Why Use A Wiki?
From AirheadsWiki
- Posted to the Airheads tech list by our Wiki admin ~justin
"Airheads like to share time, knowledge, parts and camaraderie with other Airheads"
Would you contribute to a "wiki" if one was installed it on www.airheads.org?
A "wiki" might be a new concept to some of you, or perhaps you have already caught on and use wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) religiously. So let me bring up those that aren't as technologically current.
Much like democracy 'wiki's are for the people and by the people. A 'wiki' is a volume of documents that everyone openly and collaboratively writes together. In other words, any page can be refined by anyone and as a result every page is written by everyone. Just like writing tech articles for the site (only much easier) without single authors. This may seem like a crazy idea, so let me answer some knee jerk questions:
Q: What is going to stop someone from erasing everything?
A: An archive or "History" of every page version is kept and tied to basic logs. In other words, the site administrators and everyone else can revert the document to the previous version and have enough information to identify who did it.
Q: If anyone can add to it, will it be just crap?
A: Honestly the first version of some documents may very well be, but the beauty of collaboration is that rough drafts quickly turn into final drafts. And an open document written and refined to satisfy many points of view is far better than the bias of one. Using this model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ has become so credible it has private encyclopedia publishers circling the porcelain bowl.
Q: Who owns the copyright on the content?
A: No one, not even the club. The content contributed to a wiki is considered to be in the public domain, for the people and by the people. So in accordance with the 8th club canon "Airheads like to share time, knowledge, parts and camaraderie with other Airheads" the information is free and for sharing.
Q: What does the club get out of it?
A: With our hosting plan it would cost us nothing. So we only gain search engine optimization, more content, community and goodwill for sharing information.
Q: How easy is it to add to a wiki?
A: Every page has an 'Edit' tab that you don't even have to log in to use. It opens up the page like notepad, you make your changes, and click save.
Q: How easy is it to see what people have done to a page?
A: Every page also has a 'History' tab that anyone can view, it even highlights specific changes if you want to compare different versions of the document.
Q: Can I upload pictures?
A: Yes! Much like the text, it keeps version history of the images as well as who uploaded it.
Q: Do I have to create an account?
A: No, it is not necessary to edit text on a page. However accounts can help you keep track of what pages you modified, let you 'watch' certain pages, and allow you to upload photos.
Q: Where can I see an example of this?
A: As mentioned several times before, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison #5838 webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxx
