[Hidden-tech] Wikis

[J. Cohen]

Janet Kaplan-Bucciarelli wrote:
> Interesting discussion re: wikis. Can you explain the differences 
> between using a wiki and other collaboration sites, like google groups 
> and Basecamp, etc..?

A wiki is a good place for making collaborative documents.  The end 
result is a collection of documents -- like a procedure manual.  I don't 
think that wiki software is ideal for discussions -- only for creating a 
final end document that can be edited by anyone.

A forum is good for discussions, but the end result is that the 
information is spread out through many forum threads.  It makes a good 
reference if it has a search feature, but it's not a collection of 
single documents like a wiki is.  Google Groups is a kind of forum, but 
I think there are much better options for forum software, like vBulletin.

Basecamp is a project management tool.  It has "messages" which function 
like a simple forum, though not as powerful.  It also has features like 
to-do lists and milestones that can be assigned to users on the project. 
  You can make a milestone like "website launch: November 10th" and have 
a list of associated todo lists like "design tasks", "content" -- and 
each to do list can have multiple items that are assigned to individual 
users.  When the user finishes the task, they check off the box and 
everyone on the project knows that it's done.


Josh