Organizing Web Content V. Wiki Content Wiki Writing: Chapter 10 Letting Go of the Words: Chapter 9

Introduction  The chapters selected this week give various strategies for organizing conventional and unconventional web content into WebPages.  Headings  Refactoring  Similarities/ Differences in Approaches  Limitations of Approaches

Headings  Choose Good Heading Styles  Questions  Statements  Verb Phrases  Maintain Parallel Structure  People are naturally pattern-oriented  Patterns provide structure and facilitate understanding  Keep Visitor in Mind  Write for both sides of the conversation  Include “I” in the question, “YOU” in the answer, and “WE” for the organization  Include visitors keywords in headings

Refactoring What is it ?  Rather than refactoring a thread to another thread, refactoring takes the ideas in a thread and organizes them into a page. According to Morgan, Above and Below the Double Line: Refactoring and That Old-Time Revision collaborative-learning-in-the-college- classroom?g=dculture;rgn=div1;view=fulltext;xc=1#5.5: collaborative-learning-in-the-college- classroom?g=dculture;rgn=div1;view=fulltext;xc=1#5.5  Refactoring "is a conscientious technique for developing a page, for moving it toward document mode." (163)  "Refactoring is an attempt to find or create a structure for the threads of discussion that allows them to be synthesized into a document." (164)  "Entire threads are reorganized, questions and answers condensed into statements." (165)

Refactoring  ThreadMode  synonymous with discussion mode. It is the discussion forum that takes place on any given topic on a wiki.  DocumentMode  an organized page on the wiki that outlines the conclusions of the topics. Anyone can edit these wiki pages.  Our Refractor

Refactoring Our Refactor

Similarities and Differences Many of the principals applied to organizing and writing headlines for websites and blogs can be applied to the process of refactoring a wiki  Similarities  Aim to communicate key thoughts and ideas  Need to be easily understandable by outside readers (outside the organization or wiki users who have yet to contribute).  Differences  Wikis grow infinitely with no way to predict growth  Websites are mostly static, with intentional planning and are control from the site owner.  Wikis allow readers to edit and author the text  Static web pages do not, however, some allow user comments

Limitations  In terms of ThreadMode: How do you manage the infinite growth of the wiki while still maintaining the intuitive structure?  In terms of DocumentMode: In the wiki process that Morgan describes, where would heading questions come from? Discussion threads? Or would they be decided like conventional headings -- by one person trying to guess what users are after?  What about the technical side of refactoring?