When a Wiki package gets too real

tbyrne@cmswatch.com(Tony Byrne) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:46:00 -0400

In talking to wiki users, we find a wide range of sophistication. Some are quite content with the simplistic "edit this page" features you can now find in most Web CMS and Social Software suites, while other customers seek more advanced features (such as topical refactoring and advanced aggregation and print services) that constitute for them a "real" wiki.

And then there are those who cut their teeth editing Wikipedia pages or learned about wikis by using the earliest tools. They come with a particular set of expectations -- especially around using good old fashioned "Wikitext" mark-up -- that today are met largely through the MediaWiki platform, the same tool that powers Wikipedia.

As Enterprise Social Software Report readers know, MediaWiki tends to find favor among wiki purists, but is often perceived as too arcane by novice users. Here's a nice summary of some relevant issues by consultant Dan Katz. (Thanks to Janus for the link.)

I'm more sanguine about open source wiki options and less enthusiastic about Socialtext than Katz, but he makes some very good points regardless of the tool you select. The key for you the customer is, as always, to test with "real" users before you deploy...

Announcing the Enterprise Social Software Report 2008

tbyrne@cmswatch.com(Tony Byrne) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The full name is actually Enterprise Social Software Report 2008: Networking & Collaboration Within and Beyond the Enterprise. Enterprises are increasingly using social tools -- some new, some not so new -- within and beyond enterprise boundaries. As one side effect, those boundaries are increasingly blurring, even though vendors still find it difficult to satisfy both internal and external scenarios.

The report evaluates 20 Social Software vendors against eleven common scenarions, weighing in at about 400 pages. Turns out there are a lot of differences among vendors and approaches. The tools may espouse a light touch, but many of the architectures are far from trivial. Our media release today highlights just one potential challenge you may face implementing at an enterprise level: the general dearth of system services (like configuration management) across this space.

The report is available for pre-order today. Subscribers will receive their copy in a week or so when the official version gets burned out.

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When a Wiki package gets too real

Announcing the Enterprise Social Software Report 2008