Wiki Is A Website

Wiki is a website, not a newsgroup. So:

• Pages should be pages. Not messes of threads of dozens of individual contributions. If pages like this do crop up (and they will, all the time), we should mercilessly edit them into a semblance of coherence.
• We are all a single author. These are all Our Words, not My Words or Your Words. If you do need to write something which is specifically Your Words, sign it with a Wiki Signature.
• Er ...
• That's it.

This philosophy is a direct continuation of that expounded by Ward Cunningham, founder of Wards Wiki, and thus of wikidom in general. In particular, some relevant ideas are:

• http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?GoodStyle
• "Write factual information. Give concrete advice. Use the second or third person when possible as the first person is not easily reduced to facts or advice. Place words where they are easy to read, which isn't always at the bottom. Edit pages to emphasize the flow of ideas, not the chronology of contribution."
• "Practice civility and understatement."
• http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?DissertationOverDiscourse
• "Dissertation is generally more highly valued than Discourse because it is thought to be more readable. Discourse is seen by some as a means to achieve the more preferred end of Dissertation."

For me, the quoted paragraph from GoodStyle is the fundamental essence of what a wiki should be like. Not that my opinion is of any consequence. -- TA

Category Wiki