer-Accessible Wikis for End-User Documentation Gaining Momentum?
While the effort to provide more interactivity and power to the end-user seems to suggest that we open up a wiki to allow them to add and edit content, the basic idea of a set of edited documentation is now challenged with a social network of participating customers, all of whom may now edit, add, and delete content. How social can you go? This article is an attempt to look at the process of evaluating the use of a wiki for end-user documentation, if such a thing can exist. Are the two types of customer content--wikis and end-user documentation--mutually exclusive?
Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2007). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Social Networking
#28272
Wikipedia may be the biggest technical document ever created, but it and other Web 2.0 elements present challenges. Read about the popularity of Wikipedia, then let Intercom know about your professional experiences using wikis, blogs, and other Web 2.0 applications.
Intercom (2006). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Wikis
#31119
Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Collaboration
The true collaboration occurs when people have the possibility to co-work on the same sub-task, activating a mechanism of new knowledge creation. Collaboration is not so obvious if is not clearly supported: the risk is to exchange this 'together' learning process with a simple cooperation process, producing not new knowledge but only a simple addition of individual regress knowledge.
Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration>Wikis
#31118
Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Flexibility
A flexible workplace is characterized by the capability of individuals to manage not only their work, time or resources, but also the possibility to influence and operate in an active way inside the community (from team to organizational level) and for these reasons to be part of the operational process.
Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Workflow>Wikis
#31122
Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Openness
Strictly linked with transparency concept, openness is at the base of the principle that people work better if they have access to the right information and possibility to assume that all over the organization. The simple access to other group member data or the possibility to know activities scheduled also in other groups are normal operations in a mature context such as is allowed to look to other team solutions or results in order to decide something for the own team.
Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration>Wikis
#31121
Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Peering
A common element between Wiki philosophy and innovation successful case histories, is the partial or total absence of structure or, saying better, of hierarchy. The possibility, in fact, to contribute in the same way, indifferently at which level you are involved in the organization, is one of the first steps towards the reduction of barriers to collaboration, participation and involvement in the organizational life.
Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration>Wikis
#31120
Wikibility Cultural Key Drivers: Sharing
The possibility of sharing improves an effective distribution of common resources (meeting room, projector, corporate car...). In a more general acceptation of the term, the availability to ideas or previous solutions useful for different use is an advantage that make co-creation of new knowledge and a healthy circulation of knowledge possible.
Cammarata, Vincenzo. Grow Your Wiki (2008). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration>Wikis
#25800
#29707
Wikis for Supporting Distributed Collaborative Writing 
Wikis allow distributed teams to collaboratively write and edit documents through the Internet in a shared online workspace, without the need for special HTML knowledge or tools. The flexibility of wiki technology is a boon for increased cooperative work on large team projects. However, wiki technology also complicates notions of usable design as the information architecture of a wiki site may be created on the fly by all participants rather than by a dedicated technical communicator. This paper describes the basic technology of wikis, some advantages and disadvantages, and areas of concern with regard to information design.
Wei, Carolyn, Brandon Maust, Jennifer Barrick, Elisabeth Cuddihy and Jan H. Spyridakis. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Writing>Wikis
#28320
Wikis for Supporting Distributed Collaborative Writing
Wikis allow distributed teams to collaboratively write and edit documents through the Internet in a shared online workspace, without the need for special HTML knowledge or tools. The flexibility of wiki technology is a boon for increased cooperative work on large team projects. However, wiki technology also complicates notions of usable design as the information architecture of a wiki site may be created on the fly by all participants rather than by a dedicated technical communicator. This paper describes the basic technology of wikis, some advantages and disadvantages, and areas of concern with regard to information design.
Wei, Carolyn, Brandon Maust, Jennifer Barrick, Elisabeth Cuddihy and Jan H. Spyridakis. STC (2005). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Wikis
#32353
FLOSSmanuals.net: A New Wiki Help Authoring/Publishing Tool Hybrid
Flossmanuals.net is a new wiki help authoring/publishing tool hybrid that, as far as I know, is completely unique. The site is more than a wiki. It allows groups of authors to create specific chapters independently. You can then remix the chapters into any arrangement and selection you want through a drag-and-drop interface.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Articles>Documentation>Help>Wikis
#32666
A directory of publications, tools, and organizations that can help you become a better technical communicator. This section is ever growing, with new Resources being added by Indiana Chapter members and by this site’s visitors all the time. Anyone can add a resource they think might be valuable to the Indiana technical communication community.
