OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Marcus Carr]

will white wrote:

> I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the  
> leisure to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads  
> to get through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It  
> sounds like a mechanism to convince other people to do my work.

Wikis are currently underpowered, but they support some of the concepts 
that will find their way into everyone's work sooner or later. The most 
significant is probably collaborative creation of data rather than the 
classic "amend, distribute, discuss" loop, where contradictory views may 
take several iterations to reconcile to everyone's satisfaction. Take 
the example of contract creation - a contract can bounce around for 
weeks over relatively minor changes. The lawyers on both sides should be 
looking at, annotating and modifying the same document, not just a copy. 
There should be a full revision history of the document including 
information about who made the changes and when. When both sides are 
happy with the result, they should version the document with a view to 
declaring it to be final.

Nearly any type of information would benefit from this approach - the 
idea that you could have the engineers, the business analysts, the 
technical writer and the coders all involved with specifying 
requirements is another example. Perhaps you'd have the technical writer 
able to edit the document and all the rest able to participate in 
threaded discussions at the requirement level, but not actually able to 
edit the document. In that scenario, everyone has to step up to the 
plate and take responsibility. If you've had an opportunity to 
contribute but have failed to do so, it's quite clear who has let the 
side down.

We've been betting on that approach for over 8 years, since we started 
developing PageSeeder (http://www.pageseeder.com). The problem with 
wikis is that people want to create documents with more structure than 
wikis support - they want a contract to contain sections that contain 
clauses. Making them use wiki markup is like making people author in 
HTML, but wikis are a step in the right direction. We believe that you 
need to hit the XML schema that the data conforms to, not force a lowest 
common denominator solution.

This explains my feelings for treating FrameMaker primarily as a 
typesetting engine rather than the centre of the documentation process. 
Unless Adobe are planning something dramatically different for 
FrameMaker, there is a real requirement for the data to be XML and to 
exist outside of FrameMaker. Of course you still need to paginate and 
print your hardcopy, but only after the hard work of producing the 
content has been finished. It's a great tool for producing hardcopy - I 
started using it in the early nineties and have always been a fan. If 
you use all of the functionality that it has though, you will not be 
able to pursue options like those described above. Your data will be too 
dependent on your application. A robust system needs to prioritise the 
data and make use of applications, not shape the data in accordance with 
the feature set of a particular application. Okay, okay, I'm off the 
soapbox...


Marcus

Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Steve Rickaby]

At 18:39 -0700 18/3/07, Whites wrote:

For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take another 
run at that sentence: I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm 
searching for writers who use wikis.

Deconstruct, please, Will... ;-) Is it the comma before the conjunction you 
object to? Or the mix of the colloquial 'I'm' with the formal 'I am'? Or what? 
Bad style?

For Diane, your pal could contact the ISTC via http://www.istc.org.uk. The 
ISTC has published several articles in recent years by writers with experience 
of rolling out - or rolling up - wikis in medium-size corporations that have 
highlighted the pros and cons well, and they may be able to put you in touch 
with said authors.

(We can't reply directly to Dennis, as only the mail group he's used has been 
given here.)

I appreciate that this probably won't help with the person-to-person aspect, 
but a web chat would be as good, surely?

-- 
Steve
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Bodvar Bjorgvinsson]

I don't quite understand.
You subscribe to this very informative list. How much are YOU paying
the people who are letting their lights shine in this list? How much
are they demanding?

As I see this, Wiki is based on the same generic principal: the inner
need to help, the inner need to let your light shine, or (probably
most common) a combination of both. Maybe also (as I have experienced)
you learn by sharing, because then you have to formulate what you
think you know. Which I see as a good thing.

So, FrameUsers, Wiki and Open Source is not such a bad thing, I guess.

For that matter, the Internet was really created this way, by sharing
information. And FramaMaker would be dead without it.

Bodvar
-sharing some info for free! ;-)


On 3/19/07, Whites [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take
another run at that sentence: I am writing a white paper for my
class, and I'm searching for writers
who use wikis.

I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in a software
documentation environment. I suspect that the only reason
Anarchipedia works at all is because there exists a large population
of educated types who are willing to contribute and who are able to
do so because they are writing their entries on someone else's
nickel. Probably university souls who would otherwise be preparing
lectures or grading some of the few papers that students still claim
to write. Or maybe they are just avoiding their tedious chores.

I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the
leisure to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads
to get through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It
sounds like a mechanism to convince other people to do my work.

will white

On Mar 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Diane Gaskill wrote:

 I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
 that use wikis.

