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.
#33733
What are your thoughts on whether wikis could be used for end-user technical documentation? I'd imagine that a more structured wiki based on DITA content (which may have already been created for end-users) might work well for technical documentation. Have you seen any good examples? I'd love to see a well-done example.
Gentle, Anne. BMC Software (2008). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>DITA
#33738
Strategies for Driving Down the Cost of Product Documentation: Wikis and DITA 
The process of creating and maintaining product documentation is, like most other business processes, under pressure to reduce costs, reduce cycle times, and support companies as they compete on a more global scale; in general, the need to do more with less. How are companies to address these conflicting needs? The purpose of this white paper is to identify specific processes that can be enhanced to yield meaningful efficiencies and several strategies for attaining such improvements.
Info Pros (2007). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>DITA
#33884
The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of the Web-based collaborative authoring environment commonly referred to as wikis, and examine how they can be used in a corporate publishing environment. The paper also includes suggested techniques for transferring existing content from native authoring tools into a wiki format for online delivery.
Porter, Alan J. Shortcovers (2009). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>White Papers
#34384
Although wikis have gained substantially in popularity since they first appeared some ten years ago, many enterprises still begin their wiki projects with unrealistic expectations.
Jespersen, Dorthe R. CMS Watch (2009). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>Content Strategy
#34399
Control and Community: A Case Study of Enterprise Wiki Usage
There are a wide variety of uses for Wikis and a level of interest in using them that’s matched by an extensive range of Wiki software. Wikis introduce to the Internet a collaborative model that not only allows, but explicitly encourages, broad and open participation. The idea that anyone can contribute reflects an assumption that both content quantity and quality will arise out of the ‘wisdom of the crowd.’
Clarke, Matthew C. Boxes and Arrows (2009). Articles>Web Design>Content Management>Wikis
#34417
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?
Kent, Betsy and Bill Albing. KeyContent.org (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis
#34492
Daisy: WYSIWYG Wiki for PDF Books
If you need the collaborative aspects of a Wiki combined with DITA's modular topics and publishing capabilities, then DAISY might just be the system you need--and it's free. DAISY provides WYSIWYG editing for Wiki pages that can be combined to publish books, either in a PDF or as a single HTML page.
Armstrong, Eric. Sun Microsystems (2008). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Wikis
#34549
The Medium is the Delivery Method
A question that technical communicators frequently ask about wikis is "How do I get the documentation out of a wiki?" A simple answer: "Don’t worry about it." Because the wiki is the delivery method.
Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis
#34572
My Journey to Writing With a Wiki
Wikis aren’t just tools for techies. They're also also for writers. In this article, one writer describes how he uses a wiki for his work.
Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing>Technology>Wikis
#34576
Are Structured Authoring and Wiki Opposing Forces?
There are two camps in technical documentation. There’s the “quick web” folks who connect easily and author easily, and then there’s the “structured quality” camp that requires more thoughtful testing and time spent on task analysis and information architecture.
Gentle, Anne. Just Write Click (2007). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>Wikis
#34583
Why Businesses (Don't) Collaborate: Meeting Management, Group Input and Wiki Use
Today, content professionals are tugged in multiple directions, expected to multi-task their way through an increasing amount of work with the help of software tools designed to make them more productive. This survey aims to explore how you and your co-workers utilize software tools and determine, in various scenarios, whether they are actually a help or a hindrance.
Mader, Stewart and Scott Abel. Scribd (2009). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration>Wikis
#34660
Are there algorithmic ways of determining the health of a Wiki? There are likely a number of different patterns of healthy Wikis and, more importantly, healthy Wiki-based communities. If we can identify and visualize these patterns, we can apply these analytics to: understand the patterns of interactions in a healthy community; aid the community to use the Wiki more effectively; and encourage developers to facilitate these patterns in the tool itself.
Socialtext (2009). Articles>Web Design>Wikis>Log Analysis
#34695
This is the Future of Technical Communication
In the absence of safety concerns, I think that accuracy must win. Thus, as the information curator, you have a responsibility to correct inaccurate information. If the inaccuracy is truly dangerous, you may need to edit the post directly. Make sure that you disclosure what you've done with brackets.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Palimpsest (2009). Articles>TC>Technical Writing>Wikis
#34751
Using Wikis to Document UI Specifications
As Agile gains momentum as a development approach of choice, documenting design becomes a challenge. Peter Gremett shows how using a wiki to capture your design is a great way to be adaptive as you build and deliver product to customers.
