Wiki as a tool

[Saberj]

I've started exploring the possibility of how to use a Wiki to compliment my Podcast. I'm always trying to find ways to improve the experience of my podcasts. Not being a sound engineer, there is only so much I can do to improve the actual sound of the podcast, so the web interface is the next best thing for me.

So, the more I began looking into using a Wiki, the more I began wondering, "Could this be used as the entire Web Interface for the show?" I know that a lot of podcasters(myself included) are using blogging software as their main portal to the web. Could wikis be used in the same method? Anyone have any experience with this? I don't imagine that a terrible ammount of my listeners would be able to contribute much(The learning curve in contributing to a Wiki is a greater commitment than most people are are willing to give.) But even with a small group of contributers, I imagine that this could increase the experience gained from a podcast.

Pros:
An Excellent forum for Show-notes
All Resources and information easily accesible
A nice method for searching show content
An attractive design
Allows Listener contributions

Cons:
Is there a way to add in RSS enclosure support without hand-writing the xml?
Hard to explain to listeners how they can contribute
Extra Work involved in cleaning up graffiti
Would there be enough info to make it worth using?


I'm specifically looking at MediaWiki which has the rather attractive(IMHO) Wikipedia interface. I'm imagining that with each show, I could post a short set of notes, and then over the period of the next week, with the cooperation of my listeners, fill them in. I have 3 shows that have a wide variety of content, so there is a lot of information to give.

Your thoughts?

[EclecticMix]

Just my personal opinion, but I think that using a Wiki just makes things very difficult for the user who is not accustomed to using the software, which includes most people. I simply wrote a comment section for my website (http://OneMinuteHowTo.com) that encourages people to leave comments for each show (which hasn't happened much). By offering them a quick, easy way to enter information, you are encouraging them to contribute - a Wiki is, at best, confusing.

That said, if you have a tech podcast then that's a different story, as you have an audience that might be more likely to be able to figure the intricacies out (I'd still not go that route - just my opinion).

Cheers -

george

[Saberj]

I agree with you to an extent. The good thing about a wiki is that a user doesn't have to know much to use it as an information source. They really only need additional information if they wish to contribute. Take wikipedia. Everyone uses it these days for getting information. But I imagine a majority of users aren't aware that they can contribute to it openly as well.

[kinkysex]

what about blog spam and password management? Leo Laporte gives a "wiki word of the week" to keep it down, have you thought about keeping spammers out?

[Saberj]

what about blog spam and password management? Leo Laporte gives a "wiki word of the week" to keep it down, have you thought about keeping spammers out?

Yeah, spammers and grafiti in general would be a problem. The good thing is that it's easy enough to revert to old versions of documents, but it may be hard to catch them sometime. I haven't really played too much with spam guards, as that's on down the line anyway. I haven't gotten past figuring out if it would be feasible just as a user interface :)

[Hittman]

Whenever you get an idea that may be cool, but may also be time consuming, frustrating and fruitless, do it.

What’s the worst that can happen? It could be a waste of time. If it is, you can always remove it. In the meantime, you’ll become an expert on Wikis.

[Saberj]

Whenever you get an idea that may be cool, but may also be time consuming, frustrating and fruitless, do it.

What’s the worst that can happen? It could be a waste of time. If it is, you can always remove it. In the meantime, you’ll become an expert on Wikis.

That's a good way of looking at it.

[ChrisFitzpatrick]

what about blog spam and password management? Leo Laporte gives a "wiki word of the week" to keep it down, have you thought about keeping spammers out? To my knowledge, I think he stopped giving out the wiki password because of spammers.

+cfitz

[kinkysex]

what about blog spam and password management? Leo Laporte gives a "wiki word of the week" to keep it down, have you thought about keeping spammers out? To my knowledge, I think he stopped giving out the wiki password because of spammers.

+cfitz

He starts and stops and starts again.

It wasn't because of spammers, it was because the comment section was where everyone was posting and he thought, "if no one is using it, why bother?"

Then, some fans asked to help edit posts from the comment section to the main page and he started again.

Then it was only in chat, blah blah blah....

It'a very dynamic thing, that wiki. :lol: