Establishing your internal wiki is essential for many facets of your organization. In this article, we will discuss how wikis are developed, their uses, and why they are important to your organization.
What is an internal wiki, and why do you need one for your business?
A company's internal wiki is a dedicated location where teams may store, locate, and exchange vital information with each other. Consider it as your organization's long-term memory or internal knowledge repository. Businesses utilize wikis to record vital information for their company operations, Information such as corporate policies, procedures, processes, technical notes(release notes and other story descriptions), project plans, and training and onboarding documentation.
A corporate wiki eliminates redundant queries and enables your staff to operate independently. Additionally, it safeguards your business against attrition - wikis save information that might otherwise be lost.
Additionally, wikis have a beneficial effect on organizational culture. Employees are compelled to improve their writing skills – to communicate their point simply and succinctly. By writing more clearly, you can think more clearly, which enhances teamwork and productivity.
What are key features in a wiki creation platform that you should look for when choosing one to support your companies' internal wiki needs?
Your firm will tailor your wiki experience to your specific requirements. However, the following elements are critical to your wiki experience. When selecting an internal wiki for your organization, ensure that it provides these characteristics.
Your wiki should integrate seamlessly with the technologies that your team currently utilizes.
Your team already communicates and shares information using platforms such as Github Gist, Air table as well as document editors such as Google Sheets. As a consequence, your collective knowledge is dispersed throughout a small number of applications. Your staff must continually switch tools in order to have access to critical corporate information.
While an internal wiki may assist, the fact is that some of your team's vital knowledge will continue to reside inside the constraints of technologies other than your wiki. This is why having a wiki creator that can integrate with your company's technologies is essential when choosing the right wiki for your organization.
The search tool should be sturdy and effective.
A robust search tool (which is what we use at Docsie) enables users to quickly locate material without having to go through folders or topics.
At the very least, the search functionality of the company wiki should be as quick and straightforward as Google's.
Docsie’s search allows our users to find content and knowledge quickly and efficiently. By typing in the word they are looking for, all of the articles and their locations will appear, which is one of the best practices to follow.
Consider the search feature in Docsie to help users find resources from company knowledge. Docsie enables teams to centrally store, organize, and distribute vital information on internal company wiki. They depend on our platform to assist them in quickly locating what they're searching for. That is why, when you click the search box in Docsie, we display your most recently read posts – since the article you're looking for is certainly one you've just visited.
Additionally, we provide faceted search, which helps you to refine your search. For instance, this is how you might locate references to the word 'Javascript' inside your documentation and various articles:
A quick and powerful search function is not only a means of reducing the time spent on the quest for information. Additionally, it provides a great user experience for your team, increasing their likelihood to utilize and adding excellent functionality to your Docsie wiki. You can also set up private wiki as well as decide who can have access rights to ensure the safety and security of your data and knowledge management. For instance, you may not want to share access to new hires during their probation period, post which you can add them to your team wiki or continue limiting them to platforms like Google Drive.
The ability to collaborate
Internal wikis eliminate the knowledge silos that naturally exist in every organization with numerous teams. However, teams should retain their own dedicated place for company information on your wiki.
Teams do this via the usage of books within shelves with Docsie (other wikis-type folders). Engineering teams, for example, have their own devoted subject for important information, as does Marketing. Additionally, each team in an entire organization may develop nested subtopics. For instance, each of your Brand and Growth teams may have its own dedicated subtopic inside the Marketing subject.
Whatever these specialized venues are named, they should make it simple to get the appropriate information in front of the right people, at the right time.
Docsie allows for seamless collaboration with your team. Here is a video that demonstates a few collaboration features within Docsie.
Also, Docsie, unlike Google Docs or others, allows you to set various roles within the platform which is important to stipulate who can do what and to what capacity can they do it, making it user-friendly.
Here is an example of how we positioned the roles of our users within Docsie:
Collaboration is extremely important, especially in these times, where most teams work remotely. To learn more about how Docse can help with collaboration click here.
A method for maintaining current and correct material
Certain wikis make determining if your material is up to date and correct challenging. Look for a wiki that prominently displays critical information such as the date and author of a post to find new content.
Who last modified the content of your wiki?
If you also have a question like how last modified your documentation, then having a platform that shows timestamps is key! Docsie allows all of our users to see what has been done within various books and this helps them understand what work is still required to be completed in best way possible.
What are the key necessities for a well organized internal wiki platform?
Creating an efficient internal wiki platform requires careful consideration of several key factors. From effective organization to keeping the format easy to read, the success of such a platform hinges on its ability to serve as a centralized hub for information. Let's delve into the essential components that contribute to a well-organized internal wiki platform.
Effective organization
To store and organize material, document editors make use of the conventional folder, also they can have articles and sub-articles, headings, and various layout configurations that can help to manage the layout of your internal wiki a lot more efficiently. However, most of the time finding these files and knowing which file belongs to which department can be tedious without the proper organization of documentation. This makes it difficult for colleagues to locate and keep information.
