Technical Writing – Why Really should You Spend Interest to Wikis?
In case you are not as well familiar with it, Wiki is a web web page that can be built by many authors with each other. That’s its most basic definition. The word “wiki” comes from Hawaiian “fast.” Wikipedia is the world’s most effective recognized wiki but, as vital as it is, it barely scratches the surface of the wiki applications on and off the World wide web.
Let’s clear up a semantic point: a “wiki” refers each to a internet web page and the application that tends to make the net web page doable. And the purpose I say “on and off the Internet” due to the fact there are numerous higher-tech corporations around the world currently who are making their own wiki websites hosted on their own servers, which can or can not be reached through the Net. Some wikis are for the exclusive use of membership groups.
The power of a wiki is the way it allows several authors pool their understanding and experiences and develop up a expertise base a great deal faster than a single author could ever do it. Just look at how Wikipedia has replaced quite a few other regular paper-primarily based encyclopedias, specifically for the beneath-30 generation.
The purpose why you should really spend interest to wikis and learn much more about them is for the reason that high-tech corporations have started to shift their documentation load to wikis exactly where not only technical writers but engineers, field technicians, quality manage engineers, managers, and even clientele and finish-customers can also participate in knowledge creation. The on the net enable computer software creator Quadralay is one particular such firm that opened up its information base to its finish-customers through a corporate wiki. In such a new environment, technical communicators shoulder the editing and facilitation roles as nicely.
Be the initial a single in your company to learn as a great deal as you can about wikis. How quite a few forms are there? How must hidden wiki opt for the appropriate wiki for the ideal job? How to set it up? How to configure it? How to write for a wiki? Create your own writing recommendations and be in front of this significant technological wave. The future belongs to the “quick” and the “wiki.”