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This is the presentation material for the DakarReleaseParty in Palo Alto, CA, 11 Aug 2005. The presentation is heavily based on TWikiPresentation11Aug2005 given at LinuxWorld in San Francisco. I was running out of time....

This presentation is outdated, see the latest presentation Social Media and Structured Wikis at Work - Enterprise Collaboration for Millennials.

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Slide 1: TWiki Enterprise Collaboration Platform, Version 4

Writable webs empower employees to share knowledge effectively and to be more productive

  • Wiki, a writable web: Communities can organize and share content in an organic and free manner
  • If extended with the right set of functionality, a Wiki can be applied to corporate groups to schedule, manage, document, and support their daily activities
  • TWiki is a Structured Wiki, which combines the benefits of a wiki and a database application
  • This talk explains what a Structured Wiki is, and shows some sample applications using TWiki, an open source enterprise collaboration platform

Presentation at the Wiki Wednesday event in Palo Alto, CA, 01 Feb 2006
-- Peter@ThoenyPLEASENOSPAM.org

Slide 2: Agenda

  • Wiki in the enterprise
  • Collaboration challenges in the enterprise
  • Structured Wiki
  • What is TWiki?
  • Major New Features in TWiki 4.0
  • Structured Wiki Examples

Slide 3: Wiki in the Enterprise

  • Perceived issues with conventional Wikis in the corporate world:
    • No control; chaotic
    • No security
    • No audit trail
  • A Wiki system with the right extensions can be used in a corporate environment
  • It can address some internal challenges:
    • Maintenance of static Intranets
    • Internal E-mail flood
    • Implementation of business processes

Slide 4: Challenges of Static Intranets

  • Challenges - Static Intranet Some content is outdated
  • Incomplete content
  • When was the page last updated?
  • Difficult to find content
  • Inconsistency across departments
  • Special tools, knowledge and permission required to maintain
  • Content is static, it has a "webmaster syndrome":
    If an employee discovers a page with incorrect or insufficient information, the employee will often ignore it because it takes too much time to find out who the webmaster is and to write an e-mail requesting an update

Slide 5: Wikis and Static Intranets

  • Wiki and Static Intranet Move some/all Intranet content into a Wiki
    • No difference for readers to browse and search content
    • Employees are empowered to fix content on the spot
    • Ease of maintenance
    • No need to install client side software
    • Consistent look & feel
  • Paradigm shift
    • from: webmasters maintain content
    • to: domain experts and casual users maintain content

Slide 6: Challenges of E-mail

  • Challenges - E-mail E-mail and mailing lists are great, but:
    • Post and reply vs. post and refine/refactor
    • Great for discussion, but ... hard to find "final consensus" on a thread
    • E-mail is not hyper-linked and is not structured, content can't be grouped easily into related topics
    • E-mail and attachments are not version controlled and it is difficult to determine the history of a document
    • Not all interested people / too many people in the loop

Slide 7: Wikis and E-mail

  • Wiki and E-mail Move some E-mail traffic into a Wiki or Blog
    • Ease of reference (cross-linking)
    • Flexible notification (favorites only, daily digest, RSS feed)
    • Pockets of knowledge made available to interested parties
    • Audit trail / domain experts
  • Paradigm shift
    • from: post & reply
    • to: post & refine & cross-link
  • Send e-mail with link to content instead of content itself

Slide 8: Challenges of Business Processes

  • Challenges - Business Processes Business processes are implemented in large scale by IT department (Sarbanes-Oxley compliance etc.)
    • Rigid structure by design
  • Teams follow formal/informal workflow to accomplish tasks, which is often a paper-based process:
    • Roll out laptops to employees
    • Status board of call-center
    • Sign-off for export compliance of a software release
  • No resources allocated to implement applications to automate those processes
    • IT department has no bandwidth to implement light weight applications for a variety of teams

Slide 9: Wikis and Business Processes

  • Wiki and Business Processes A Structured Wiki is a flexible tool to support evolving processes
    • in the free-form Wiki way -- linked pages, collaboratively maintained
    • or with a structured Wiki application -- forms, queries, reports
  • Content contributors with moderate skill sets can build web applications
  • Paradigm shift
    • from: programmers create applications
    • to: content contributors build applications
  • Similar shift happened with the introduction of spreadsheet programs

Slide 10: What is a Structured Wiki?

