[Fg-general] Wiki/Documentation course

[afsmith]

Hello, fg-general...

Several monthly meetings ago I at some point either agreed to write up
a course outline for Wiki editing or to actually teach it  (I forget
which) I'm feeling like I'd be willing to teach at this point, but I
still don't have an outline.

Here are two questions (and my thoughts):
1. What do you think a wiki class should look like?
- There is already lots of documentation available for MediaWiki
editing all over the net. I kind of feel that teaching the basics
would be redundant.
- On the other hand there may be many people who do not process online
and primarily english tutorials well
- It could simply be a question-answer session instead of a class
- Ignoring the question of a dedicated "class" altogether, I could
organize wiki sessions/sprints devoted to specific areas of
documentation where newcomers learn while others work and ask
questions.

2. Would people be willing to actually attend in person for this?
- I could probably teach online, through IRC or something. People
could attend through Free Geek public terminals. This would also allow
it to be during the day.
- Seems like it would requite a lot of discussion and a formal
proposal, but I think it would be very cool if, during the middle of
they day, maybe around lunchtime, regular volunteers had the
opportunity to just join into a short tutorial

Other input is welcome


FYI, to elaborate on what kind of knowledge I bring to the table, I
worked over the course of a year editing much poor, ad-hoc
documentation for a company that used a wiki (specifically, MediaWiki)
internally. I'm quite cognizant with regards to the kinds of issues
that face a relatively large body of Wikified info on limited subjects
(>4000 actual pages) especially with regards to organization,
cleanliness and usability.
I've never actually fully set up any wiki software, though if there is
demand I'd be willing to learn it.