++
There is something fascinating about science.
One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture
out of such a trifling investment of fact. - Twain
++

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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Peter Ring]

Wikis are quite heavily used on company intranets for conversational 
knowledge management.


You do seem to be mistaken about what wikis are used for.

Kind regards
Peter Ring

Whites wrote:
snip/


I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the leisure 
to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads to get 
through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It sounds like a 
mechanism to convince other people to do my work.



snip/
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Chris Borokowski]

I guess it depends on how informed, disciplined and
articulate their inner lights are then.

I've seen some good things from Open Source, and some
total failures. Two products I use daily were
developed by single individuals to a standard higher
than most Open Source projects.

--- Bodvar Bjorgvinsson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 As I see this, Wiki is based on the same generic
 principal: the inner
 need to help, the inner need to let your light
 shine, or (probably
 most common) a combination of both. Maybe also (as I
 have experienced)
 you learn by sharing, because then you have to
 formulate what you
 think you know. Which I see as a good thing.





 

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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Chris Borokowski]

Good point. And when you think about it, a blog is
just a way of posting news items from a database. A
wiki is like a sub-web, in that it makes it easier
to link between topics than using HTML. Either can be
used for good... or (demonic laugh) vil.

--- Ron Miller [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 I see here a key difference in this discussion. One
 is the open wiki 
 like Wikipedia. The other is a corporate blog or
 wiki. The 
 implementation is similar, but inside a company, the
 wiki contains 
 information from trusted sources about *your*
 project.




 

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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Ron Miller]

I disagree. I think Wikis can be very useful and hardly dawdling--could 
actually save time. They can provide a central place to share tips and 
tricks, to announce code updates, share code snippets and other 
information useful to a team.


What's more when used with an environment like Sharepoint, you can 
upload code changes and doc updates and have all the information and 
announcements related to a project in a central place.


Check out this company: http://www.tractionsoftware.com/.

Ron



Whites wrote:
For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take 
another run at that sentence: I am writing a white paper for my class, 
and I'm searching for writers

who use wikis.

I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in a software 
documentation environment. I suspect that the only reason Anarchipedia 
works at all is because there exists a large population of educated 
types who are willing to contribute and who are able to do so because 
they are writing their entries on someone else's nickel. Probably 
university souls who would otherwise be preparing lectures or grading 
some of the few papers that students still claim to write. Or maybe they 
are just avoiding their tedious chores.


I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the leisure 
to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads to get 
through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It sounds like a 
mechanism to convince other people to do my work.


will white

On Mar 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Diane Gaskill wrote:


I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
that use wikis.


++
There is something fascinating about science.
One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture
out of such a trifling investment of fact. - Twain
++

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--
Ron Miller
Freelance Technology Writing Since 1988
Contributing Editor, EContent Magazine

email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
web: http://www.ronsmiller.com
blog: http://byronmiller.typepad.com/
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Ron Miller]

I see here a key difference in this discussion. One is the open wiki 
like Wikipedia. The other is a corporate blog or wiki. The 
implementation is similar, but inside a company, the wiki contains 
information from trusted sources about *your* project.


It provides a forum and a structure to communicate and share information 
as a team.


And in fact, there are many companies who are providing wiki and blog 
structure for companies to work in a structured collaborative 
environment outside of the open source options.


Ron



Chris Borokowski wrote:

I guess it depends on how informed, disciplined and
articulate their inner lights are then.

I've seen some good things from Open Source, and some
total failures. Two products I use daily were
developed by single individuals to a standard higher
than most Open Source projects.

--- Bodvar Bjorgvinsson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


As I see this, Wiki is based on the same generic
principal: the inner
need to help, the inner need to let your light
shine, or (probably
most common) a combination of both. Maybe also (as I
have experienced)
you learn by sharing, because then you have to
formulate what you
think you know. Which I see as a good thing.






 

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--
Ron Miller
Freelance Technology Writing Since 1988
Contributing Editor, EContent Magazine

email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
web: http://www.ronsmiller.com
blog: http://byronmiller.typepad.com/
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Steve Rickaby]

At 05:05 -0700 19/3/07, Whites wrote:

Back in the old days we were taught to use different relative pronouns for 
persons and things.  To my ancient ears writers that use Wikis is just 
slovenly English.  Still, it's better than writers what use Wikis, but I 
would expect writers who use Wikis from an aspiring writer.

My apologies: I was looking at your quote assuming that it was a quote of the 
original, and I didn't look at the original. Yes, completely agree with you. I 
had anticipated a difference between US and UK usage, and as I have to use 
both, I'm always interesting in learning.