  • Goal of a Structured Wiki:
    • Combine the benefits of a Wiki and a database application
  • Wiki:
    • Organic content: The structure and text content of the site is open to editing and evolution
    • Open content: Readers can refactor incomplete or poorly organized content at any time
    • Hyper-linked: Many links to related content due to WikiWord nature
    • Trust: Open for anyone to edit, "soft security" with audit trail
  • Database application:
    • Highly structured data
    • Easy reporting
    • Workflow (e.g. purchase requisition)
    • Access control

Slide 11: Usage Pattern in a Structured Wiki

  1. Users typically start with unstructured Wiki content
    • Example: Call-center status board
  2. User discovers patterns in content
    • Example: Call-center status board has fixed list of users and fixed list of time slots
  3. User or administrator builds an application, typically in iterations
    • Goal: Automate tasks based on discovered patterns

  • In other words: A Structured Wiki enables users to build light weight applications

Slide 12: Example: Call-Center Status Board, v1

  • Requirement for status board:
    • Easily see who is on call at what time
    • Easily change the status board
  • Start with a simple bullet list for status board v1:
     
    • 07:00am - 11:00am: Richard
    • 11:00am - 03:00pm: Peter
    • 03:00pm - 07:00pm: Sam

Slide 13: Example: Call-Center Status Board, v2

  • Status board v1 does the job, but lets make it more presentable and useful:
    • Convert the bullets into a table
    • Use WikiWord links to team member's home pages for easy reference
    • Add Backup person
  • Improved status board v2:
    Start End Primary Backup
    07:00am 11:00am RichardDonkin  
    11:00am 03:00pm PeterThoeny  
    03:00pm 07:00pm SamHasler  

Slide 14: Example: Call-Center Status Board, v3

  • Status board v2 is presentable, now lets make it more user friendly:
  • Improved status board v3, view and edit:
    statusboard.gif

Slide 15: What is TWiki?

  • TWiki started as a Wiki engine, and quickly evolved into a Structured Wiki for the Enterprise
  • Mission: TWiki is a leading-edge, web-based collaboration platform targeting the corporate intranet world. TWiki
    • fosters information flow within an organization
    • lets distributed teams work together seamlessly and productively
    • eliminates the webmaster syndrome of outdated intranet content
  • Large number of TWiki Extensions: Add-Ons, Plugins, Skins
  • Open Source software (GPL) with active community, hosted at http://TWiki.org/

Slide 16: What is TWiki used for?

  • TWiki is a Structured Wiki, typically used as a:

  • Shared notebook for projects: Repository, scheduling, meetings
  • Departmental collaboration tool: Processes, project reviews, QA tracking
  • Intranet publishing tool: IT, HR, ISO standards
  • CMS with focus on free-form collaboration: Requirements capture
  • Knowledge base: Problem/solution pairs with attached patches
  • Platform to create web based applications like news portals, inventory systems, issues tracking systems

Slide 17: Who is using TWiki?

Slide 18: Who is developing TWiki?

  • 5 Core Team members
  • 14 developers with SVN write access to DEVELOP branch
  • Over 100 contributors donating ideas, spec, code, patches
  • Many TWikiExtension developers
  • Main communication vehicle: TWiki at TWiki.org for brainstorming, feature and bug tracking, doc authoring, and support
  • Lots of ideas waiting to be implemented
    • Talk to us if you are interested in participating in building the future smile

Slide 19: TWiki Basics: Access Control

  • Default - use Soft Security
    • Avoid roadblocks to knowledge sharing
  • Special applications - use Access Control
    • Avoid write access restrictions - "If you can see you can play"
  • Access Control:
    • Define groups in Main.TWikiGroups
    • Set read/write/rename access restrictions to webs and pages based on these groups
  • Complete audit trail of access control settings

Slide 20: TWiki Basics: Skins

  • TWikiSkins change the look of a TWiki topic, for example the style of the text and the layout of the header and footer
  • Separation of program logic, look and content
  • Corporations typically create their own skin to match the corporate branding standard
  • Many SkinPackages available for download at TWiki.org
    Skin samples

Slide 21: Major New Features in TWiki 4.0

  • WYSIWYG editor (beta)
  • New features that strengthen TWiki's position as a platform to build and run wiki applications
  • Much simpler install and configuration
  • Integrated session support
  • Webserver-independent login/logout
  • Security sandbox blocks all possible routes for remote command execution on the server
  • New editing model allows freer collaboration, without fear of overwriting other people's changes
  • Multilingual UI: Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish
  • E-mail confirmations for registration to prevent spamming
  • Hierarchical sub-webs
  • More at TWikiRelease04x00x00 and TWikiHistory

Slide 22: Example TWiki 4.0 Applications

Slide 23: Adding Structure: Context of Content - Database Table

Flat, no hierarchy:
Database table -- flat
Context: Mainly next/previous; search

Slide 24: Adding Structure: Context of Content - File System

                Tree hierarchy:
File system -- tree hierarchy
Context: Down/up; search

Slide 25: Adding Structure: Context of Content - HTML Pages & Wikis

                                Hyperlink structure:
HTML pages -- hyperlinks
Context: "What is related" browsing; search

Slide 26: Adding Structure: Context of Content - TWiki Structure

                                                Tree + hyperlink structure:
TWiki -- tree + hyperlinks
Context: Down/up browsing; "what is related" browsing; search

