Wiki >

See also:

• Seeing the true value of the wiki

Wiki pros and cons ∞

• Anyone can edit without logging in.

  • Spamming is serious problem. See MediaWiki spam protection
  • Ne’er-do-wells are a serious problem; when you have anonymity, you will have assholes. See MediaWiki security.

• Edits are fast and easy.

  • Spamming, trolling and graffiti are fast and easy.
  • Fix broken links, spelling, and add insightful comments.
  • See also Zuihitsu.

• The system is democratic down to individuals.

  • Moderation is absent.

• Editable with any web browser

  • Therefore cross-platform.
  • Even JavaScript is not usually necessary.

• A user-friendly markup language.

  • However markup languages vary per-wiki, making advanced usage inobvious.

• The ease of page creation leads to a proliferation of pages.

  • Individual pages will have inconsistent quality; unpopular pages will commonly be poor quality.
  • Though link rot and cruft are problems for less popular pages.
  • Taken as a group, multiple pages will not have a consistent style or coherency.

• The layout / structure are entirely in the control of the primary editors

  • The layer / structure must be defined and defended manually.
  • Without enforceable rules, a wiki becomes mob-rule; goals and mission statements are not inevitable.

• The ease of submitting partial articles and thoughts creates a maintenance burden.

  • Some submissions would require refactoring (heavily-editing) an article to fully integrate changes for an overall good read.
• People have differences in opinion and style, and will frequently feud over pages, paragraphs or even single words.
• Most visitors are passive consumers and won’t participate in the wiki concept; they will view a page like a single article which is badly written by a single author.

• There is no editor vetting process, and expertise is disregarded (perhaps even with prejudice!).

Notes ∞

• Why Wiki Works [ 1 ]
• Why Wiki Works Not [ 2 ]
• On Wikis And Security [ 3 ]
• Soft Security [ 4 ]

• Community Solutions [ 5 ]

Footnotes

1. was http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?WhyWikiWorks [ ↩ ]
2. was http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WhyWikiWorksNot [ ↩ ]
3. was http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?OnWikisAndSecurity [ ↩ ]
4. was http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?SoftSecurity [ ↩ ]
5. was http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?CommunitySolution [ ↩ ]