-- 
Steve
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Peter Ring]

If it is good enough for IBM, it is probably job safe in smaller companies:

  http://www.ibm.com/redbooks/redwiki

Some lists of wiki systems, proprietary as well as free:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_software
  http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines
  http://www.wikimatrix.org/
  http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonWikiEngines
  http://java-source.net/open-source/wiki-engines

A popular integrated wiki/tracking/revision environment:

  http://trac.edgewall.org/

kind regards
Peter Ring

Chris Borokowski wrote:

I won't use WikiPedia as a source anymore because I've
been burned too many times. The writers tell you what
they want to tell you, which is often far from
comprehensive. It's a very biased, often inaccurate,
source. It's worth the extra five minutes to do the
real research.

However, wikis as a concept shouldn't be confused with
Wikipedia. I like wikis in small settings like
companies where someone can fix or weed out the
inaccurate. As someone else here said, they're
conversational sources of information. People document
informal best practices through them, and you should
consider them like a half-drunk SME: they'll give you
an answer that's mostly complete in a shorthand of
their own.


snip/
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Keith Arnett]

I have worked for two companies where wikis were used in a software
development environment. Based on that experience, I haven't been favorably
impressed. The tantalizing premise of everyone can share their information
with everyone else can be seriously compromised by lack of content
organization.

Unless someone takes on an organizational guidance/enforcement role, the
wiki becomes nothing more than a dumping ground for information that no one
can locate. Will White's anarchipedia label hits the nail on the head. I
cringe when I hear the words, Oh, you can get that on the wiki during a
team meeting.

In my experience, the wikis were set up by the software engineering team,
mostly as a self-help tool and without input from QA or Doc. The wiki
organization' is more along the lines of we'll make it up as we go along,
making it extremely difficult to locate pertinent information. 

However, with a bit of planning and shared input, the wiki format has lots
of potential. My own observation is that in today's rapid application
development environment, most development teams don't have the time or
inclination to do this.

Regards,

Keith Arnett
Senior Technical Writer
webMethods, Inc.\ Fairfax VA

-Original Message-
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:39:13 -0700
From: Whites [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: OT: Tech Writers  Wikis
To: Diane Gaskill [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: Framers framers@frameusers.com

For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take  
another run at that sentence: I am writing a white paper for my  
class, and I'm searching for writers who use wikis.

I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in a software  
documentation environment. I suspect that the only reason  
Anarchipedia works at all is because there exists a large population  
of educated types who are willing to contribute and who are able to  
do so because they are writing their entries on someone else's  
nickel. Probably university souls who would otherwise be preparing  
lectures or grading some of the few papers that students still claim  
to write. Or maybe they are just avoiding their tedious chores.

I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the  
leisure to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads  
to get through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It  
sounds like a mechanism to convince other people to do my work.

will white

On Mar 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Diane Gaskill wrote:

 I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
 that use wikis.

***
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Marcus Carr]

will white wrote:

I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the  
leisure to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads  
to get through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It  
sounds like a mechanism to convince other people to do my work.


Wikis are currently underpowered, but they support some of the concepts 
that will find their way into everyone's work sooner or later. The most 
significant is probably collaborative creation of data rather than the 
classic amend, distribute, discuss loop, where contradictory views may 
take several iterations to reconcile to everyone's satisfaction. Take 
the example of contract creation - a contract can bounce around for 
weeks over relatively minor changes. The lawyers on both sides should be 
looking at, annotating and modifying the same document, not just a copy. 
There should be a full revision history of the document including 
information about who made the changes and when. When both sides are 
happy with the result, they should version the document with a view to 
declaring it to be final.


Nearly any type of information would benefit from this approach - the 
idea that you could have the engineers, the business analysts, the 
technical writer and the coders all involved with specifying 
requirements is another example. Perhaps you'd have the technical writer 
able to edit the document and all the rest able to participate in 
threaded discussions at the requirement level, but not actually able to 
edit the document. In that scenario, everyone has to step up to the 
plate and take responsibility. If you've had an opportunity to 
contribute but have failed to do so, it's quite clear who has let the 
side down.


We've been betting on that approach for over 8 years, since we started 
developing PageSeeder (http://www.pageseeder.com). The problem with 
wikis is that people want to create documents with more structure than 
wikis support - they want a contract to contain sections that contain 
clauses. Making them use wiki markup is like making people author in 
HTML, but wikis are a step in the right direction. We believe that you 
need to hit the XML schema that the data conforms to, not force a lowest 
common denominator solution.


