Wiki Patterns
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There is no 'right' way to use a wiki. The fantastic thing about wikis, and the reason they have been so successful, is that they are built from the ground up by the people who use them. That way, the structure of a wiki, and how it is used, comes to mirror how the people using the wiki want to structure it, how they want to use it.
One of the most common misconceptions about patterns are that they are somehow recipes. With that misunderstanding, you would read this site as a list of instructions: how to set up initial content, how to encourage people to contribute, how to deal with disruptive elements. Wikipatterns is not an instruction manual, it's a set of tools. It's examples of techniques that have helped people, and of situations that people have found themselves in that they wished they hadn't. We want to help to identify a nail, and know you might want to hit it with a hammer. We recommend against grabbing a bag of nails and hammering them into every wall just in case it turns out to be a good idea.
What is a pattern?
The concept of a pattern was introduced by the architect Christopher Alexander
in his book The Timeless Way of Building. Alexander described a pattern as "a three part rule, which expresses a relation between a certain context, a problem, and a solution".
Patterns recognise techniques and constructs that practitioners of a craft have come across repeatedly, and presents them in a particular format or "pattern language", which describes in what context these techniques arise, what problem they solve, and how they solve them.
A pattern is a model considered worthy of imitation (i.e., if it worked for others, it can work for you). Newcomers can benefit from their predecessors' experiences so they don't have to make the same mistakes fumbling around for the same solutions to the same problems. Just as importantly, patterns give adepts a shared language in which to speak about these common concepts.
For example, anyone who has used a wiki for some time knows that it's good to have people around who will fix up typos and broken links, and make sure pages are in their correct categories. A pattern makes it easier to talk about these people because it gives them a name (WikiGardener), and also explains that the best way to encourage WikiGardeners is to have a wiki where everyone is comfortable editing pages, and there is no rigid ownership of content.
Pattern Languages
One of the most important parts of any catalogue of patterns is the pattern language. This is the template to which all patterns should be written, ensuring that for each pattern, all of Alexander's "three part rule" is properly covered.
For information on the pattern language we use for wikipatterns, read The WikiPatterns Pattern Language.
Antipatterns
Antipatterns are patterns that represent a negative behaviour or consequence. They describe situations that you'd rather didn't occur, but that are common nonetheless.
The most important part of an Antipattern is the refactored solution, which answers the question: "If we find ourselves in this situation, how best can we extricate ourselves from it and get back on track?"
See also, The WikiPatterns Antipattern Language.
Adoption Patterns
Adoption Anti-Patterns
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Hmm, in my experience a pattern language means not so much the "syntax" of the individual patterns but the totality of linked and related patterns. Got a cite for your definition?
It's not clear to me how you, Stewart, want us to contact you or the 'administration' directly with ideas and comments. I could find no email, or 'feedback' section. I hope this gets to you.
Please see this page: Pages for removal or review.
Also, where would be the most appropriate place to link that page? There are other pages worthy of such a nomination, or at least an 'Page Requires Expansion' 'expandme' tag.
Thanks!
It is absolutely unclear how and where to translate the content of this wiki. I have reverted a translation in Italian of "Viral" because it had replaced the English version. I cannot find how to create the Italian text in the right place..
It is also not helpful that I cannot find a way in how to ask an "admin" for some help.
Thanks, Gerard
I think that Xian has a point when saying that "pattern languages" should represent the totality of linked/related patterns. The transitional state diagram below (see source
) is one example of how one might convey the totality of patterns by displaying the distribution and/or probability of events (B, C, D) that follow a given event A, and the probability of events (A, C, D) that follow event B, and so on. The "three part rule" seems to suggest this particular aspect of the definition, but it is not made explicit in the wikipattern pattern language page/template. Furthermore, the "three part rule" is more about the process of identifying specific sequences of actions (and reactions to the action), and not about conveying the patterns of possible reactions to each specified action. 
I wen through this wiki pattern thing.i understand wiki perfectly but still not able to understand how it can help enhance my wiki experience. Ed
I feel what's also missing from the conversation is a section for best practices: WHAT wiki sites/hosts to use...a forum for figuring out who has the best layout and userability! I'm no dummy and while I totally buy into the potential of a wiki, I find myself extremely frustrated that I can't seem to find a group of people who are grappling with this same issue
. I also readily admit that I've been a bit slow to embrace the online potential beyond web browsing and email...but I'm totally there now and want to leverage this amazing tool for people who could really benefit! I'm extremely displeased with the editing functions that I find on certain wikis (wetpaint for example) b/c it's a chore just to be able to edit a spreadsheet or font color. It's crazy and way too counterproductive. Does anyone have an explanation for this? Why does the web have such slick awesome stuff but wikis seem to have the visual appeal of a second-grade poster project?
A site concerning the worlds' wider questions about the proper use of wikis in general is attempting to open up on the stackexchange site:
I'm supporting a proposal to create a new Q&A website for navigating and editing wikis, sharing of help and guidelines, managing and installing wikis, administrating your Wikia / organization's wiki, MediaWiki, DokuWiki or others, writing wiki articles and its syntax, or any other wiki-related questions.
It's built on the same software as stackoverflow.com, a hugely popular site where over seven million programmers help each other with difficult programming problems. On Stack Overflow the audience votes for the best answer, so the answer you want is usually right at the top, not on page five.
I'm hoping that a site for navigating and editing Wikipedia, sharing of help and guidelines, managing and installing wikis, administrating your Wikia / organization's wiki, MediaWiki, DokuWiki or others, writing wiki articles and its syntax, or any other wiki-related questions would have the same kind of network effect and turn into an amazing resource.
">http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/13716/wikis-and-wikipedia
So for more and better wiki collaborative partners world wide, please visit and commit