Using wikis

From ilri-comms ilriwikis
Revision as of 04:50, 4 September 2019 by Teziralore (talk | contribs) (Setting up wikis)

Setting up and using wikis @ ILRI


Set up the wiki

After Wikispaces closed in 2018, we now use MediaWiki to create wikis to collaborate online, document events or keep track of collective work (view the http://ilriwikis.org/Main_Page). Usually, the social media coordinator (currently Tsehay Gashaw) creates wikis and sets them up so please do not create wikis without first consulting Tsehay Gashaw ([t.gashaw@cgiar.org]).

Create sections

Every wiki will be different, following the specific needs of a given initiative. However, typical wiki sections for a new wiki might entail the following sections:

  • About (mirroring content on the initiative's website)
  • Contacts (a page with all the key people and their contact details)
  • Publications (possibly with an RSS feed displaying the latest publications)
  • Events, possibly with a link to a Google Calendar
  • Communication tools (including the logos, templates etc.)

Inform and involve staff

You may want to:

  • Introduce the general logic of the wiki and what people may expect to find there
  • Identify champions to manage and update the wiki content
  • Train content managers on basic wiki editing
  • Regularly mention the wiki to keep it on the radar of the people involved in the initiative

Manage wiki content

It is important to keep the wiki up-to-date. These steps might help:

  • Regularly document key events on the wiki
  • Rely on content champions to keep updating their pages
  • Provide refresher training for content managers on editing wiki pages
  • When the initiative ends, you may keep the wiki up and running, but you might want to update the pages in a way that reflects the end of the program

Using wikis to document events

Before the event - preparing the wiki:

  • Set up a page for the event. On that page:

Add the objectives and possible outcomes/outputs expected from the event. Create links for: * The agenda * The list of participants * If relevant, logistical information

  • List the event in the wiki menu and/or appropriate places on the wiki to keep track of events (e.g. as the list of events as on this wiki) so that visitors can see this event as part of a wider list of events.
  • For each page created, use the same heading comprising:

The title of the event (formatted as heading 1) The dates of the event i.e. Day Month Year The venue of the event i.e. room/venue, location, city, country (e.g. InfoCentre break out room, ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa) You may also add a link to the event home page. You may also use colours to differentiate headings or sections. If you create multiple pages (e.g. for the different days of the events or the different sessions), always use a consistent naming logic. E.g. if you event name page is 'NBDC_planning_May2012', you can use 'NBDC_planning_May2012_agenda' for the agenda page, 'NBDC_planning_May2012_session1' for the first session etc. It is important to use these headings consistently to help visitors 'situate' the content in the context of the event (they may land on this page from a search engine and need to understand where they land). And please avoid blanks in the URL, rather use underscore ('_').

  • If you organize various events or similar pages, you might want to create a 'template' rather than a simple wiki page. Once you have created and saved that template, every time you create a new page, you have the option to use that template (or to create the page from scratch). See this template for events on the Africa RISING wiki.

See an example.

On the documentation job:

When documenting an event, here are important steps to follow:

  • Meet with the facilitator and/or event organizer to understand clearly the objectives of the workshop, the theme and keywords of the event, possibly important acronyms etc. Take advantage of this meeting to also decide if one or two documenters are required. For large meetings 2 documenters are a must but it is not always possible to guarantee it (e.g. funding).
  • Ask the facilitator to inform all participants to pay attention to the documentation by: speaking clearly, spelling acronyms, writing clearly on flipchart sheets and all outputs that are supposed to be typed up.
  • Proactively interrupt speakers when they talk about unknown acronyms or when you cannot hear what they are saying because they don't speak loud enough.
  • If you don't understand the content of what they are saying, capture what you can but do not interrupt them, rather check it with the event organizer or the facilitator afterwards.
  • When taking notes, if you miss some bits of what people are saying, underline those bits so it is easier to come back to these gaps and fill them later.
  • Organize a short after action review with the event organizer and/or facilitator at the end of every day to review the gaps in your notes.
  • Use an audio recorder to help the note-taking and fill some of the gaps.
  • At the end of the event, before the link to the wiki is shared with all participants, ask the event organizer (and the facilitator) to review the full set of minutes and to add details.
  • As much as possible, take notes on one page only (multiplying pages for all days or sessions increases the risk of link errors and makes it more difficult to keep track of all the contents on the wiki over time).
  • Use headings systematically (heading 1 for days, heading 2 for sessions, heading 3 for session sub-items) and generate a table of contents (possible in the 'widget' menu when editing a page).
  • If possible, synthesise wiki notes (per day or per session) to make the contents of your documentation more digestible.
  • If possible, ask the facilitator to add 'process information' (how the session was run) in italics before the content notes, so that viewers understand how the content was generated.

After the event:

  • Review the notes (see above).
  • Make sure that all materials collected during the event are available on the wiki event page (home page or agenda page, as you see fit and as you have structured the note-taking).
  • Make sure you replace all the links to presentations (that were uploaded on the wiki) with the links to those same presentations on Slideshare.
  • On the home page of the event you may add a link to specific 'outputs' or 'next steps' of that event, or to the pictures and/or videos taken.
  • On the home page of the event you may add a picture about the group of participants, or another picture, or a slideshow (embedding the original FlickR set). All these pictures should be linked from the appropriate FlickR collection (where pictures have been uploaded).
  • Share the link with the cleaned up wiki pages with participants in ways that you see fit, for them to keep a record of these.
  • If appropriate (see section above), add a summary per day or per session of the event. It is particularly useful to keep track of key insights/discussion points and key decisions, and to specify these for specific (e.g. thematic or geographic) groups. See this example of the summary of the Africa RISING learning event 2013 here.