STC Indiana (2007). Resources>Directories>TC>Wikis
#32714
The Rise Of Hyperlocal Information
The net effect of social networking is the increasing availability of fine-grained information about locales. This information is both interesting and valuable. It is sought after by people living in these places and by advertisers who are trying to reach these people. A handful of startups are recognizing the big potential of local information - relevance. In this post we look at different aspects of the hyperlocality, from satellites to local blogs, and ponder how this information will be organized and monetized.
Iskold, Alex. ReadWriteWeb (2008). Articles>Information Design>Content Management>Wikis
#32774
Should Technical Authors Embrace User-Generated Content?
It may seem counter-intuitive, but we believe technical authors shouldn't fear the trend towards user generated content.
#32775
The Contribution Revolution: Letting Volunteers Build Your Business
Intuit’s cofounder challenges traditional companies to follow the lead of internet superstars—and of innovative peers such as Honda, Procter and Gamble, and Hyatt—in tapping the contributions of countless people beyond their organizations.
Cook, Scott. Harvard Business Review (2008). Articles>Management>Content Management>Wikis
#32816
Learn about theoretical and practical examples of merging DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture), a structured authoring methodology, and wiki’s freeform authoring and editing capabilities.
Gentle, Anne and Lisa Dyer. Intercom (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Wikis
#32817
The "Quick Web" for Technical Documentation
So how did the wiki become a seemingly permanent fixture in the landscape of today’s Web? Which wikis have succeeded as technical documentation, and how can we replicate their success?
Gentle, Anne. Intercom (2007). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Wikis
#32896
The intention of this article is to open the readers eyes to the issues with trusting user edited content. Over time, the Wikipedia may balance out. Eventually, or possibly even now, user tests are being performed to see how much content is credible. Also, the academic communities could step up and decide unanimously that the Wikipedia is not a trusted body of information to use for research. Once this happens the Wikipedia will have to change the way information within their pages is handled to maintain existence.
Hall, Lawrence. Content Matters (2006). Articles>Research>Online>Wikis
#33321
One writer's experiences and thoughts about moving content from Microsoft Word to a wiki.
DMN Communications (2008). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Case Studies
#33635
Why Wikis Won't Kill Technical Writing
Many people have predicted that wikis will replace traditional help in the future. Ok, I can buy that. But I've also heard that technical writers will surrender content control to SMEs and users, and will move into other roles such as merely editing wiki content, or switching to programming, training. Sorry. I just can't see that happening. In the world of wikis, technical writers will still be kings of content.
HelpScribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Wikis
#33644
Your Wiki Isn’t Wikipedia: How to Use It for Technical Communication 
Learn how to use a wiki as an organizational tool within your company.
Mader, Stewart. Intercom (2009). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>Organizational Communication
#33645
The founder of FLOSS manuals discusses the intersection of books and Web 2.0 and the continuing evolution of publishing and technology.
Hyde, Adam. Intercom (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis
#33688
Informal Help via Electronic Conversation Can Lack a Certain Professional Quality
Much documentation and training is delivered in one direction—the writer provides content, and the user consumes it. Perhaps this is one reason that technical communicators are looking for ways to create a conversation. It’s easier to address user problems when you can ask follow-up questions and get details. In a one-way delivery, you have to hope that what you provide will cover what’s needed. In a conversation, you can constantly get more information and react accordingly. Still, in an instant message, chat, or forum conversation, it can be hard to be clear.
Gryphon Mountain (2009). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Social Networking
#33694
Reviewing Wiki Documentation via Crucible
I have been playing around with Crucible, Atlassian’s peer code review tool. The latest version of Crucible allows you to review Confluence wiki pages. This is a new feature, so I decided to try it out. Also, I was wondering why you might want to use an independent tool to review a wiki page, when you could instead just add comments to the page or update the page directly.
Maddox, Sarah. ffeathers (2009). Articles>Web Design>Documentation>Wikis
#33731
Creating Documentation With A Wiki: The DITA Storm Project
DITA is natural. Do XML/DITA conversion research now. Wiki is especially good for iterative writing. Structured wiki authoring in coming.
Abel, Scott. SlideShare (2007). Presentations>Documentation>Wikis>DITA
