WikiNet

(English) This is an essay. It expresses the opinions and ideas of some Wikimedians but may not have wide support. This is not policy on Meta, but it may be a policy or guideline on other Wikimedia projects. Feel free to update this page as needed, or use the discussion page to propose major changes.

The wiki-net is a concept including all wikis (wikilandia) and is not reduced to any special wiki like wikipedia or any special wiki-engine like Mediawiki.

what is the wiki-net / what is our wiki-net?

See the draft on wiki-net.

"physically"

The wiki-net consists of several pages on every wiki automatically gathering contents from other wikis which help you to find communities of interest for a given topic.

"philosophically"

The wiki-net is also an offer to wiki-communities to create stronger relations to each other in order to use synergic effects by integrating certain rss-driven node-pages into their wikis to stimulate interaction.

wiki-neighborhood

It is based the assumption that wiki-communities are able to develop an idea about a "neighborhood" of wikis - topically, technically or structurally related wikis that an interaction with is more likely than with other wikis. These get collected on the wiki-node.

decentrality

The wiki-net is a cross-engine idea and entirely decentral. Every wiki-community is responsible for its part of the wiki-net called our wiki-net, all these together shape the wiki net.

dynamic selection

Communities make dynamic selections of the neighbors listed on their wiki-nodes. This selection is called our wiki-net and it triggers three rss-driven internal wiki-pages that are nodes to the "outer wikiworld".

1.) wiki-net changes

The first is wiki-net changes. It shows the recent changes of the (selected) wiki-neighborhood and the recent changes of the wiki itself merged. You see a recent changes page for several wikis. It's like zooming out in a picture, the view is more wide-angle. Recent near changes was the old name for this page. The contents of this page tends to be confusing - as recent changes itself tend to be confusing.

2.) wiki-net blogs

The second is wiki-net blogs. It assumes that wiki-communities are able to write a common blog - a blog integrated in the wiki itself and automatically attached to the end of its home-page. On their blogs communities summarize what goes on on their wikis. The common blog is like a face to the outside. A new reader reads the last blog entries and knows about the wiki without having to dive into its recent changes. The blog is an act of politeness to the public, a help for the communities themselves to get aware of their own activities and it keeps the members of a community together. To put it simple: "A wiki-community without blog is like a band without gigs."
Similar to wiki-net changes the page wiki-net blogs merges the blogs of the (selected) neighbors and the blog of the wiki itself.

3.) hints

The third is wiki-net hints. Assuming the selections for the first two interaction-nodes on a wiki are pretty stable (though still dynamic, like good friends, some are friends for life-time, some change) the hint part of the wiki-net offers a possibility to give a wiki-community a hint to an interesting wiki. It is more about the short term attention of a wiki-community. Likely the selections for the first two wiki-net pages will be taken within a wiki-community, outsiders shouldn't edit the selection or will be reverted. The hint section of the wiki-net gives outsiders (just as wiki-community members) the possibility to point the wiki-community to another wiki. Unlike the other two wiki-net pages the hints are limited by number and added/removed by date. Getting a new hint the oldest wiki in the selection is removed, thus hints won't stay in a wiki's attention for very long. On hints changes the recent changes of the wikis given a hint to get merged.

syndication

There is an own rss-feed for all these three wiki-net pages + there is an rss-feed for a wiki's selection of neighbors (its wiki-net) called wiki-net feed.

wiki-net server

The wiki-net feed is machine readable (machine code block). Using a cron-job wikis connect to a (contemporarily only imagined) wiki-net server like once a day. The wiki delivers the information about its current selection of neighbor to it and receives information about what other wikis currently have it - the wiki - in in their selection. That makes it possible to show on a page "who is watching us?" which other wikis currently have the "watched" wiki in their focus (that is on their wiki-net). "Feeling somebody's gaze on your skin". Showing who watches you creates a further interactive node, people will take a look at the watching wiki, interaction gets more likely.