Gremett, Peter. Boxes and Arrows (2009). Articles>User Interface>Agile>Wikis
#34752
Control and Community: A Case Study of Enterprise Wiki Usage
Like many companies, CorVu has extensive knowledge of its own products and a desire to make that knowledge available to customers. A major block to achieving that desire has been a lack of people with the time to either record the internal knowledge or to fashion the knowledge into a customer-ready format. We needed to spread the load so that a broad range of developers, tech writers, professional service consultants and others could all contribute what time and knowledge they had to a shared goal. Our hope was that a process built around several Wiki sites would facilitate this collaborative approach.
Clarke, Matthew C. Boxes and Arrows (2009). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>Case Studies
#34779
The Atlassian Contributor License Agreement Comes of Age
In early March we opened up the Atlassian documentation to the wider community. We added a CC-by (Creative Commons Attribution) license to our product documentation. We invited people to contribute to our documentation after signing an Atlassian Contributor License Agreement (ACLA). At that stage, the ACLA was just starting its three-month trial. The trial period has now ended, and we're delighted to say: it's a go!
Maddox, Sarah. Atlassian Blog, The (2009). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Case Studies
#35025
Care to Write Army Doctrine? With ID, Log On
In July, in a sharp break from tradition, the Army began encouraging its personnel — from the privates to the generals — to go online and collaboratively rewrite seven of the field manuals that give instructions on all aspects of Army life. The program uses the same software behind the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and could potentially lead to hundreds of Army guides being “wikified.” The goal, say the officers behind the effort, is to tap more experience and advice from battle-tested soldiers rather than relying on the specialists within the Army’s array of colleges and research centers who have traditionally written the manuals.
Cohen, Noam. New York Times, The (2009). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Wikis
#35087
While the content of what I write at work is not all that interesting, and even the paradoxes or other conundrums about technical writing sometimes dull, I really get excited about the technology side of my job. New technologies are emerging each day at a rapid rate. It’s like we’re living in the internet era before the dot.com burst. This is a Web 2.0 land, where even Google threatens to become the next operating system. I am really eager to use a wiki to write my next set of documentation.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2007). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Wikis
#35108
The notes for a presentation (titled Thinking Outside the Book: Wikis for Writing and Delivering Documentation, that discusses the whys, the tools, and the techniques of using wikis for documentation.
Scott Nesbitt. DMN Communications (2009). Presentations>TC>Wikis>Documentation
#35124
Contributing to Wikis: A Useful Activity for Novice Tech Writers?
In this post, technical writer Milan Davidovic that contributing to wikis can help novices build skills and a portfolio. And he offers a simple roadmap for doing that effectively.
Davidovic, Milan. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Technical Writing>Wikis
#35154
Getting Content Into and Out of Wikis
As wikis mature, we’re using them for more complex business cases such as technical documentation, business analysis and project management. It’s becoming more and more interesting, if not essential, for wikis to support the import and export of content to and from other formats. Most wikis allow you to convert their pages at least to PDF and HTML. But what of other formats, and what about tools for getting content into wikis as well as out of them?
Maddox, Sarah. ffeathers (2009). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>Documentation
#35270
A Small Business Guide to Wikis
Social technology has risen to meet this challenge over the last few years. And while there are a lot of social tools to choose from, one type stands out for this type of collaboration: the wiki. The unique communication model inherent in the wiki makes it ideal for becoming a central business tool for your entire team. The following is an overview of using wiki software for small business.
Parr, Ben. Mashable (2009). Articles>Web Design>Business Communication>Wikis
#35287
WebWorks ePublisher for Converting Documents to Confluence Wiki
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had the chance to experiment with WebWorks ePublisher, a set of tools that converts documents from Word, FrameMaker and DITA XML to a number of different output formats. One of those output formats is Confluence wiki. It’s been very interesting, so I thought I’d blog about it and see if anyone else wants to give it a go as well.
Maddox, Sarah. ffeathers (2009). Articles>Web Design>Content Management>Wikis
#35293
Building Web Pages With HTML 5
Depending on who you ask, HTML 5 is either the next important step toward creating a more semantic web or a disaster that's going to trap the web in yet another set of incomplete tags and markup soup. The problem with both sides of the argument is that very few sites are using HTML 5 in the wild, so the theoretical solutions to its perceived problems remain largely untested.
Webmonkey (2009). Resources>Web Design>Wikis>HTML5
#35300
I Got Dragons and Tweets in My Documents
There’s a place for a lighter touch in much of the online documentation we write. It’s a delicate balance. On the one hand, it’s important that the writing style does not annoy or offend the reader and does not detract from the content. We also need to be aware of people whose first language is not the one we’re writing in. On the other hand, the occasional touch of humour or personality can focus the reader’s attention onto the page.
Maddox, Sarah. ffeathers (2009). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Case Studies
