(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.
Translate

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"
edit

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"
edit

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
edit

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
edit

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
edit

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
edit

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
edit

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
edit

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
edit

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
edit

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.