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Wikis
navbar The key to wikis is co-operation. There seems to be a reluctance by new group members to get involved in wikis. Nobody is sure what the reason for this might be, but it may just be a case of British reserve. Don’t be shy therefore, if you think you can improve on what you see and the group has agreed to work in this way, go for it. This can be a little disconcerting if you are the originator of the article; after all, you may have laboured long and hard on your words and to have someone come along and question your facts, add a photo or even (heaven preserve us!) delete something, takes a bit of getting used to. Amendments are not permanent, but are subject to agreement.

You can see who changed what in each modification by using the so-called history feature.
The group leader can roll back the text to its previous form or remove anything he/she feels is undesirable.The best known wiki in practice is the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia (go to http://en.wikipedia.org where you will see it described as “the free encyclopaedia that anyone can edit”). Some golden rules borrowed from there are:

  • Make others feel welcome (even longtime participants; even those you dislike),
  • Create and continue a friendly environment,
  • Turn the other cheek (which includes walking away from potential edit wars),
  • Give praise, especially to those you do not know (most people like to know they are wanted and appreciated), and
  • Forgive!
As you will be aware, electronic communications lack the subtleties of those of everyday interactions and, as indicated, you should therefore take particular care to ensure that exchanges with your fellow group members are always cordial. We are sorry if all this appears to be self-evident, and we sincerely hope that you will enjoy sharing wikis with the other members of your group.

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(With thanks to http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=26179)

 

Last updated 02-Nov-2008