Bogleheads

[Ken Schwartz]

In this post Barry Barnitz reveals his testing of a forum wiki. I think it's a great idea. Contributing to a wiki would help many of us crystallize our investing thoughts, and we could link to it extensively in answering newbie questions.
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Best wishes,
Ken

[jimmydean]

Since no one's replied yet, I want to bump this up a little and say that I would definitely find the forum wiki useful.

[HueyLD]

Ken,

Thank you for pointing out this "jewel." Even a 20+ year Boglehead can learn something from this link.

[PaPaw]

[Ken Schwartz]

[PiperWarrior]

I second wiki. I've been tempted to write an FAQ more than once, but I haven't do a lot so far. That kind of thing is fairly easy with wiki because we can incrementally add things. Contributions from various people should make the contents fairly objective and informative.

[Ken Schwartz]

Here's most of a relevant PM I got from Barry Barnitz. I'm reproducing it with Barry's permission.

[NYCPete]

Awesome idea. If it gets big, it will show higher up in search engine results and will then draw more people to the forum, so more people can be helped.

Also, more easily searchable than using the forum for basic topics. Would be a great tool for people to use when discussing/debating technical issues when they need to reference their claims/evidence.

Again, awesome idea.

Best,
Peter
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To the extent that a fool knows his foolishness,
He may be deemed wise
A fool who considers himself wise
Is indeed a fool.

Buddha

[Barry Barnitz]

Hi:
Thanks for the kind words. If any forum member would like to sign up and gain access to posting, writing, and editing on this test wiki please pm me here at the forum and supply me with an email address. With this address I can add you to the wiki list of writers. I am not yet completely familiar with the sign up procedures, but I believe that once I have established you as a writer you will immediately receive an invitation e-mail to join the wiki. You will be asked to provide an email sign-in and a self chosen password. After completing this process, you should be able to log on to the Bogleheads Wiki and have full opportunity to create pages and content and get a feel for the wiki medium.

The Bogleheads Wiki

Here is a listing of the wiki's cast of characters, along with their functions.

Administrators [For Better or Worse this happens to be me]
As the wiki's creator, you are the admin. As the admin, you are the god of your wiki. You can delete pages, change and disable invite keys for Editors, Writers, and Readers. Admins alone have access to the wiki's Settings page. Only share an Admin password with people you really trust!

Editors
Editors are trusted helpers who are super-privileged Writers. They can delete pages and files, including revisions and revision histories. Editors should be highly trusted, since they can delete your data irrevocably.

Writers
The recommended default for sharing. Writers can edit pages and revert pages to previous versions. They can also upload new files and create new pages. Writers don't need to be super-trusted, since they cannot perform any action that cannot be undone.

One excellent potential byproduct of our experimentation is the likelihood that whatever quality content we develop on this test wiki will be transferred over to whatever platform is established for the official Bogleheads Wiki.

regards,
Barry
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blb
December Birthday Celebration: Ludwig van Beethoven

[Ken Schwartz]

I'd encourage interested folks to accept Barry's offer and sign up. I can see a wiki serving eventually as a super-enhanced reference library for the forum.

The PBwiki software we're using is a free version of a commercial program. PBwiki makes it easy to get started, but that's just good business! There are open source alternatives out there, most notably MediaWiki, a PHP application and the software behind Wikipedia. Are there any technically proficient Bogleheads who would be willing to create a test wiki using MediaWiki? I believe a high level of server access is required.
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Best wishes,
Ken

[tfb]

[mikenz]

I suggested to Barry that the wiki would probably be more successful if we had a pre-arranged "skeleton" of pages so that contributors would post new content in an organized manner.

This is a 10-minute off the top of my head list, but here's what I mean. It needs work, maybe is too detailed, feel free to change it around.

Not sure if it can actually be applied to the wiki, depending on the software used.

[Ken Schwartz]

[mikenz]

Ok, I was just speaking from work experience, where we have a wiki that became a real mess because people created new pages on topics that already existed, had pointers to pages that didn't exist or had been moved, and it was impossible to navigate around without just using the search function.

I had something more in mind like our library topic, where you have lots of headings already there, people can add more, and people can post new articles under each heading. And of course with the wiki you can also edit existing stuff.

[Mel Lindauer]

FWIW, I like the organized structure that Mike suggested, since it list various topics that folks can flesh out and contribute to.

Regards,

Mel

[Ken Schwartz]

[mikenz]

I probably went overboard with my list, was just sort of brainstorming. Maybe we'd just need a much shorter list to get started on the right track.

[Barry Barnitz]

MIke et al.:

I created a quick Test Page for your Index, which I modified to some extent. I created a Table of Contents, and provided pages for the first category. Red Titles indicate current wiki content (finished or in progress).

Test Index

The Index should probably be further reduced. It can always be expanded later.

regards,
Barry
edit:typo
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blb
December Birthday Celebration: Ludwig van Beethoven

[mikenz]

Wow, that's terrific. On reflection I think I went overboard for sure, but I do think an organized start would help keep things tidy.

[PaPaw]

For what it is worth, I like the index idea. Should give some structure with a lot of freedom to flesh it out.

[mikenz]

Upon further reflection, I think what would be good is this:

On the "main" page, have a short index of maybe about 10 entries, something like:

Boglehead Philosophy
Beginner Topics
Investment Theory
Stocks, Bonds and other Asset Classes
Portfolio Construction
Retirement Savings
College Savings
Personal Finance
Resources and Links
Book Reviews

That would fit on the front page. Each of the above would link to an index page for that topic, which could grow as contributions are added. Each page, say Retirement Savings, can have its own index of topics. You could have someone responsible for each topic, say Bob could look after organizing the Retirement section, and Laura the Portfolio section.

I wouldn't just blindly adopt the topics I've come up with either, just brainstorming as I said.

[Barry Barnitz]

Hi:

Updated test page. Here I have added the introductory elements of the main page. This page, therefore, could function as the main page of the Wiki. I haved added all of the current wiki posts into the index.

Main Page

The abbreviated listing with subtopic indexes is likely the best organizational option.

regards,
Barry
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blb
December Birthday Celebration: Ludwig van Beethoven