Which wiki shall I try today?

I was describing my need to use a wiki in a previous blog post. I had some time this afternoon to do a quick Google search to see what was on offer. One of the wiki's that came to light was Tiddlywiki.

"TiddlyWiki is a single html file which has all the characteristics of a wiki - including all of the content, the functionality (including editing, saving, tagging and searching) and the style sheet. Because it's a single file, it's very portable - you can email it, put it on a web server or share it via a USB stick."

That sounds pretty good especially as its one file.

TiddlyWiki is already being used as:

• A personal notebook
• A GTD ("Getting Things Done") productivity tool
• A collaboration tool
• For building websites (this site is a TiddlyWiki file!)
• For rapid prototyping"

I am having a play with it to see if it adds some value to my information gathering activities.

It looks like Tiddlywiki is used quite extensively within British Telecom. I pulled this video from the Open Source arm of BT called ommosoft so they can give you an incite of their usage.




TiddlyWiki in BT from Phil Whitehouse on Vimeo.

Answering Questions

I was having a read of Gia Lyons Jive Social Networking and Collaboration blog this morning and she has an entry called "Why is it so hard to get smart people to share?". While the entry is interesting it was one of the comments that I found of most value.

"...trying as much as possible to answer any and all questions with a URL. Usually if the answer doesn’t exist on the web it is easier for me to document the answer in a wiki, then when the same question comes along all I need to do is resend the URL. Once the information is out there some people will find it (and hopefully expand it), and even better, they won’t even need to ask me in the first place."

It dawned on me that I don't always do this so. I still send Attachments to satisfy customer requests when actually all I need to do it put it up on a wiki or a secure space.

I have two choices in terms of content locations:

1. Lotus Greenhouse
2. A random Wiki

Lotus Greenhouse is a SaaS solution from IBM that allows anyone to have a play with IBM's collaboration tools in a safe environment. There are ample places within the greenhouse to store information and there are multiple methods of sharing this information with colleagues, business partners and customers. The only issue I currently have is it is effectively a closed Beta in that I have to request from the Admin access for my customers which makes instant collaboration slower than I would like.

I think in the short term I will use a wiki and see how I get on....anybody got any suggestions which one to use PBWiki, wikidot, wetpaint etc?