Wikis For Dummies

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Author(s): Dan Woods and Peter Thoeny

Review

Wikis For Dummies is a quick read and broadly covers the topic of wikis for content presentation, process management, and community interaction. The authors are experienced writers. Peter Thoeny is a recognized thought leader in the wiki development community and Dan Woods has authored many titles on different technologies. I bought the book because Peter Thoeny is the founder at TWiki.org and that software powers this web site. While I don't normally read the "... For Dummies" books, I thought I would find one or two insights to the TWiki software. I wasn't disappointed.

The TWiki.org software is some of the most powerful, flexible, and complex wiki software available. The authors recognized that TWiki.org software wouldn't be right for many readers and they present information on more than 20 wiki sites and the software engines that power those sites. I thought the authors did a great job of expanding the topic of wikis beyond the wikipedia model.

The table of contents of Wikis For Dummies includes 18 chapters arranged in 4 parts:

Part 1: Introducing Wikis

Understanding Wikis

Contributing Content to a Wiki

The Thousand Problem-Solving Faces of Wikis

Using and Improving the 800-pound Gorilla of Wikis: wikipedia

Part 2: Making Your Own Wiki

Finding a Hosted Home for Your Wiki

Creating Content for Your Wiki

Linking, Categorizing, and Tagging Wiki Pages

The Four Dimensions of Wiki Design

Part 3: Promoting, Managing, and Improving Your Wiki

Attracting Users to Your Wiki

Choosing an Installed Wiki Engine

Getting Your Wiki Engine Up and Running

Managing Wikis

Protecting Your Wiki

Creating Applications Using Structured Wikis

Part 4: The Part of Tens

Ten Roles People Play When Using Wikis

Ten Ways How Wikis Work at the Office

Ten Innovative Wikis

Chapter 11 (Getting Your Wiki Engine Up and Running) and Chapter 14 (Creating Applications Using Structured Wikis) were meaningful to me because I have been working with the TWiki.org software since 2005. However, while Chapter 11 clearly states the difficulties and differences of installing server software vs. desktop PC software, the authors are too optimistic about introducing this topic. The chapter conveys the impression that a novice wiki champion and an "expert Internet Mechanic" can get TWiki running in 2 - 3 hours. My experience is different, and this statement would only be true if the Internet Mechanic had specifically performed the TWiki installation multiple times in your server environment. It would be better to budget 3 days and get plugins installed, backups running, and so forth. Likewise, Chapter 14 is an advanced topic about structured wikis. The authors get about 70% of the way through developing the topic of building forms, and then briefly present an improved example using lots of HTML before rushing off to a different topic. Rumor has it that Peter Thoeny has another book in development where these topics will be more fully developed.

Conclusion: Wikis For Dummies was certainly worth the cost in both money and time to read.

Reviewed by: JimCrum

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