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7 Components: the Function Pages - Developers

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Which wiki?<br />

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ordination (“What is everyone else up to?”). O<strong>the</strong>rwise, chaos,<br />

edit conflicts and redundant work are only a matter of time. Yet,<br />

as larger wiki projects have demonstrated, structured, successful<br />

work is possible under certain conditions, even in very large<br />

groups.<br />

Once you have decided on supporting your project with a wiki, you<br />

are only left with <strong>the</strong> difficult decision of which wiki software you<br />

should use. The following points are a list of criteria that may help<br />

you make that decision:<br />

� Programming language. It is possible that you may have to<br />

make an adjustment or two to <strong>the</strong> scripts. It would thus serve<br />

you well if you were familiar with one of wiki's programming<br />

languages, such as Perl or PHP.<br />

� System requirements. Especially if you do not operate your<br />

own server, you must make sure that wiki will run with <strong>the</strong><br />

software available.<br />

� Technical capacity. If your wiki is very heavily frequented, it is<br />

advisable for performance reasons to seek a database solution.<br />

� Installation effort. What technical knowledge is required for<br />

installation, and to what extent is <strong>the</strong> set-up automated by routines?<br />

� User administration. A wiki that is to contain sensitive data<br />

must offer <strong>the</strong> opportunity to block certain areas to general access.<br />

� Division in sections. For user administration and <strong>the</strong> collective<br />

work of various groups in a wiki, separable sections can be advantageous.<br />

� Expansion through plugins. Plugins usually offer a large variety<br />

of additional functions.<br />

� Interfaces. An attractive look invites users to read and work.<br />

For one's own pages, being able to design <strong>the</strong>m at will is an important<br />

aspect.<br />

� Convenient operation. Can <strong>the</strong> wiki also be used by inexperienced<br />

users without difficulty? At <strong>the</strong> same time, does it fulfill<br />

<strong>the</strong> expectations of experienced wiki users?<br />

� Language. Many wikis only have English interfaces. Can your<br />

community live with that?<br />

17 Preliminary Thoughts

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