Comments on: Diminishing the Role of Folklore in Software Development http://blog.slickedit.com/2009/09/diminishing-the-role-of-folklore-in-software-development/ "Hello World" - The SlickEdit Developer Blog Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:18:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Scott Westfall http://blog.slickedit.com/2009/09/diminishing-the-role-of-folklore-in-software-development/comment-page-1/#comment-734 Scott Westfall Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:41:02 +0000 http://blog.slickedit.com/?p=347#comment-734 Ultimately, wiki maintenance is an issue of discipline and professionalism. Discipline is the mental toughness to follow through on a task. Professionalism is the drive to work in a manner that reflects the best practices of your field. There is no replacement for these characteristics. No amount of management or automation will produce the same results. In general, people will maintain the wiki if they see that it is a valuable tool in getting their work done. Otherwise, it's just another bureaucratic distraction. Ultimately, wiki maintenance is an issue of discipline and professionalism. Discipline is the mental toughness to follow through on a task. Professionalism is the drive to work in a manner that reflects the best practices of your field. There is no replacement for these characteristics. No amount of management or automation will produce the same results.

In general, people will maintain the wiki if they see that it is a valuable tool in getting their work done. Otherwise, it’s just another bureaucratic distraction.

]]> By: Patrick Thomas http://blog.slickedit.com/2009/09/diminishing-the-role-of-folklore-in-software-development/comment-page-1/#comment-729 Patrick Thomas Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:38:20 +0000 http://blog.slickedit.com/?p=347#comment-729 I agree that the "capability to create a browseable structure [that] sets MediaWiki apart from other wiki software we tried", same goes for our telepark.wiki, but how do you "make the wiki an essential part of the problem solving process"? Making a note to comeback when one is querying the wiki and not finding an answer should be a process within and supported by the wiki, i.e. a todo list. That means for the wiki to feature some transactional and database-type functionality (none do out of the box, to my knowledge, but some allow extensions to be programmed). I agree that the “capability to create a browseable structure [that] sets MediaWiki apart from other wiki software we tried”, same goes for our telepark.wiki, but how do you “make the wiki an essential part of the problem solving process”? Making a note to comeback when one is querying the wiki and not finding an answer should be a process within and supported by the wiki, i.e. a todo list. That means for the wiki to feature some transactional and database-type functionality (none do out of the box, to my knowledge, but some allow extensions to be programmed).

]]> By: Sarah Mei http://blog.slickedit.com/2009/09/diminishing-the-role-of-folklore-in-software-development/comment-page-1/#comment-724 Sarah Mei Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:10:10 +0000 http://blog.slickedit.com/?p=347#comment-724 One other barrier I've found is that it's no one's job to maintain the wiki. That's sort of the idea; it's collaboratively edited. But if the app is big enough and the wiki around for long enough, it'll acquire cruft: old information that's only relevant to a previous release (but not marked as such), pages put up by someone who's no longer around to clarify vague statements...etc. Once the wiki idea takes off, make it someone's job to go through once a week or once a month, or whatever, and clean out the cruft. One other barrier I’ve found is that it’s no one’s job to maintain the wiki. That’s sort of the idea; it’s collaboratively edited. But if the app is big enough and the wiki around for long enough, it’ll acquire cruft: old information that’s only relevant to a previous release (but not marked as such), pages put up by someone who’s no longer around to clarify vague statements…etc.

Once the wiki idea takes off, make it someone’s job to go through once a week or once a month, or whatever, and clean out the cruft.

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