This explains my feelings for treating FrameMaker primarily as a 
typesetting engine rather than the centre of the documentation process. 
Unless Adobe are planning something dramatically different for 
FrameMaker, there is a real requirement for the data to be XML and to 
exist outside of FrameMaker. Of course you still need to paginate and 
print your hardcopy, but only after the hard work of producing the 
content has been finished. It's a great tool for producing hardcopy - I 
started using it in the early nineties and have always been a fan. If 
you use all of the functionality that it has though, you will not be 
able to pursue options like those described above. Your data will be too 
dependent on your application. A robust system needs to prioritise the 
data and make use of applications, not shape the data in accordance with 
the feature set of a particular application. Okay, okay, I'm off the 
soapbox...



Marcus
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OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Steve Rickaby]

At 18:39 -0700 18/3/07, Whites wrote:

>For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take another 
>run at that sentence: "I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm 
>searching for writers who use wikis."

Deconstruct, please, Will... ;-) Is it the comma before the conjunction you 
object to? Or the mix of the colloquial 'I'm' with the formal 'I am'? Or what? 
Bad style?

For Diane, your pal could contact the ISTC via . The 
ISTC has published several articles in recent years by writers with experience 
of rolling out - or rolling up - wikis in medium-size corporations that have 
highlighted the pros and cons well, and they may be able to put you in touch 
with said authors.

(We can't reply directly to Dennis, as only the mail group he's used has been 
given here.)

I appreciate that this probably won't help with the person-to-person aspect, 
but a web chat would be as good, surely?

-- 
Steve

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Peter Ring]

Wikis are quite heavily used on company intranets for "conversational 
knowledge management".

You do seem to be mistaken about what wikis are used for.

Kind regards
Peter Ring

Whites wrote:

> 
> I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the leisure 
> to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads to get 
> through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It sounds like a 
> mechanism to convince other people to do my work.
> 

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Chris Borokowski]

I guess it depends on how informed, disciplined and
articulate their inner lights are then.

I've seen some good things from Open Source, and some
total failures. Two products I use daily were
developed by single individuals to a standard higher
than most Open Source projects.

--- Bodvar Bjorgvinsson  wrote:

> As I see this, Wiki is based on the same generic
> principal: the inner
> need to help, the inner need to let your light
> shine, or (probably
> most common) a combination of both. Maybe also (as I
> have experienced)
> you learn by sharing, because then you have to
> formulate what you
> think you know. Which I see as a good thing.







Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. 
Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta.
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OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Chris Borokowski]

I won't use WikiPedia as a source anymore because I've
been burned too many times. The writers tell you what
they want to tell you, which is often far from
comprehensive. It's a very biased, often inaccurate,
source. It's worth the extra five minutes to do the
real research.

However, wikis as a concept shouldn't be confused with
Wikipedia. I like wikis in small settings like
companies where someone can fix or weed out the
inaccurate. As someone else here said, they're
conversational sources of information. People document
informal best practices through them, and you should
consider them like a half-drunk SME: they'll give you
an answer that's mostly complete in a shorthand of
their own.

--- Whites  wrote:

> I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in
> a software  
> documentation environment. I suspect that the only
> reason  
> Anarchipedia works at all is because there exists a
> large population  
> of educated types who are willing to contribute and
> who are able to  
> do so because they are writing their entries on
> someone else's  
> nickel. Probably university souls who would
> otherwise be preparing  
> lectures or grading some of the few papers that
> students still claim  
> to write. Or maybe they are just avoiding their
> tedious chores.






Bored stiff? Loosen up... 
Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games.
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OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Ron Miller]

I disagree. I think Wikis can be very useful and hardly dawdling--could 
actually save time. They can provide a central place to share tips and 
tricks, to announce code updates, share code snippets and other 
information useful to a team.

What's more when used with an environment like Sharepoint, you can 
upload code changes and doc updates and have all the information and 
announcements related to a project in a central place.

Check out this company: http://www.tractionsoftware.com/.

