[LINK] RFI: Public Wiki Servers?

[steve jenkin]

Roger Clarke wrote on 21/12/06 4:58 PM:
>> Roger Clarke wrote:
>>>  I'm involved in several organisations that could make use of a wiki
>>> ...
<snip>
>
> I've now had a look at wikia and its cousins.
>
> But they don't offer what I'm looking for.  Notes at bottom.
>
> What I'm on about is the use of wikis by public interest associations,
> such as dog clubs, privacy lobby groups, and of course The Link
> Institute.
>
> Such organisations need wiki-spaces with a variety of management
> models and privileges, e.g.:
> 1.  for the DISCUSSION OF ISSUES:
>     -   create/read/write by anyone
> 2.  for the DEVELOPMENT OF POLICY:
>     -   create/read/write by association members only
> 3.  for the DEVELOPMENT OF CAMPAIGN PLANS:
>     -   create/read/write by Board members only
> In all cases:
>     -   delete by the Board Chair only (or their delegate/administrator)
>
> Of these, most wiki services support only model no. 1.
> Any further leads or constructive observations much appreciated!

Others have commented on your requirements: 'this is a forum/bulletin
board'.

For many of your requirements, it's also a Weblog/blog...
Single owner/moderator, comments by those allowed ('friends').
Your requirement for 'delete by owner only' I think disqualifies this as
a Wiki...
 [as you allow create/read/write by group. Modificaitons ~= Delete for a
subset]

I haven't enough experience with blogs to know about keeping some pieces
private and the rest public.

Have you entertained the idea that it could be a mix of beasties, modulo
'deletes'??
 - req 1, public publication and public comment. Wiki or Blog.
 - req 2, private publication (group = Assoc) and private comment.
Private Wiki,
 - req 3, private publication (group = Board) and private comment.
Private Wiki, List, Forum

If you relax the 'delete by chair' constraint, you've a much easier
match with the technology.

You didn't mention other 'owners' of documents.
If your committees delegate work, or have 'directors' responsible for an
area, my thinking is that they would be the absolute owner of documents
in their area, rather than the Chair...

If this was an open-source project, you'd be talking about:
 - the documentation
 - access to the version control system (private), versus publicly
'published' documents
 - giving 'commit bits' to different groups
 - moderators/owners for different components
 - a bug/feedback/change tracking system to incorporate
public/association feedback.

-- 
Steve Jenkin, Info Tech, Systems and Design Specialist.
0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915)
PO Box 48, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA

sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~sjenkin