Hi! Demi and Ruta here! Today we are looking in to what wiki spaces are. Are they part of a trend in IT for companies?
So, wiki spaces! Let’s start with a little history. Most people think that wiki spaces have only been around for a year or two. Plus, it has not been in the dictionary for very long – the word was first entered in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2007.
In fact the first one hit the internet in 1995 – it was called wikiwikiweb. The man who created it is Ward Cunningham. He didn’t make the word wiki up though! He was on holiday in
Basically, a wiki page allows any user to create new pages or edit existing ones. Linking pages is extremely easy and subjects can be linked together in an instinctive way. Wiki pages are not perfect finished products like many websites. They are set up to involve people in the process of creation. They encourage uses to work together and change things in collaboration with each other.
A lot of companies nowadays are using wikis to do lots of stuff. They can be used for note taking, managing a traditional website, putting together an online club or community and working together with colleagues online. You can track the changes that have been made, so you can see who has been working on what – and when! Really advanced wiki pages like Wikipedia (an enormous online encyclopedia) will show the recent changes and who has made them.
If you have access to an intranet, think about what you can do with it. You can access files and get hold of information, but generally you can not change things yourself unless you have specific user rights. For example, in a college the tutors can change the content of the intranet but more often than not the users can’t. Imagine having your own space on your college intranet – and the ability to make it look something like your facebook profile. You could also work on projects with other students in your college without ever meeting up with them!
Wikis are also great for non-technical users. Have you ever learned HTM and thought “When will this ever end?” Well, with wikis you only need to know a few basic tags. You can format your work normally and the wiki will do the HTML stuff for you!
But hold on! If you have a wiki that anyone can change, doesn’t that just invite people to do damage to your site? Well, they can but wikis can be rolled back and restored very easily as there is a continuous record of the changes made.
Wikis are great for bouncing ideas about. Any idea can be stored on a page in a wiki and returned to later – have you ever had a great idea and then forgotten it by the time you get to your meeting? With a wiki you can put all your ideas – and that of your group – in one place and return to them when you want.
If you work on a project using a wiki you can first of all decide collectively what aims and objectives the project will have. Material can be gathered which could be stored on the wiki. Documents can be drafted, edited and finalized on the wiki by any amount of users.
Meetings are easier with wikis. After all, a lot of time is spent in meetings telling the other people what you have been doing recently and what developments you have made. With a wiki everyone will know what progress you have made. After the meeting you can post the minutes up on to the wiki – it won’t get lost there! You thoughts about things are on continuous display – and shared – so meetings are easier for that too! In fact many people say “What you think is what you get!” about wikis.
But why not just use email? Come on, get with the century! If only three or four people send each other loads of emails, it is easy to lose track. With a wiki everyone can see exactly and easily what is going on.
So, it’s goodbye from Demi and Ruta. We think that wiki spaces are here to stay and will become more and more popular in organizations. We hope you have enjoyed this information about wiki pages!