Ron



Whites wrote:
> For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take 
> another run at that sentence: "I am writing a white paper for my class, 
> and I'm searching for writers
> who use wikis."
> 
> I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in a software 
> documentation environment. I suspect that the only reason Anarchipedia 
> works at all is because there exists a large population of educated 
> types who are willing to contribute and who are able to do so because 
> they are writing their entries on someone else's nickel. Probably 
> university souls who would otherwise be preparing lectures or grading 
> some of the few papers that students still claim to write. Or maybe they 
> are just avoiding their tedious chores.
> 
> I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the leisure 
> to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads to get 
> through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It sounds like a 
> mechanism to convince other people to do my work.
> 
> will white
> 
> On Mar 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Diane Gaskill wrote:
> 
>> I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
>> that use wikis.
> 
> ++
> There is something fascinating about science.
> One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture
> out of such a trifling investment of fact. - Twain
> ++
> 
> ___
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Ron Miller
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email: ronsmiller at comcast.net
web: http://www.ronsmiller.com
blog: http://byronmiller.typepad.com/

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Ron Miller]

I see here a key difference in this discussion. One is the open wiki 
like Wikipedia. The other is a corporate blog or wiki. The 
implementation is similar, but inside a company, the wiki contains 
information from trusted sources about *your* project.

It provides a forum and a structure to communicate and share information 
as a team.

And in fact, there are many companies who are providing wiki and blog 
structure for companies to work in a structured collaborative 
environment outside of the open source options.

Ron



Chris Borokowski wrote:
> I guess it depends on how informed, disciplined and
> articulate their inner lights are then.
> 
> I've seen some good things from Open Source, and some
> total failures. Two products I use daily were
> developed by single individuals to a standard higher
> than most Open Source projects.
> 
> --- Bodvar Bjorgvinsson  wrote:
> 
>> As I see this, Wiki is based on the same generic
>> principal: the inner
>> need to help, the inner need to let your light
>> shine, or (probably
>> most common) a combination of both. Maybe also (as I
>> have experienced)
>> you learn by sharing, because then you have to
>> formulate what you
>> think you know. Which I see as a good thing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. 
> Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta.
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-- 
Ron Miller
Freelance Technology Writing Since 1988
Contributing Editor, EContent Magazine

email: ronsmiller at comcast.net
web: http://www.ronsmiller.com
blog: http://byronmiller.typepad.com/

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Steve Rickaby]

At 05:05 -0700 19/3/07, Whites wrote:

>Back in the old days we were taught to use different relative pronouns for 
>persons and things.  To my ancient ears "writers that use Wikis" is just 
>slovenly English.  Still, it's better than "writers what use Wikis", but I 
>would expect "writers who use Wikis" from an aspiring writer.

My apologies: I was looking at your quote assuming that it was a quote of the 
original, and I didn't look at the original. Yes, completely agree with you. I 
had anticipated a difference between US and UK usage, and as I have to use 
both, I'm always interesting in learning.

-- 
Steve

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Peter Ring]

If it is good enough for IBM, it is probably job safe in smaller companies:

   http://www.ibm.com/redbooks/redwiki

Some lists of wiki systems, proprietary as well as free:

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_software
   http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines
   http://www.wikimatrix.org/
   http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonWikiEngines
   http://java-source.net/open-source/wiki-engines

A popular integrated wiki/tracking/revision environment:

   http://trac.edgewall.org/

kind regards
Peter Ring

Chris Borokowski wrote:
> I won't use WikiPedia as a source anymore because I've
> been burned too many times. The writers tell you what
> they want to tell you, which is often far from
> comprehensive. It's a very biased, often inaccurate,
> source. It's worth the extra five minutes to do the
> real research.
> 
> However, wikis as a concept shouldn't be confused with
> Wikipedia. I like wikis in small settings like
> companies where someone can fix or weed out the
> inaccurate. As someone else here said, they're
> conversational sources of information. People document
> informal best practices through them, and you should
> consider them like a half-drunk SME: they'll give you
> an answer that's mostly complete in a shorthand of
> their own.
> 

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Keith Arnett]

I have worked for two companies where wikis were used in a software
development environment. Based on that experience, I haven't been favorably
impressed. The tantalizing premise of "everyone can share their information
with everyone else" can be seriously compromised by lack of content
organization.

Unless someone takes on an organizational guidance/enforcement role, the
wiki becomes nothing more than a dumping ground for information that no one
can locate. Will White's "anarchipedia" label hits the nail on the head. I
cringe when I hear the words, "Oh, you can get that on the wiki" during a
team meeting.

In my experience, the wikis were set up by the software engineering team,
mostly as a "self-help" tool and without input from QA or Doc. The wiki
"organization' is more along the lines of "we'll make it up as we go along,"
making it extremely difficult to locate pertinent information. 

However, with a bit of planning and shared input, the wiki format has lots
of potential. My own observation is that in today's rapid application
development environment, most development teams don't have the time or
inclination to do this.

