Wikis For Dummies®

Chapter 17. Ten Ways How Wikis Work at the Office

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Shared repository

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Reducing “To All” e-mails

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Simple databases

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Knowledge management

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Training

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Intranet

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Web publishing

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User documentation

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Shared spreadsheets

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Project management

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When wikis take root in the workplace, they are usually started by one person or a small team for a single project. Months later, those wiki pioneers discover that someone else in the organization is also using a wiki on a different project. Then a third team in a satellite office turns out to be using another one. It’s possible that none of these teams is using the same wiki — for example, one team uses TWiki while another is happy with MediaWiki. Still, by and large, they use each wiki for the same basic purposes and to achieve similar goals.

This chapter is about those ten most commonly used functions of wikis among groups who are working within an organization to maximize efficiency, minimize duplicated effort, make collaboration easier, and achieve a common goal.

Shared Repository

Take a moment to remember how a business without a wiki stores information. For example, Kip in Accounting has a document on his hard drive that would help you finish an expense report. And Parker-Lulu in HR ...