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EPA GEO Wiki:MediaWiki and Deki Wiki

OEI National MeetingDecember 10-12, 2008

Brand NiemannDecember 30, 2008

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The Why

• Collaboration tools are essential to reduce the large costs (time and money) of re-work every-time someone new starts a new project without access to the previous work which was not documented in a collaboration tool that integrates and preserves that work.– November 20-21, 2008, Collaboration for Better

Dissemination of IT-based Innovation in Government, Leadership for a Networked World Program, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Participation in preparatory discussions and winner of competition. See Web 2.0 Wiki.

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The Why

• MediaWiki is a free software wiki package originally written for Wikipedia. It is now used by several other projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and by many other wikis, including this website, the home of MediaWiki.

• The MindTouch Deki Wiki is a “fork” from the MediaWiki that started several years ago when those in the MediaWiki Developer Community felt there should be both an easier to use and a more powerful Wiki.– The result is that MindTouch now refers to their product as a

Web Services Platform with a Wiki interface and declares that they are the world's most popular open source enterprise collaboration and wiki software.

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Google: EPA GEOSS

December 12, 2008

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Google: EPA GEOSS• Global Earth Observation System of Systems | US EPA

– http://www.epa.gov/geoss/• Fact Sheet: EPA's Advanced Monitoring Initiative Supports GEOSS

– http://www.epa.gov/geoss/ami/• EPA GEOSS Indicators Approach – PugetSoundMashup

– http://pugetsound.epageo.org/index.php5?title=EPA_GEOSS_Indicators_Approach

• An Overview of Available Environmental Data for Air– http://canamglass.org/low/files/FoleyGEOSS&GLOSGrandIsland27Mar0

7.pdf• Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)

– http://colab.cim3.net/file/work/SICoP/2006-06-20/2006-06-21/sfalke06212006.ppt

• EPA’s Role in the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)– http://eea.eionet.europa.eu/Public/irc/envirowindows/jad/library?l=/ecoin

formatics_indicator/berkely_october/ecoinfromaticspresgeossp/_EN_1.0_&a=d

December 12, 2008

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Google: https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Main_Page

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EPA GEO MediaWiki

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Main_Page

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Instructions

• URL:– https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/

Main_Page• On the left hand navigation bar, click on the help

desk.• Once on the helpdesk page you will find a

section titled "Request a new user account"• Click on the mail link to the GEOSS wiki help

desk and send them your name and email address.

• They will email you a user name and password.

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Instructions

• Use Policy: The GEOSS Knowledgebase, using MediaWiki software, is a pilot project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to encourage collaboration and accelerate the pace of collective learning among scientists and researchers interested in global earth observations, modeling, analysis, and ecosystem service levels. The content within this knowledgebase is for internal EPA employee use only and should not be cited, disclosed, or disseminated external to EPA without the expressed written permission of the author. Your User ID and password are confidential and intended only to be used by the employee who has been issued the credential.

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EPA GEO Login

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Main_Page

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EPA GEO Help

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Help:Contents

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EPA GEO Steps• 1. Review the Wiki Challenges and Requirements piece on the

Home Page of the wiki that addresses concerns and requirements needs. This outlines many of the issues we ran into using the Mediawiki

• 2. Provide a brief 1-2 pager of their plan to include (concise):– Background– Need for change (Mediawiki doesn't work well, this product does for the

following new and improved features)– Pilot Details (process steps, how will the migration work)– Pilot Schedule

• 3. Provide ESRP with a demo of how to use Deki Wiki (apparently it's user friendly and requires no training).

• 4. A comparison chart of Deki Wiki, Mediawiki, and Lotus Quickr

Source: Susan Lundquist, Email, December 3, 2008

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Approach

• 1. Straight conversion of Mediawiki to Deki Wiki:– Zip of MySQL dump and Zip of images directory

• See Enviro-Central and Watershed Central

• 2. “Garden” Mediawiki first then convert like 1.– A WikiGardener is someone who often spends time

attending to the quality, flow, and overall polish of content on a wiki.

• 3. “Refactor” Mediawiki into the Deki Wiki:– The process of changing a wiki to make it amenable

to change, improve its readability, or simplify its structure, while preserving its existing functionality, but also enhancing its functionality.

• See Wikipedia: Code Refactoring

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Tutorial Overview• 1: Decide on Name• 2: Register Name• 3: Login• 4: Set Preferences• 5: Control Panel• 6: Design Home Page• 7: Create Subtopics• 8: Repurpose Word and Web Content Into Wiki• 9: Attach Files• 10: Insert Images and Links• 11: Create Web Log (Blog)• 12: Set Security• 13: Monitor Users• 14: Revise/Reorganize

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Deki Wiki Express

http://www.mindtouch.com/Products/Deki_Express

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Deki Wiki Express: Login

http://www.wik.is/success/?sitename=epageoss

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Deki Wiki Express: Welcome

http://epageoss.wik.is/Welcome

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Deki Wiki Express: Set Password

http://epageoss.wik.is/Welcome

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Deki Wiki Express: Set Password

