MaintainerMode

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The production of common wiki content in DocumentMode and ThreadMode is not the only way to add valuable content to a wiki — it may be also a good place to publish articles that were traditionally printed or put into online magazines. Why not wiki? A wiki may choose to give authors a space to put their articles or essays. Authors need to know that their individual work is respected and remains unchanged in wording and meaning. A wiki may support this by soft means or hard means, while still being able to provide feedback or peer review, also giving space to discussions, preferably on separate pages. In the end, to have an article published (accepted) by a wiki community might (should) mean the same thing as having it published in a newspaper or journal. The ArticlePage means cooperation of authors and communities to build reputation for both of them.

See also CommunityWiki:MaintainerMode

PATTERN FORM (WikiPatternLanguage)

Pattern Name: MaintainerMode
Context: the creation of individual valuable content by individual authors
Problems: create a space for complex individual works and views without starting refactoring or consensus processes. Increase the reputation of the community and of authors at the same time. Attract writers that wouldn't give their work to wikis otherwise.
Solution: For the author: create the page in a pretty final form, so that's clear that it's intended as an individual work, maybe use an individual page name to avoid colliding with a general term that may be needed by the community. For the community: mark it as an article, care that it is signed, protect it if its high quality. If feedback, peer review or discussions are needed - put them on separate pages.
Resulting Context: part of the content value of a wiki takes the form of original articles (essays).
Examples: WhatIsTrust. The backlinks of CategoryArticle (still very informal at MeatballWiki). [German "Network Against Violence" Wiki: Folder for Articles]
Note: Maybe allow authors to choose their preferred copyright license, independently from the local wiki standards. Note that an article can't claim a certain page name - if in doubt, add "Article", a number, or the author name to the page name.

END OF PATTERN FORM

I think this would read better as "maintenance mode". -- ChrisPurcell

: Maybe, I'm not sure about this. Maintainer is an established role in the OpenSource movement, while maintenance seems a technical term that has no association with specific persons. -- HelmutLeitner

What do you think about putting source-code on wiki pages, factoring out function-declarations of functions, used in the main module. See the current suggestion on the bottom of the CommunityWiki:FridemarPache page. -- fp

Fridemar, I'm not sure what you refer to, "bottom of page" is often changing quickly.

Too true, the author could factor out the suggested source-code proposal to a new page here. As new pages for newcomers in CommunityWiki are currently not compatible with the rules there, the author would get squeezed there. So the author is forced to emigrate to a wiki, where more freedom (to express new ideas) is granted. Since he doesn't know, if it is too much stuff for Meatball (MidiToKb, to be listed under WikiExperimentsForTheFutureOfWork?), the author is listening to community signals here. Until now he assumes SilentAgreement. On the other hand he can't still realize unmutilated links to even his own blog. So dear Sunir, dear Meatball peers, please allow Web Weavers here, by modifying your Anti Spam Filter to not cutting your own members on their own Home Pages. -- FridemarPache

Fridemar, it's a kind of inverted world, because CommunityWiki was created to a large degree to open space for ideas flowing more freely. MeatballWiki was usually more restrictive, critical and scientific. I see no serious problems as long as the status of ideas is clear, as long as observations, ideas, theories, visions or opinions are displayed to the readers and to the community as what they are and not as something they want to be. Apart from that I think it is helpful to see mw and cw as places that serve the same community, like library, meeting-room or cafeteria. It often depends on the circumstances where people meet for an interesting discussion or where some collaboration will develop. -- HelmutLeitner

Helmut, thank you for encouragement. I was nearly desperated and loose my faith in the community. Now I am ready again to give ideas and my work to the MeatballWiki and the CommunityWiki, I otherwise had skipped wikis, in which my work is not apreciated, straight forward going to Google, Yahoo, Aol, Msn, where there are great communities too. -- FridemarPache

CategoryWikiPatternLanguage

MaintainerMode

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