How to create a wiki page?

Do you have a team of professionals, who actively develop some spheres? Do you have anything interesting for others? Then, it`s high time to think about a wiki creation to share your knowledge with people!

A word “wiki” itself means “quick” from Hawaiian. If we talk about a computer-based program, it`s a kind of content management system, where people can add, edit, delete information, which is kept there.

Wikipedia is the greatest example of a wiki. It is supported by volunteers mostly, they are responsible for content sharing and editing.

Everyone, who is logged in, can contribute to Wikipedia. If you have anything to add to the article, then you can do that. Moreover, you can share your own article. Remember, that other users can edit your articles as well.

Wikipedia has become a true success. It takes the sixth place in the ranking of the most popular websites in the world.530 million people use it every month, it has 30 million articles, which you can read in 287 languages.

When people use a wiki

The first wiki was created in 1995. It was aimed at storing the information of software developers. Indeed, it`s one of the major features of a wiki – people can cooperate on one subject, share and edit information here.

If different teams of experts work remotely, wiki helps them share some notes and ideas, so they manage to agree on the creation of something really great.

However, you should think well when and where you can use a wiki. Wikis are not suitable for some kinds of conversations or for accurate information, which needs no editing.

If you want to know how to create a google wiki, then check the following information, which includes some simple steps.

Make sure you need a wiki

First of all, you are to make sure that a wiki is an appropriate tool for you. Look through your materials, project, its aims, and consider the next things:

• Does your project involve different people?
• Will you get any benefits from sharing this information with others?
• Will this information be used in future?
• Is this document an evolving or static one? If the last, then wiki is not for you.

If you face difficulties in answering some of these questions, then you probably don`t need a wiki at all.

Make a risk analysis

Before creating a wiki, you are to make sure that the information you keep there will be secure, so you should conduct a risk analysis. The security levels depend on a software platform you use, so you`d better ask your IT managers for advice.

Set your wiki up

You can set up a wiki from several options. You can build a wiki from a scratch with free options of Wikia and MediaWiki.

Still, there are organizations, which provide software, hosting for money. For instance, Central Desktop and Same Page are paid, they provide you with everything you need to start a wiki. Moreover, they can assist you in the further development.

You should think well while choosing among the free and paid wiki. Pay attention to its aim, how many people will work on it, how much time you can spend on its development and what level of security you need. You can compare the options here WikiMatrix and choose the most suitable variant for you.

There are also private wikis, which you can use in your organizations. Free versions, like TikiWiki, and Twiki, which takes a one-time fee for downloading can help you with the question of how to create a private wiki.

When you have set a wiki, invite some people to check it for readability. Take into account their feedbacks and change what is necessary before your wiki goes live. As your success depends on it.

Work for buy-in

People who have been working with wikis long enough, are full of fresh enthusiasm to edit articles. Newcomers are scared to make any changes in most cases.

You are to encourage your team members to join the development of a wiki, as this will help it more effective. It`s a good idea to invest your time to achieve buy-in from your team.
Analyze who has the best approaches and encourage those people, they can be good examples for other team members.

Your task is also to explain what wiki is, how your team will benefit from its usage and how exactly it works.

Your wiki should be kept up-to-date

A wiki is a live document, it should be maintained all the time. You are to encourage your team members to upload new information and make edits. If you want, you can turn on an automatic system, which will give points every time a person edits the document. This will definitely encourage your members to work on a wiki on regular basis.

Moreover, you can choose a curator, who can look after other team members. They will help put information in the right places and escape conflicts of team members who edit one another`s information.

Some people may be against wiki, using instead email, for instance, to share information. But this is not as effective, as the wiki usage, as the list of recipients can not contain needed people.

You should encourage people to share information with the help of a wiki. In this case, your wiki will become a successful one.