So a TechNet wiki is coming, as stated by Keith Combs here:
three big things we focus on for all TechNet scenarios are Content, Discoverability, and Participation. We really want to invite participation from everyone and what better way to combine that with discovery and content than to use Wiki technology?
Later this year TechNet and the Server & Cloud Division will partner to launch the new TechNet Wiki.
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We believe a public wiki for technical content on TechNet has the potential to be a big step forward in all three areas:
- For content, while Microsoft teams write some great content, we cannot possibly author all the content customers need to be successful, and a wiki that offers content from the community will increase the breadth and depth of technical content available for IT Pros.
- For participation, the wiki is a great new way for any IT pro to create and share technical knowledge, engage with other technical people and with Microsoft, and build an identity and reputation within the TechNet community.
I used the word "potential" above because Microsoft cannot succeed with the TechNet Wiki on its own – success ultimately depends on the direct engagement, support, and ongoing feedback from the IT community.
I am not sure how I feel about this. I like Wikipedia, and OFTEN reference it for information on non-work related topics. We use a SharePoint wiki for a lot of our documentation where I work, but I don’t find it to be as useful as I would like, because for some reason, I don’t like the interface. One of the big issues I have with it, is the inability to insert pictures directly in the article during the creation of the article. You have to upload the picture (such as a screenshot) separately and then link to it. That doesn’t seem very efficient to me.
With this blog, I use Windows Live Writer. It allows me to take a snip like this:
and paste it right in the text. When I publish, it is auto-magically uploaded and linked to my post. I think the other issue that I have is that I am afraid I would take it personally if someone felt the need to correct something I posted to a wiki.
I guess I am going to have to work on that. Both for the wiki at work and (maybe) for the TechNet wiki. There are those occasions when I actually have useful knowledge to share…