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Wikis are revolutionizing the way information is created and updated.
FROM:
MAY-JUN 2007 ISSUE | BY
DIANE CUSHING
The Web is filling up with wikis. Businesses are creating wiki knowledge bases, FAQ lists, project plans, research papers, and message boards. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. Behind corporate firewalls, wikis are enabling organizations to share the responsibility for creating and maintaining documentation – from meeting notes, to business processes, to proposals. Wikis are gaining in popularity for their ability to produce living, evolving information stores that never go out of date.
What’s a Wiki?
Referred to as social software, wikis allow communities of people with common goals to pool their knowledge and post it online. Wikipedia, the free Web-based encyclopedia, is the best known wiki application, and is said to be the second most used reference on the ’Net. Its 1.4 million pages were created by thousands of individuals.
Public wikis are available to anyone with an Internet connection, though some require registration before use. eBay, the online auction giant, has created a wiki through which customers can share their experience and recommendations. WikiTravel.org is a compilation of advice and information from ordinary travellers. For accountants in the U.S., Intuit sponsors the wiki
TaxAlmanac.org, a free tax research resource that won a 2006 Tax & Accounting Technology Innovation Award from the CPA Technology Advisor.
Why a Wiki?
The word wiki comes from the Hawaiian “wikiwiki” meaning quick, and that’s what they are – quick to learn and quick to set up. The software is usually free, and offers keyword and full-text search to let you find references to your topic immediately – something that is much harder to do with a set of folders on a shared drive. Rather than sending out mass e-mails or passing around documents for review, you can keep all correspondence, discussions, and documents in one place.
Unlike the free-for-all format of a public wiki, those implemented on a corporate intranet usually limit access to a specific group. Maintaining the quality of the content becomes the responsibility of the whole team. Monitoring changes made to a document can be done using the “Recent Changes” button, which shows the last update, or through the change history for a specific page. Tools to compare the differences between versions are included, as is the ability to revert to a previous version. Users can also elect to receive e-mail notifications whenever a page is changed.
Which Wiki?
There are many options and most are free to install on your corporate intranet. Most are also open source, meaning programmers can tweak the software to do what users want it to do. However, some implementations, such as TWiki, are specifically geared to corporations and have a wide range of optional tools, called plugins, to help you do things like keep track of action items in meeting minutes or create charts, presentations, and calendars.
In simple implementations of wiki, you edit pages using a markup notation which is much easier than HTML. For anyone who has used a markup language before, wiki editing is a breeze, but if this is too much for your team, choose a wiki implementation with WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) edit features.
Another option is to use a service that will host your wiki on their server. JotSpot and Socialtext are a couple of these so-called wiki farms. A free trial period is usually available.
Before you choose your wiki software, play with a few wikis first to figure out what features you’ll need. Just search on the keyword “wiki” in Wikipedia and you’ll find lots of information to help make your decision. You can compare costs, features, and platforms on
WikiMatrix.org.
How to Wiki
It’s easy to experiment with wikis before you decide to install one. Most wikis have a “sandbox” where you can practise editing without making permanent changes. With PBwiki (Peanut Butter Wiki), it takes only 30 seconds to get your own wiki set up (easy as a peanut butter sandwich, they say). Wikipedia is also a great place to start. Just click on the Help link at the top of the Main Page for the tutorials. The “Cheatsheet” is very succinct and useful for help with editing markup. And, while you’re in Wikipedia, look up your favourite topic and learn something. Soon, you’ll be adding your own two cents worth!
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Diane Cushing
, B.Sc., CGA, assists clients with implementation and customization of large-scale accounting systems. E-mail
diane@heronwood.ca.
“Double Click” is coordinated by
John Yu, M.SC., CDP, FCGA, and vice-president, Information Technology, at CGA-Canada.