Word sculpting with wiki enwonderment

Wiki editing is kind of like a drug. I hesitate to say that, because “drug” is often used as a generalization for illicit chemicals, and I certainly don’t have a dependency. But it is addictive: it usually starts when I notice several bits (or more) of info that no one has yet compiled, and I mentally go, “Hey, I should start that on the Second Life Wiki!” Shortly thereafter, it happens.

“Shortly” being the operative term, because it just takes a few minutes to write an intro paragraph or two, put in some headers, maybe even bullet points. By then, the seeds of a new page have more than sprung. And then it’s onward to expansion.

I like to be very focused, doing nothing else (or trying to) when I edit wiki pages; it’s serene, like literary bonsai-shaping: trim off some words here, place the wire around this branch to guide it and oohhh that looks nice, and soforth.

Today, I started the “SLetiquette” and “Wiki myths busted” pages — the latter dissolving fears pertaining specifically to our SL wiki, not wikis in general. And the former is such a marvelous idea for courtesy, if I do say so myself: I’ve read great Resi-created SLetiquette guides before, and a few links to find them easier is just in order.

Now here’s where it gets amazing: not taking all the credit, because someone with info to add comes by and does exactly that. In the case of the “SLetiquette” page, Samantha Pointdexter pointed out a consideration about camping chairs, and Strife Onizuka edited formatting and Geneko Nemeth added a helpful screenshot to “Wiki myths busted”.

Surprise collaboration like this is awesome.

Also kewl: each & everyone has an edit trail, so you can see how pages evolved and came to be.

Tagged as: General, The Web, Work