Private Email

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Deki Wiki Express : Set Password

http://epageoss.wik.is/Special:Preferences

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Deki Wiki Express: Control Panel

http://epageoss.wik.is/Admin:

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Deki Wiki Express: Visual Appearance

http://epageoss.wik.is/Admin:Styles

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Deki Wiki Express: Home Page

http://epageoss.wik.is/

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Deki Wiki Express: Restrict Access

http://epageoss.wik.is/

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Deki Wiki Express: Restrict Access

• Public: everybody can view and edit.• Semi-Public: everybody can view, but only

selected users can edit.• Private: only selected users can view and edit

this page.• Note: Deki Wiki has one of the most advanced

permission systems available. Deki Wiki administrators can make wikis public or private, anonymous or not. There is user groups support. Users can permission entire hierarchies to create private or non-editable workspaces or permission single pages.

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Deki Wiki Express: Add Web Page

http://www.epa.gov/geoss/

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Deki Wiki Express: Add Web Page

http://epageoss.wik.is/Global_Earth_Observation_System_of_Systems_(GEOSS)

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Deki Wiki Express: Add Wiki Page

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan

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Deki Wiki Express: Add Wiki Page

http://epageoss.wik.is/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan

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Deki Wiki Express: Attach Files

http://epageoss.wik.is/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan

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Deki Wiki Express: Attach Files

http://epageoss.wik.is/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan

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Deki Wiki Express: Templates

http://epageoss.wik.is/Template:Questions_for_Peer_Review_of_Implementation_Plan_for_Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study

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Deki Wiki Express: Insert Links

http://epageoss.wik.is/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan

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Deki Wiki Express: Insert Links

http://epageoss.wik.is/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan

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Deki Wiki Express: Insert Images

http://epageoss.wik.is/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan

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Deki Wiki Express: Insert Images

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Image:Integrated_Model_hierarchical_060108_lores.jpg

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Deki Wiki Express: Insert Images

http://epageoss.wik.is/Future_Midwestern_Landscapes_Study_Implementation_Plan/3_Approach/3.3_Conceptual_Model

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MindTouch Deki Wiki Features

• Content Creation:– An editing experience similar to what you would expect from

modern word processor applications. • Content Management:

– Hierarchical page organization: Organize content in an intuitive hierarchical manner

• Search:– Advanced search: User can view all results or only specific

subsets of the result set• Attachments:

– Users can attach any file or image to any page.• Versioning and Reversion:

– Page versioning: Every page retains a complete history of changes.

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MindTouch Deki's Software Architecture

http://wiki.mindtouch.com/MindTouch_Deki/Features/Architecture

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MindTouch Deki's Software Architecture

http://wiki.mindtouch.com/MindTouch_Deki/Features/Architecture

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MindTouch Deki Wiki Features

• Access Control:– Restrict page editing, Restrict page viewing, Restrict

hierarchies

• Alerts and Notifications:– Watch list Feeds: Every user can create a list of

pages to watch.

• Application Administration:– Site administration: Quickly and easily manage

multiple users and users' status

• Miscellaneous:– Adherence to standards: All content is stored in XML.

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MindTouch Deki Wiki Best Practices Example

• The Mindtouch Deki Wiki is powering the TOPSAN protein database project which is a Wiki for scientists to collaborate around protein research. When finished, the TOPSAN site is expected to have 700,000 Wiki pages.– See http://www.topsan.org

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MindTouch Deki Wiki Best Practices Example

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Challenges

• Our summarization (two pages of Challenges):– Security and privacy (Restrict Access)– Cultural (incentives, value, barriers, etc.)

• See Wikipatterns:– http://www.wikipatterns.com/display/wikipatterns/About?s

howComments=false

– Templates (Tools)– Output (Print Page and MySQL Database)

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Challenges_With_Using_Wiki_Technology

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Challenges

• Deki Wiki Menu:– My Page– Recent Changes– Tools:

• Watched Pages• Contributions• RSS Feeds• Templates• Sitemap• Popular Pages

– Helphttps://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Challenges_With_Using_Wiki_Technology

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Challenges

• Deki Wiki Menu:– Edit Page– New Page– Print Page (WYSIWYG and PDF)– More:

• Watch• Attach File or Image• Restrict Access• Move• Delete• Tag• Email Link• Set Page Properties• Talk About Page

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Challenges_With_Using_Wiki_Technology

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Requirements

• Our summarization (eight pages of Requirements):– Needs more structure and metadata– Needs project/portfolio management– Needs support for roles– Needs to work with the Portal and ESC– Needs search of a wide-range of information types– Needs support for large files– Needs a site map– And the list goes on…

• We are prepared to discuss and demonstrate how the Deki Wiki address these requirements.

https://adelie.sraprod.com/epageowiki/index.php/Requirements_Annotated_Outline

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MindTouch Enterprise: Tips

http://envirocentral.mindtouch.com/Tips

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MindTouch Enterprise: Control Panel

http://envirocentral.mindtouch.com/deki-cp/index.php