When you have lots of content, you really need a CMS or Content Management System. You already know what that is, too — if you’ve ever been to Wikipedia. It’s a wiki (of course), but there are many types of wiki and I’ve studied them all. Blogs are CMS, too, but let’s talk about wikis.
A wiki is a great way to put everything you have into one place. You can make them editable, like Wikipedia, or you can keep them private. These are generally referred to as “Enterprise” wikis, where a company uses the service to update employees on the goings on in the company and to house different types of company information.
Overcome Everything uses a CMS called Base Camp, which keeps everything from daily to-do lists that we make up to copy requests, meeting notes, etc. Base Camp really comes in handy for stuff like that. We have a meeting and when Base Camp is kept up to date, it’s easy to go back to earlier meetings to see exactly what was discussed, approved/disapproved, etc.
You can have your own wiki pretty easily. Some of them are free. In fact, if you have hosting with Fantastico, you can install a wiki very easily with the push of a button on your own server. TikiWiki is an example. There aren’t many frills and ruffles, but it’s a good wiki if you don’t want to get terribly formal.
The best paid version I found is BizWiki, which is a product of Customer Vision, and it’s run by Cindy Rockwell, who’s very helpful and nice. The customer service there is just fabulous, and it’s not an expensive solution, but it is quite customizable. If I were the one to pick an enterprise wiki or just a wiki to wow the ‘Net with, I’d choose BizWiki. This isn’t just because of the wiki itself, which has great features, but because of the outstanding customer service.
Anyway, there are lots of choices out there. If you just want to play around with a wiki before getting into a long-term contract, you can join PBWiki for free, and the content is hosted on their server. I have a wiki set up there for my cats niche and Tellman has one set up there for Hot Sauces. It’s a hoot.
Anyway, if you want to get into wikiing… there’s lots to think about. You can compare them all at a place called “WikiMatrix,” and it will allow you to choose the features you want, and then it spits back a bunch of wikis to check out. Very cool.
Wikis are great for SEO, if they’re meant for the public. Just take a look at the listings on Google for practically anything you type in. What’s first? Wikipedia, usually, eh? So, check into wikis, if you’re prolific or you have a ton of content and don’t know what to do with it. You won’t regret it.















January 21st, 2009 at 3:10 am
i want to create a website that allows people to propose new laws or edit the current ones. I think i need a wiki based cms. Can you suggest me anything about this?
January 21st, 2009 at 11:00 am
Hi Faith,
Yes… I really like Biz Wiki, as a paid solution. It’s user friendly and has awesome customer service when you’re stuck.
If you need a free solution, what about PBWiki as a trial? You can check it out at http://my.pbwiki.com. Get used to using it before you decide.
– Pat
February 9th, 2009 at 12:43 am
You can try TikiWiki, has more features and also it’s FREE.
http://info.tikiwiki.org/tiki-index.php
A complete documentation can be accessed on its official website.