DIY Online Collaboration: Wikis

Have you ever thought about building an online space where different people can easily share their expertise on a subject or project? If creating such a resource seems out of your league, you might want to consider building a wiki.

What Is a Wiki?

A wiki is a website maintained collaboratively by a community of contributors focusing on a particular subject or project. Software for creating wikis is easy to use and is available in both open-source and proprietary forms. If desired, different users can have different levels of control over sharing, editing, and removing information. Typical wiki communities are work groups within a company, educators and students, and hobbyists.

By far the most recognized wiki is Wikipedia. Wikipedia would not be possible without the support of its volunteer contributors, who help keep the site's content current. By relying on volunteers, Wikipedia can draw on anyone to share their knowledge on a topic, check facts, or accurately translate content. To manage the site and volunteer contributors, Wikipedia also enlists the help of volunteer administrators.

Building a Wiki

While you might not aspire to build the next Wikipedia, building a wiki is something anyone who has the willingness can do. Begin by identifying what your community needs and articulate what the purpose of your wiki is. Decide what software to use for your wiki.

Organizing a wiki team is much like organizing a volunteer or work team. You will need to identify who can provide or edit content and who can be enlisted to serve as an administrator. You will need to decide which volunteer contributors should be assigned which editing permissions. Wikis are meant to evolve, and building a strong community around your wiki will ensure that it remains useful into the future.

Examples of Wikis

For more examples of wikis, and some tips for organizing your community of wiki builders, be sure to look at the following wikis:

• The Online Community Engagement Wiki shares recommended practices for online community participation and management. It is broken up into sections that cover different aspects of online communities. It also includes clear guidelines on how to join for those who are interested in contributing their expertise or copyediting skills. Contributions to the wiki came from TechSoup forum leaders, many of whom serve in those roles as volunteers. This wiki was built as a collaboration between TechSoup and the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• Another example of a wiki created by volunteers is the Community Organizers Handbook. The idea came from NetSquared community organizers who were eager to share their best practices and experiences and saw a wiki as the ideal platform. The handbook is now a one-stop shop for tips, tricks, and how-tos from organizers in the field for organizing local communities.
• The Online Community and Social Media Team Wiki provides online community-building resources from TechSoup's own Online Community and Social Media Team. The wiki provides information on events and blog posts to help social benefit organizations navigate the changing nonprofit technology landscape. The TechSoup team is also impacted by these changes and to that end uses the wiki to share curated content from other sources that has informed their work.
• The Nonprofit Social Media 101 wiki is an outgrowth of the Online Community and Social Media Team's wiki. As its name implies, it is designed for beginners looking to learn the fundamentals of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, and Delicious. The wiki includes content developed by TechSoup's Online Community and Social Media Team and carefully curated how-tos, videos, and articles from nonprofit social media experts.