Regards,

Keith Arnett
Senior Technical Writer
webMethods, Inc.\ Fairfax VA

-Original Message-
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:39:13 -0700
From: Whites <whitefam...@mac.com>
Subject: Re: OT: Tech Writers & Wikis
To: Diane Gaskill 
Cc: Framers 

For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take  
another run at that sentence: "I am writing a white paper for my  
class, and I'm searching for writers who use wikis."

I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in a software  
documentation environment. I suspect that the only reason  
Anarchipedia works at all is because there exists a large population  
of educated types who are willing to contribute and who are able to  
do so because they are writing their entries on someone else's  
nickel. Probably university souls who would otherwise be preparing  
lectures or grading some of the few papers that students still claim  
to write. Or maybe they are just avoiding their tedious chores.

I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the  
leisure to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads  
to get through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It  
sounds like a mechanism to convince other people to do my work.

will white

On Mar 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Diane Gaskill wrote:

> I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
> that use wikis.

***

OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Diane Gaskill]

If you are a TW in San Francisco and would like to help this TW student,
please reply directly to him.

Thanks,

Diane
===

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 6:09 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [silicon-valley-technical-writers] Tech Writers  Wikis


Hi everyone,

I am a senior at San Francisco State University (SFSU), in the
Technical  Professional Writing program.

I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
that use wikis. If you are such a writer, I'm hoping to reach out to
you as a resource for my paper. I would really appreciate some
feedback, or ideally an interview. If you have a moment, I'm
interested in the wikis you're using, the pain points, and the benefits.

If any of you have contacts that you think would be a good resource
for me, can you please pass on my information to them? I'm hoping to
interview someone in-person, here in the San Francisco.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Dennis Feliciano
415 279 2610 (m)

___


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Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Re: OT: Tech Writers Wikis

[Whites]

For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take  
another run at that sentence: I am writing a white paper for my  
class, and I'm searching for writers

who use wikis.

I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in a software  
documentation environment. I suspect that the only reason  
Anarchipedia works at all is because there exists a large population  
of educated types who are willing to contribute and who are able to  
do so because they are writing their entries on someone else's  
nickel. Probably university souls who would otherwise be preparing  
lectures or grading some of the few papers that students still claim  
to write. Or maybe they are just avoiding their tedious chores.


I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the  
leisure to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads  
to get through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It  
sounds like a mechanism to convince other people to do my work.


will white

On Mar 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Diane Gaskill wrote:


I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
that use wikis.


++
There is something fascinating about science.
One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture
out of such a trifling investment of fact. - Twain
++

___


You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit
http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Diane Gaskill]

If you are a TW in San Francisco and would like to help this TW student,
please reply directly to him.

Thanks,

Diane
===

-Original Message-
From: silicon-valley-technical-writ...@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 6:09 AM
To: silicon-valley-technical-writers at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [silicon-valley-technical-writers] Tech Writers & Wikis


Hi everyone,

I am a senior at San Francisco State University (SFSU), in the
Technical & Professional Writing program.

I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
that use wikis. If you are such a writer, I'm hoping to reach out to
you as a resource for my paper. I would really appreciate some
feedback, or ideally an interview. If you have a moment, I'm
interested in the wikis you're using, the pain points, and the benefits.

If any of you have contacts that you think would be a good resource
for me, can you please pass on my information to them? I'm hoping to
interview someone in-person, here in the San Francisco.

Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Dennis Feliciano
415 279 2610 (m)

OT: Tech Writers & Wikis

[Whites]

For starters, to the guy at SFSU trying to learn how to write, take  
another run at that sentence: "I am writing a white paper for my  
class, and I'm searching for writers
who use wikis."

I've been asked before what I thought about wikis in a software  
documentation environment. I suspect that the only reason  
Anarchipedia works at all is because there exists a large population  
of educated types who are willing to contribute and who are able to  
do so because they are writing their entries on someone else's  
nickel. Probably university souls who would otherwise be preparing  
lectures or grading some of the few papers that students still claim  
to write. Or maybe they are just avoiding their tedious chores.

I'm dubious that folks in most development environments have the  
leisure to dawdle around in a wiki when they have their own workloads  
to get through. Or am I misunderstanding the charm of a wiki? It  
sounds like a mechanism to convince other people to do my work.

will white

On Mar 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Diane Gaskill wrote:

> I am writing a white paper for my class, and I'm searching for writers
> that use wikis.

++
There is something fascinating about science.
One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture
out of such a trifling investment of fact. - Twain
++