[TechGuy]

Are there any wiki experts out there? If you've ever edited a page on Wikipedia or enjoy the idea of wikis, please drop me a PM or email as we're planning to have a TSG wiki in the future and we need a handful of volunteers to help get it off the ground. Thanks!

[AcaCandy]

What's a wiki?

[JohnWill]

Aren't they those lamps that you have around the patio?

[AcaCandy]

By gosh, I think you are right.....the ones with the Citronella oil?

[Jason]

Certainly look forward to it Mike.

Regards Jason

[RedHelix]

What Wiki software are you planning to run? MediaWiki? Sharepoint Wiki?

I'm currently leading a wiki project at my job; the way we document software specs is so overwhelmingly complex to new employees that we're putting together one unifying source of documentation to basically tell you where you can find certain information. We're doing it with Sharepoint Wiki, though in the past I've always used MediaWiki.

Basically I'm saying I'd be glad to help with a Wiki. My email is jack#red-helix.com.

[Jason]

I would personally prefer the mediawiki, due to my experience with it, and I also think it is more user friendly.

However, the final decision is up to Mike .

Regards Jason

[TechGuy]

Yup, it will be MediaWiki. I'm pretty excited about the idea, but we need to come up with some kind of plan of how all the information will be organized. I'm thinking I'd like to see common solutions, definitions, how to use this site, etc. Any thoughts off the top of your head?

[Jason]

Personally, I think we should use it for guides/articles ect.

I also like the idea of having some nifty guides on how to use the site, making it a lot easier for the members.

This is going a little off topic to the Wiki mike, but how about a "weekly poll" for the homepage? I can definitely see what I can whip up, coding is an hobby for me LOL.

Regards Jason

[ferrija1]

Sounds great! I would be willing to help.

You could have solutions organized by product. For example, if you went to a page about Firefox, you could have sections such as Using Safe Mode, Firefox Settings, Using Extensions, and some common problems. You could also have pages with definitions and pages with advice on topics like securing your system and speeding it up.

[TechGuy]

You've got the right idea. I think we'll want to do a lot of Categories in the wiki to try to keep things organized. It will probably take some trial and error to get things to really make sense, but I'm hoping a few wiki experts will help move us in the right direction from the start.

[Jason]

Sounds great Mike! I look forward to it.

It's very easy to organize everything in a Wiki, once we've done that, everything should be plain sailing from there

Regards Jason

[TechGuy]

I just contacted those who replied to this thread or emailed/PMed me. If anyone else has ever used a wiki and is interested in helping with this new project, please let me know. Thanks!

[lotuseclat79]

Hi Mike,

Have you given any thought to finding AI tools to help categorize and index the information already on TSG?

In some sense, everyone who visits TSG is looking for information of some sort, either to sort out a problem about which they either have little knowledge and information about, and don't know how to properly articulate it in seeking information on how to solve it, or others just want to discuss issues about topic x,y,z or connect to other people in a social way.

Condensing the previous paragraph into its essence then is that people visit TSG to:
talk, solve, or connect to other people, ideas and information that will assist them in their pursuits whatever they may be.

While I agree with you that a wiki is a great idea for reorganizing TSG (or enhancing it), the categorization of the information is the most important step.

I am sure there must be some AI spiders and indexers out there that can greatly aid you in this pursuit - unfortunately, I have not looked into it myself.

I just wanted to make a suggestion that would help the effort.

-- Tom