Slide 27: Adding Structure: Context of Content - TWiki Breadcrumb

                                                Where am I?
TWiki breadcrumb -- path to home
Breadcrumb example: Home > Plugins > PluginPackage > PluginDevelopment

Slide 28: Adding Structure: TWiki Variables

  • TWiki Variables are what environment variables are to an OS, or macros are to a programming language
  • TWiki Variables are text strings - like %SCRIPTURL%, %URLPARAM{"city"}%, %INCLUDE{"OtherPage"}% - that get rendered at page view time
  • Types of variables: Predefined variables; preferences variables; user defined variables
  • Useful to create web applications

Slide 29: Adding Structure: TWiki Forms

  • Use TWikiForms to add form-based input to free-form content, e.g., you can structure topics with unlimited, easily searchable categories
  • A form is defined in a topic - (DB table definition)
  • Forms can be attached to topics - (DB table row)
  • The form appears in edit mode, and its content gets rendered as a table when viewing the page

Slide 30: Adding Structure: Formatted Search

  • Use FormattedSearch to generate customized reports in list format or table format
  • Typically used to list topics with form data
  • Report is embedded in a page with a %SEARCH{...}% variable
  • Example applications:
  • Example report:
    Example Plugins report

Slide 31: Adding Structure: TWiki Plugins

  • TWikiPlugins enhance the functionality of TWiki and add structure to content
  • Growing Plugins repository at TWiki.org - over 160 Plugins available for download
  • A great resource for administrators and web developers to tailor TWiki to their needs, like for example with:

Slide 32: Adding Structure: Spreadsheet Plugin

  • SpreadSheetPlugin: Add spreadsheet formulae to TWiki tables
  • Over 60 formulae available like $AVERAGE(), $IF(), $REPLACE(), $TIME(), $SET(), $GET()
  • You type:
    | *Region:* | *Sales:* |
    | East    |  320 |
    | Central |  580 |
    | West    |  240 |
    | Total: |  %CALC{"$SUM($ABOVE())"}% |
  • You get:
    Region: Sales:
    East 320
    Central 580
    West 240
    Total: 1140

Slide 33: Structured Wiki Example: Feature Tracking

Slide 34: Structured Wiki Example: Employee News Portal

  • Click to enlarge: News portal with aggregated news above the fold, and directory below the fold Goal for Employee News Portal:
    • Reduce e-mail flood to the corporate-wide mailing lists
    • Reach a broader audience
    • Intranet home page as a newspaper
  • Specification:
    • News channels: IT, Engineering, Sales, etc
    • Each news channel has an editor group, responsible for releasing news
    • Subscribe to news channels of interest
      • Some news channels are "always on", e.g. employees cannot unsubscribe
      • Aggregated news is shown on intranet and sent via e-mail
  • More details at TWikiNewsPortal

Slide 35: Structured Wiki Example: TWiki Installation Directory

Slide 36: Initial Deployment of a Wiki

  • Grassroot vs. managed deployment of a Wiki
    • Single corporate Wiki better then many smaller Wikis
  • Plan content and rollout
    • Pain killer vs. vitamins
  • Build initial structure
  • Populate initial content with help from early adopters
  • Initial rollout with smaller group
  • Train and coach users Quick growth after slow start at Wind River
  • Do not underestimate inertia and time
  • Expect quick growth after slow start

Slide 37: Summary

  • A Structured Wiki is a powerful platform for web collaboration
    • Collaborate in free form and add structure as needed
    • Use it as shared notebooks, a departmental collaboration tool, a publishing tool, a CMS and a knowledge base
    • Use it as a platform to create light weight applications
  • Easy to share knowledge
    • Corporate brain gives a competitive advantage
  • Careful coaching is needed
  • Viral growth after people "get it"

Slide 38: Questions & Answers




Slide 39: References

Slide 40: References, cont.

Slide 41: About Peter

  • Peter Thoeny - Peter@ThoenyPLEASENOSPAM.com
  • Founder of TWiki, the leading Wiki for corporate collaboration and knowledge management, managing the open-sourced project for the last six years
  • Invented the concept of Structured Wikis - where free form wiki content can be structured with tailored wiki applications
  • Recognized thought-leader in Wikis and social software, featured in numerous articles and technology conferences including LinuxWorld, Business Week, Wall Street Journal and more
  • Software developer with over 15 years experience, specializing in software architecture, user interface design and web technology
  • Graduate of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
  • Lived in Japan for 8 years working as an engineering manager for Denso Create, developing CASE tools
  • Now in the Silicon Valley for 7 years, currently working on a book on wikis for the workplace and consulting on Structured Wikis

Notes

  • Copyright © 2005 by Peter Thoeny. This presentation may be reproduced as long as you retain the copyright notice and provide a link back to the URL of this presentation on TWiki.org
  • This presentation is based on the SlideShowPlugin and uses the TWiki:Main/PeterThoenySlideShowTemplate

-- PeterThoeny - 01 Feb 2006

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