From technology to politics to video games; these are the random thoughts of a geek with too much time on his hands
Published on July 16, 2007 By Zoomba In WinCustomize News

Two weeks ago, we polled you on whether or not you picked up the iPhone on release weekend.  Even with the poll running a week longer than planned, a grand total of 15 people have sunk the cash and picked up the iPhone.  Honestly, it was so lopsided there's no real point in even posting a pie chart this week. 

This week, we move on to the WinCustomize Wiki, which officially launched last week and has already seen a lot of activity in updates and new content being added by the community.  SViz and Quentin94 have been some of our biggest contributors in the past week.  My question for everyone this week is have you actually been using the Wiki since it launched?

The poll has four options, ranging from "Yes, and I've even been contributing" to "No, I wasn't aware there was a wiki"

Results next week.


Comments
on Jul 16, 2007
You forgot "what's a wiki?"

I think the best thing about wikis is that they offer an opportunity for us to build on each other's best work. How often have you thought "wow, that's a great article, I just wish they'd put this point it in a slightly different way, it would have worked better"? Now you can fix it!
on Jul 16, 2007
Just a small suggestion...

It'd be great to have an additional button on the top links bar that goes to the Wiki.

Thanks guys, great work.
on Jul 16, 2007
I think the best thing about wikis is that they offer an opportunity for us to build on each other's best work.

... or completely delete it! Sorry, I just don't get wikis. If somebody has an issue with information I've (or any author) posted, they email me (or any webmaster) and lets the author know about it. And then the author can change it. If you give anybody the ability to add and change information out there, how can ANYONE trust anything they read?
on Jul 17, 2007
So far vandalism isn't rampant in the WC wiki. (I haven't seen any cases of it). As far as a know the most popular wiki pages (tv shows, movies, etc) are most vulnerable to vandalism. I heard the Sopranos wiki had to be locked down after the series finale due to upset fans.   

More than improving an already great tutorial, I think a wiki's strongest aspect is improving on a not-so-great tutorial; the fact that I don't have to know everything about a subject before I can put in my two cents of what I do know. I can start small and more knowledgable users can add on. I can work on this section while someone else can fill in that section. Many hands make light work.  

Just a little FYI - I'm currently working on a tutorial for the DesktopX wiki HERE. Any help or input is appreciated.
on Jul 17, 2007

... or completely delete it! Sorry, I just don't get wikis. If somebody has an issue with information I've (or any author) posted, they email me (or any webmaster) and lets the author know about it. And then the author can change it. If you give anybody the ability to add and change information out there, how can ANYONE trust anything they read?

Wikis work best as community devices.  They're not official documentation for products, so you are able to trust the information as much as you can trust info on any non-official page (fan sites, enthusiast forums etc.)  The idea is that a community that's invested, will do its best to provide the best and most accurate information possible.

The other advantage is that changes happen at a much quicker pace.  Lets say an update to Xion comes out that changes how skins function.  Users can update the wiki with information as soon as they have it.  So you have a centralized site that pulls information from a lot of different sites and developers, and quickly.  It makes it easier to find information when you have one page to hit.

on Jul 17, 2007
My next tutorials will be available here AND on Wiki
I think it's a great idea and everybody with knowledge to share should be contribute on the Wiki
on Jul 17, 2007
well done