Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Anyone have any experience of this?
I designed and maintain the IT resource webpage at work, which basically allows me to upload documentation/instructions for certain duties, and also contains a list of all our clients, with what services they take - and where our services get delivered to etc.
A new IT business manager has just started, and is really big on these wiki things - my boss suggested to him that we turn our IT resource site into a wiki.
Over the past couple of days, I've been given a wiki package, some space on a server - and thats about it.
From what i've seen of wikis - you are able to post up an article, add discussion notes to it, and basically anyone can edit this shit.
Ideally what I want is for me, and me only to add an article - say an article containing:
Client name,
Services taken,
Delivery Details,
and Contact Details
I dont want anyone else to be able to edit this, however I want people to be able to add discussion points containing any updates, or little tips/notes that they have picked up whilst working with that particular client.
I have NO experience with these things, but im sure they have alot of potential for what i'm trying to achieve.
Any ideas, comments or suggestions?
ta
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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You can lock bits.
I wouldn't use a wiki for that type of data though - its for hypertext and reference material, not client data.
[Edited on 20-12-2006 by Ian]
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ian
You can lock bits.
I wouldn't use a wiki for that type of data though - its for hypertext and reference material, not client data.
[Edited on 20-12-2006 by Ian]
Indeed, I've just about got the basics now of users, user rights, admins and all that bollocks.
This won't be a webpage available online - just accessable over our local intranet. All client data is currently stored in seperate word docs, then hyperlinked to from the current resource site.
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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Any reason why you're not using a database for your data?
Word docs seems a strange choice. Do you not need to query stuff and search?
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ian
Do you not need to query stuff and search?
Thats exactly what we need - however this company, and the way it works is a mess. Our commercial guys will sell a potential client anything, whether we actually provide it or not. There is no company standard for anything - and unless alot of bosses get sacked in the near future, it will never change.
As far as theyre concerned - its not broke, so dont fix it, however from a tech support and customer service perspective. Its a disaster.
Im just trying to present the data we have in the best possible way, to make our job easier
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willay
Moderator
Organiser: South East, National Events
Premium Member
Registered: 10th Nov 02
Location: Roydon, Essex
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ian
Any reason why you're not using a database for your data?
Word docs seems a strange choice. Do you not need to query stuff and search?
Not being funny.... databases arent the easiest thing in the world. Unless you know what you are doing then you are basically pissing in the wind.
I know for my documentation for our clients we just use a file structure, each client has their directory with the following sub dirs:
Diagrams
Configs (these are normally at the time of the implementation as we have a system that logs into our devices are takes snapshots of our configs and puts it into CVS every hour)
Audit
Then have random text files in the root of the clients directory showing stuff like vpn logins, login details (excel sheet) and whatever shit we need.
I think the Wiki idea is excellent Kyle, are you using MediaWiki? Really like to know how you get on as I think imlpmenting something like this for our company would be excellent (we are only a 4 man group currently)
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willay
Moderator
Organiser: South East, National Events
Premium Member
Registered: 10th Nov 02
Location: Roydon, Essex
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
Thats exactly what we need - however this company, and the way it works is a mess. Our commercial guys will sell a potential client anything, whether we actually provide it or not. There is no company standard for anything - and unless alot of bosses get sacked in the near future, it will never change.
Oh mate I feel for you, I work directly (in the same office) as a company that does the same fucking thing and it makes me feel sick! Sales cunts will sell anything.
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Cybermonkey
Member
Registered: 22nd Sep 02
Location: Sydney, Australia
User status: Offline
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if anything, use MediaWiki and something like Apache to control the backend database. Its quite powerful in the way you can protect pages from being public. Im controlling a Wiki at work using WAMP5 too.
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Rob_Quads
Member
Registered: 29th Mar 01
Location: southampton
User status: Offline
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If you have lots of Word docs you want to search could you not use Google Desktop or thier Enterprise version. Quite a few of the devlopers at work use it and have found it to be fairly useful.
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willay
Moderator
Organiser: South East, National Events
Premium Member
Registered: 10th Nov 02
Location: Roydon, Essex
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Cybermonkey
if anything, use MediaWiki and something like Apache to control the backend database. Its quite powerful in the way you can protect pages from being public. Im controlling a Wiki at work using WAMP5 too.
wamp5?
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Cybermonkey
Member
Registered: 22nd Sep 02
Location: Sydney, Australia
User status: Offline
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WAMP5 controls Apache, PHP5 and MySQL, all from a cool little control bar. Monitors services and keeps all the important files in order.
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Yes, the unix bods have set me up with mediawiki/apache on one of our boxes - for me to start playing with.
The only thing they didnt do was set me up an admin account, so I can't play around with it untill they get back after christmas 
I've actually dug out my college notes on databases etc, and a simple relational database, with a table for clients, and a table for services might be a good idea - certainly one for a future project.
I still want a wiki building, we have so much documentation and instruction on various things - and a wiki would be an ideal way to collate it all and make it accessible for all of IT staff.
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Cybermonkey
Member
Registered: 22nd Sep 02
Location: Sydney, Australia
User status: Offline
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heres a cool tip, download http://ant.apache.org/
use the following script;
update user set
user_password=md5(concat(user_id,'-',md5('newpassword'))) where
user_name='wikiadmin';
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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Databases of clients should be easy enough. Leave the rest in docs scattered about the place, but a single table list of people shouldn't be difficult.
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Jamie Walby
Member
Registered: 15th Nov 04
User status: Offline
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Whats a Wiki?
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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As in Wiki-pedia
Anyone can amend wikipedia
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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From aforementioned site:
A wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.ki¢°] <WICK-ee> or [ˈwi¢°.ki¢°] <WEE-kee>[1]) is a type of Web site that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring. The term wiki also can refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a Web site, or to certain specific wiki sites, including the computer science site (the original wiki) WikiWikiWeb and on-line encyclopedias such as Wikipedia.
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Jamie Walby
Member
Registered: 15th Nov 04
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Robbo
As in Wiki-pedia
Anyone can amend wikipedia
Thats the Encyclopedia site is it not?
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Jamie Walby
Member
Registered: 15th Nov 04
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Robbo
From aforementioned site:
A wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.ki¢°] <WICK-ee> or [ˈwi¢°.ki¢°] <WEE-kee>[1]) is a type of Web site that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring. The term wiki also can refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a Web site, or to certain specific wiki sites, including the computer science site (the original wiki) WikiWikiWeb and on-line encyclopedias such as Wikipedia.
So on wikipedia, if i saw content and knew of further info to add, I could do so.
Thats a pretty neat idea TBH.
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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Yip, BUT surely open to abuse unless someone monitors it so I dont get how wikipedia is free :S
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ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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Hence the phrase Wiki-vandalism. There are tighter meaures on the site now before submitted info is accepted now to prevent that from happening.
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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The theory is that there is more good than evil and entries which are abused are fixed as quick.
You can also lock if it gets too bad.
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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Which must mean a large admin force so how is it free, no discenrable advertising (yet)
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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They're not admin. Its just visitors. Some have staff positions for locking stuff and admin type things but they're not salaried.
They can also revert changes to go back to old versions so they don't need to type everything back in again.
Its just a very large number of commited people.
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