If you're thinking of setting up a wiki for a creative industry then this guide should give you some pointers. Here are our experiences as the founders of wikifashion.com.

Planning

• This may seem obvious but the first thing you should think about is why you are creating a wiki in first place? Be sure to do a google search. There may already be a wiki that you can contribute to rather than creating your own.
• Can you observe a need for a wiki with the scope you are intending? When deciding what should be in your wiki you must make sure your scope is not too large and not too small. Wikipedia already has a bit (sometime a LOT) of information on everything. How will your wiki benefit users over Wikipedia? Will it be more specific? In the case of Wikifashion; we are specific to the fashion industry.
• Do you know a lot about the subject matter of the intended wiki. While a successful wiki will have many contributors, someone will need to seed the wiki with content to attract those precious contributors.

Implementation

• Choose your wiki software. There are many options available. Some popular choices are:
  • Mediawiki. Probably the most common wiki found on the internet. It is open source and is the same software running Wikipedia and Wikifashion.
  • Confluence. This is a good wiki for corporate environments. It allows fine access controls over content (be careful; this is almost at odds with the core objective of a wiki's). Btw confluence comes with a hefty price tag.
  • Wikia.com. If you'd like a wiki quick smart and do not mind adds, then Wikia may be for you. You can create an account for free.
  • Wikispaces.com. Wikispaces is similar to wikia except it doesn't cover your wiki with adds if you give them a little coin. BCI's twitter director uses wikispaces.
• Who will be your audience? Adjust your wiki's presentation and writing style appropriately. This is very important.

Making your wiki come alive!

We'll be honest here. We are still having difficulty attracting contributors. So here is what we have found works well so far.

• Be active on your wiki. An active wiki will entice both Google and humans to come back to your wiki.
• At the same time, make sure you do not become a do-it-all. Give others a chance to help.
• Lower the costs of entry for a contributor. Starting a wiki page from scratch is daunting to most people. We found it worked well to create pages with basic information then ask the community to fill in the gaps. Twitter has been a great help with this strategy. Plus every time you Twitter about a particular topic, more people may stumble upon your wiki.
• Network online and offline. If you are creating a wiki on a particular subject, chances are you are involved with that subject somehow and may already have connections. Expand on that; get in touch with the community.
• Create a help area on your wiki where users can gain access to tutorials, cheat sheets, editing guides in order to make it as easy as possible to use the wiki.

The most important things to remember when establishing a wiki is to involve the community as much as possible and content is king!

By Coen Hyde and Madeline Veenstra (Co-Founders of WikiFashion.com)