|
Business
Wiki web: An on-line collaboration tool
THIS WEEK a discussion of a web technology that transforms the web from a read only to a read/write medium.
Assume that a company is exploring new product ideas and has decided to conduct a brainstorming session using the web so that it can harness ideas from a wider community. To conduct a meaningful brainstorming session, the idea generation site should provide features that permit each of the participants to publish her ideas and correct the mistakes/shortcomings that have crept into the others' postings.
Take another instance, where two or more geographically separated guides need to collaboratively edit student assignments published on the Net. The guides need to not only comment on/edit the assignment content, sometimes they may also need to correct the spelling, sentence construction and the like.
There are many real world issues similar to the above that need to be addressed with powerful collaborative tools. As we know, the web is a powerful medium, where anybody can publish content that can be read immediately worldwide. However, it becomes a misfit when dealing with projects that call for intense interaction among several participants.
Being a read-only medium, the current web technology features hardly any tools that allow users to edit web content on-line. Attempts to modify the web technology, to make it suitable for solving problems with multiple interactions from different quarters, have lead to the creation of WikiWiki (Wiki for short), an improved web technology, which allows anyone to edit a web page on-line.
Wiki
Wiki is a web site whose pages can be edited by anybody at anytime through a web browser in real-time. According to Wikipedia, (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiWiki) the term Wiki is derived from the Hawaiian language word `WikiWiki', which means `quick'.
A Wiki site not only allows its users to read and write a web page, but also publishes the edited web page as soon as the editing process is completed. Of course, to edit a Wiki web page you don't need to know anything about HTML or any other web technologies.
Wiki process
A Wiki web page generally contains a button, `Edit', that the users can access. If you come across a Wiki page and want to make some contribution/correction, click on the `Edit' button. The Wiki server will take you to the text entry page where you will find a text box filled with the web content embedded with Wiki formatting codes. Wiki has its own codes for formatting the text. The Wiki server will convert the formatting codes into HTML codes when the content is delivered to the browser.
Some examples of Wiki markup codes are: text in two single quotes make it italics; three single quotes make the text bold and four or more single quotes make the text `bold and italics'. There are several Wiki engines available and each of them have their own formatting codes.
Wiki systems not only enable you to edit a page's content, but also help create your own pages. To create a new page while on a Wiki page, go to the `Edit' mode and type in the page name using the Wiki page-naming conventions. A Wiki page name is created by combining two or more words, each of which starts with an uppercase letter, with no space between the words. For example, NetSpeak is a valid page name.
A page name of this type automatically becomes a local hyperlink. After typing in the page name, save the page being edited. Now, if you view this page, you will find a question mark appearing at the page name entered earlier (here, NetSpeak). Click on the question mark and the Wiki system will open a new edit window where you can add text and save it.
The best way to comprehend the Wiki system is to visit a Wiki site and start experimenting with it. There are many Wiki systems available on the Net that can be used to learn the various features of the system. Some of them are:
WikiWikiWeb (http://www.c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki?WikiWikiWeb): Original Wiki authored by Ward Cunningham (http://c2.com/ward). To play with Wiki features and editing facilities, visit the WikiSandBox page (http://www.c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki?WikiWikiSandbox) and MeatballWiki Sandbox: http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?SandBox
WikiServer
If you are not satisfied with the on-line Wiki systems and want to try out one that operates from your desktop, download and install the free Wiki server available at: http://www.tinyted.net/eddie/wiki/.
After downloading the file archive, extract all the files to the local hard disk and start the program `WikiServer.exe'. By default, the Wiki server will run on port 80 (default web server port). Now, type in the address http://localhost into the browser to access the start page of your local Wiki site. At the start page you will find the required information for editing and creating Wiki pages.
If you have an intranet, the program can be run on a machine linked to the LAN so that other intranet users can also use the Wiki system. The software keeps all the Wiki pages in the sub-directory `Pages' (files with extension .wik) and only these pages will be available to users who access the Wiki server.
Wiki drawbacks
One of the unique features of Wiki is that it allows anyone on the web to alter its content, a user can even delete it. The success of an endeavour of this kind depends to a great extent on the goodwill and the collective responsibility of the participants. The concept will fail if the participants become irresponsible and start posting rubbish.
A few Wiki projects
One of the most significant Wiki projects that has gained attention is the Wikipedia project (http://www.wikipedia.org/), which is a "ollaborative project to produce a free and complete encyclopedia in every language"; SuperLinux Encyclopedia (http://www.superant.com/cgi-bin/slencyclopedia.pl), a Wiki site to provide information and resource links that are of interest to Linux users; Swiki,net (http://www.swiki.net), permits you to float free Wiki projects and Allmyfaqs (http://allmyfaqs.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl) is a Wiki that hosts content related to various computing pertaining to products and technologies.
J. Murali
Email the author at: murali27@satyam.net.in
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Business
|
