Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: How do you set up a wiki?

[Don Marti (dmarti]

I like PBWiki for an off-site wiki, and it worked well
for North Oakland Cohousing (now in site acquisition
mode).  If you already have your own web server,
MoinMoin is much easier to set up than MediaWiki,
because you don't have to run a database server
as well.  (Virtual images are just servers without
the fan dust and tangled cables--you still have to
administer them.)

The main two factors that determine if any social
software, including a wiki, succeeds or fails in an
organization are: do the people who have information
that others want respond on the social software before
they answer their email or voice mail?   And does
the social software generate useful notifications
of changes?

If it's faster or more reliable to use email,
people will always fall back to it.  If you have
a core group of wiki freaks who always put stuff
there before email, and the wiki sends out change
notices, the wiki will get useful.  There is enough
"wiki gardening" work required that nobody can start
an organization wiki alone.

Don



begin John Sechrest quotation of Sat, Nov 06, 2010 at 08:21:49AM -0700:
> 
> for the default "I am just starting, but don't know what to use" path there
> are a couple of good starting choices:
> 
> 1) Use google:   Blogspot + google groups + google sites
>           simplistic, but does the 70% solution. Gets you email and wiki
> like things all under one toolset
> 
> 2) Use wordpress and use the comments ( still have to figure email)
> 3) Use a free wiki like PBwiki . Or wetpaint.
> 
> The real question is , what are the tools your group is willing to use and
> how willing are they to engage in it deeply. I keep fallng back to mailing
> lists + blog because I don't get groups to use the wiki. And then I end up
> doing the wiki work. Still useful, but not as much so.
> 
> 
> On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 6:40 PM, Marty Maskall <mmaskall [at] pacbell.net> 
> wrote:
> 
> >
> > Hi Sharon,
> >
> >
> >
> > We are a forming group.  We are looking for a solution for storing our
> > documents (Agenda, Minutes, Membership List, LLC Operating agreement,
> > etc.).
> > We have a google group, but google groups has discontinued storing
> > documents.  We are wondering about Google Docs.
> >
> >
> >
> > But maybe a wiki would be better.  What do you think?  How do we set up a
> > wiki?
> >
> >
> >
> > Marty
> >
> > -------------------
> >
> > Marty Maskall
> >
> > Project Manager & Future Resident
> >
> > www.FolsomEcoHousing.org
> >
> > (916) 967-2472
> >
> >
> >
> > Message: 4
> >
> > Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 15:44:24 -0400
> >
> > From: Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>
> >
> > Subject: Re: [C-L]_ community communications: how to do it
> >
> >
> >
> > The wiki form is so easy to use. I'm starting to do work orders as planning
> > documents for major tasks. We are planning professional floor polishing
> > after we have our CH linoleum floors repaired. I needed to record a note to
> > include the office which has a VCT floor hastily installed 8 years ago. The
> > oozing adhesive was never removed from some of the seams and it was never
> > polished.
> >
> >
> >
> > I can send an email and it will get buried. I can tell the person who is
> > likely to do the scheduling but she may (reasonably) forget or the task may
> > be given to someone else. By starting a work order for floor polishing, I
> > can add my note and everyone else can add theirs. If anyone forgets to sign
> > their note, there is a log of who added what when.
> >
> >
> >
> > Our less, even least, geeky members have been using the wiki like crazy so
> > I
> > think it is the format of the future.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sharon
> >
> > ----
> >
> > Sharon Villines
> >
> > Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> >
> > http://www.takomavillage.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> John Sechrest          .
>  Corvallis Benton        .
>     Chamber Coalition      .
>        420 NW 2nd                   .
>               (541) 757-1507              . sechrest [at] corvallisedp.com
>                                                                       .
> 
> 
>         .
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
> 

-- 
Don Marti                    
http://zgp.org/~dmarti/
dmarti [at] zgp.org