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WikiWednesday wrap up

4 October 2007

David McCabe gives a presentation on his new LiquidThreads extension.

Portland Recap

In Portland, the group discussed quite a few things, including getting a presentation from David McCabe, a developer who's created LiquidThreads, an extension allowing for threaded discussion on TalkPages in MediaWiki installations (like Wikipedia, AboutUs, Wikia and wikiHow). The LiquidThreads is currently being tested on WikiEducator.org; the demo received rave reviews from all in attendance.

Llywrch shows off his WikiWear.

In addition to McCabe, the Portland WikiWednesday consisted of a number of Wikipedians, AboutUs staff, Charles Radley of Lunarpedia.org, Chuck Kisselburg from ICANNWiki and a few other area enthusiasts.

The next WikiWednesday in Portland will be held on Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the AboutUs offices, 107 SE Washington St., Suite 520, Portland, OR 97214.

Ann Arbor Recap

NOTE: Ann Arbor notes courtesy of BrianKerr and taken from ArborWiki.org.

Ann Arbor's Wiki Wednesday, a last minute affair, was lunchtime (the 3rd of October 2007), 12:15pm at SilviosOrganicPizza.

4 people in attendance for lovely pizza and conversation. Topics included:

• Google Analytics for ArborWiki -- 'fake click' integration of revision numbers, etc., as a way to link user agents and other info to edits
• weird spambot behavior on ArborWiki:
  • one-line nonsense word spam
  • ampersand truncator spam
  • recaptcha work Matt did, how this is helping
• wiki-library, wiki-map, wiki-blog integrations
• The-Communicator.org [1] versus the Ann Arbor News

Contibutors: TakKendrick, BrianKerr==Getting ready for WikiWednesday this week (Oct. 3)==

1 October 2007

As we've been mentioning the past couple of months, WikiWednesdays are a monthly opportunity for people in the wiki community and those interested in learning more to gather once a month. For newbies and seasoned hands alike, these events are co-located in time (generally the first Wednesday of the month), with other events happening (theoretically) on the same day all around the world.

This Wednesday being the first one of the month, there are a few WikiWednesday events located around the globe:

• In the San Francisco Bay area, there's a gathering at 6:30 p.m. at Citizen Space, the co-working space located at 425 Second St. #300 in San Francisco, CA. Featured speakers will be the IT team fro the local public TV station KQED, who will share how their no-profit organization uses wikis. (more information)
• The London WikiWednesday event will be held at the creative consultancy, WhatIfInnovation, The Glassworks, 3-4 Ashland Place, London, W1U 4AH. Plans for the event include gathering at 6:15 p.m. for food, refreshment and relaxed chat, with a 7 p.m. formal start for 5-minute presentations from individuals and organizations using wiki and social media technology. (more information)
• In Montréal, there will be an event at 6 p.m. at Caféo, at 4177 Rue Saint Denis (corner of rue Rachel and rue Saint Denis). (more information)
• Again this month, the Portland, OR WikiWednesday event will be held at the AboutUs offices, 107 SE Washington St., Suite 520, Portland, OR 97214. Starting at 6:30 p.m., the gathering is held as an "Open Space" meeting, attendees are invited to bring ideas for projects and help create the itinerary during the event. For those new to wiki or just looking for more information, there will be an "introduction to wiki discussion. (more information).
• While no event or location has been planned for Chicago, IL or Ann Arbor, MI; both cities have someone interested in either bootstrapping an event for this week or planning for next month. Anyone interested in WikiWednesday events in Chicago should contact Ted Ernst; for planning an event in Ann Arbor, contact Brian Kerr (Ann Arbor).

To see a list of upcoming WikiWednesday events each month, check out the Wiki Wednesdays page on Socialtext.net.

Contibutor: TakKendrick

Q&A with BryanDaugherty of Stackzilla.com

25 September 2007

Note: BryanDaugherty recently found AboutUs and is now an Active Community Member. Bryan was nice enough to answer a few questions about his experiences at AboutUs.

1. What did you think of AboutUs when you first came here, and how has that changed as you started making edits and then really became an ActiveMember over the last few weeks?

These initial edits helped introduce me to the wiki way which I found sincere and extremely productive. Not only were the edits I made increasing the traffic to Stackzilla.com but I thoroughly enjoyed the concept and ideals of participating in the AboutUs community. Reflecting back, I now consider some of my first edits “selfish” in comparison to all the work I witnessed by other active members and staff.

I began participating by taking stock in other members passions such as flagging adult content and welcoming. These first steps were rewarding because I was doing something that would make a difference outside of my own self-seeking interests. I also discovered that being a builder of portals and articles was very fulfilling and even helped introduce me to other individuals who shared the passions I enjoyed.

2. Now that you've built a few different WikiPages (from Stackzilla.com to your own PersonalPage, among others), what experiences do you have to share with others? (For example, what works, what doesn't, tricks/tips, etc.)

• What is the information you are trying to get across to those who may visit the page.
• Does the page seem to be in order and allow the reader to follow the thoughts you are expressing.
• Are there any red links on the page, if so, are they something of importance and something that will be edited/added in the future.
• If it is a domain page, have you added a logo, services, product pictures, testimonials and unique features of the domain.
• Have you added the correct categories to the page.

I think it is important to add that there is no one way to edit a page, each can be effectively unique and express the individualism of the domain or editor. Just try out different things to see what works best for you. Originality is key to attraction.

3. And now that you've taken an active role in the AboutUs community, helping with the FeaturePotentials, welcoming people and a number of other projects, what encouraged you to do this and, how do you like it?

Taking an excerpt from AboutUs that I have found genuine and indisputable (as well as unable to express better myself),

"Wikis are vibrant, fluid spaces that foster a distinct culture of Transparency. AboutUs strives to create a dynamic community of self-organizing members building the Commons by contributing Constructive Edits"

Considering the significance of the statement, there wasn’t much need for more encouragement. I have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming new users and meeting new people on AboutUs. I have met some of the most extraordinary people who have very distinct and valuable passions. There is no limit to what can be accomplished when you are surrounded by individuals who care about what you are trying to accomplish. To me, AboutUs can be defined by much more then its core values, but by the people who actually uphold these values as truths and practice them daily.

For more information about Bryan Daugherty check out his Personal Page and the DomainPage for his website, Stackzilla.com/Evolution of Thought Institute. Among the WikiPages he's worked on are: Portal:Entrepreneur Education, My Cluster Page and articles such as The State Of Security In America.