WikiIsMissingTheUserConcept

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In relation to BuildingVirtualCommunities, I find that many Wiki engines have a weak concept of UserIdentity?.

Let me clarify.

Any virtual community is built of individuals, whereas any web site is often simply an amalgamation of content. For Wiki's to succeed as a vehicle for building VirtualCommunity, the concept of UserIdentity? needs to be strengthened, if not made central.

For example, I would love to see a Wiki engine (and yes, I am writing one in Java) that embraces the concept of WikiUser?s. It could do so in the following ways (among others):

A user can login (as they can now), and their subsequent reading and modifying of Wiki pages is tracked.

In addition to RecentChanges, there could be a RecentUsers showing who has been on the site recently (as well as perhaps WhoIsOnline). This allows me to see who I have been 'hanging out' with lately, giving me a stronger SenseOfCommunity?.
- See EverythingTwo which has something similar

A user's HomePage could include an automatic list of SubscribedChanges. Whenever I see a page that particulary intrigues me, there could be some mechanism whereby I click "Watch this page!", and it will move to the top of my SubscribedChanges queue on my HomePage whenever it has changed since I last viewed it. This helps build repeat traffic to a page, and helps remind me of what I wanted to keep an eye on.
- As a regular user (meaning a repeat visitor, not a RegularPeople), I rarely view my own home page. My name is EricScheid, and I'm a RecentChangesJunkie.

Since the Wiki would know which pages I have viewed and edited and which pages other users have viewed and edited, it could put me into, for lack of a better term, an AffinityGroup, to show me who else has a large percentage of similar interests with me. I could then focus on mingling with those in my AffinityGroup and see what other interests they may have, as they are likely to also be interesting to me. Somewhat analogous to reading circles on AmazonDotCom?.

I could also have a PersonalTopTen? pages, both for my own information and to share with those who may find themselves sharing common interests with me.

No point in beating a dead horse. The thing I am trying to convey here, is that if Wiki more thoroughly embraces the concept of user and content, it could do some really cool things and put more umph in the community aspects of things. -- MikePence

Do you mean RecentUsers or RecentVisitors? RV could be automated, and then the history could be viewed in a RecentVisitorsLog?.

I like the implementation in WikkiTikkiTavi. This seems simple and direct. --MikePence

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WikiIsMissingTheUserConcept

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