Having search capabilities within the platform allows for different teams and departmental associates to find the appropriate documentation quickly and effectively. Also having the information divided into books and shelves creates a more organized situation for the organization's internal documentation.
Here is an example of Docsie's workspace. As you can see we have already organized our documentation within books and shelves. The books are articles and the shelves are a collection of different articles within a specifically tailored knowledge portal.
Keeping the format consistent and easy to read
Documentation should be simple and uncomplicated. With additional formatting choices available to your team, the documentation experience becomes more onerous. When everyone is free to structure their posts whatever they like, the result is an uneven and perplexing wiki experience. If you have a simple to read format that is easy to follow, not only will it be easy to develop and maintain but it will be a quicker and more effective process in developing documentation within a simple structure that is the same design all across the board.
Here is an example of a user guide developed by Docsie. It is our help portal and it will help you understand what a useful and dynamic format looks like.
- The main writing area: It’s a good idea to have images and diagrams, as well as the write-up to best, explain your documentation. It's in a nice location and sized well with headers and titles, positioned well.
- Fully functional search navigation: This is extremely important in order to speed up the process in which your readers find suitable information
- Links: Links are key to directing your readers to other pages that are necessary for them to review.
- Table of contents: This allows your readers to pinpoint specific articles within your knowledge portal and internal documentation.
- Language and version picker: The ability for your readers to change languages is crucial for companies that have a lot of employees that work overseas, within different countries.
Search is not just a passing idea
When you have a limited amount of documentation written and a small number of employees it may not be problematic to find the right information quickly. However, as your team grows and more individuals contribute to your internal knowledge base, you'll become aware of these document editors' limits.
Most internal documentation is not meant for a growing internal wiki with many employees. To have a dynamic search engine along with a well-organized wiki is essential for maintaining a smooth workflow on finding useful information, policies, user guides, and tutorials that the employees need while searching through the documentation.
Self-hosting or cloud-based wikis, which one is better for your organization?
Now let's talk about how to publish your documentation, is it better to have a self-hosted or cloud-based proprietary wiki?
Let's begin by looking at the pros and cons for each alternative.
Wiki that is self-hosted
If you have the cash and resources, you may host your corporate wiki on your intranet, server, or internet hosting provider. Among the advantages of a self-hosted wiki are the following:
- You are the only owner of your data.
- You may design a wiki experience that is tailored to your individual requirements and specifications.
However, a self-hosted wiki consumes significant technical resources. Typically, it is best suited for teams with very specialized requirements.
Wiki hosted on the cloud
Docsie, for example, enables you to create an internal wiki without devoting significant technical resources. Within one business day, you can be up and running.
It will be easy to manage and work with. Also, it can easily be embedded within your companies website with one line of code, this will make it seamlessly merge with your company's brand's look and feel for an overall comfortable user experience. In a long term using Docsie to help you host your documentation through our portal or embedded Docsie pages on your companies site will save time and money in the long run, and lead to a more sufficient documentation workflow.
Kinds of Wiki
Wikis come in different kinds, each customized to various purposes and needs. Here are a few ones:
- Enterprise Wiki: Intended for use inside an association, these wikis center around coordinated effort and information dividing between workers. They frequently incorporate elements, for example, access control and combination with other venture frameworks.
- Public Wiki: Open to the general population, these wikis permit anybody to see and alter content. Wikipedia is a perfect representation of a public wiki where clients overall add to an immense range of points.
- Confidential Wiki: Limited to a particular gathering or association, private wikis give a controlled climate to joint effort and data dividing between a characterized set of clients. They are frequently utilized for inner documentation and information the board.
- Educational Wiki: Outfitted towards supporting educational exercises, these wikis are utilized in scholastic settings. They work with cooperative learning, information sharing, and class project coordination among understudies and teachers.
- Project Wiki: Zeroed in on a particular venture or undertaking, these wikis act as a concentrated space for project documentation, task following, and joint effort among colleagues. They assist with smoothing out correspondence and guarantee that everybody in question is in total agreement.
- Personal Wiki: Made for individual use, individual wikis go about as a computerized scratch pad or information storehouse for individual data, thoughts, and notes. They can be a valuable device for putting together considerations and data.
- Software Documentation Wiki: Frequently utilized by programming improvement groups, these wikis give a stage to reporting code, APIs, and improvement processes. They support joint effort among designers and assist with keeping a thorough record of programming related data.
Laying the groundwork for your information architecture
The appearance of your information structure will be determined in large part by the wiki solution you pick.
In Docsie, the material is organized in three ways: shelves (which function similarly to folders) and books (which house the content itself). Thus, if your team makes use of Docsie, your information architecture refers to the way your subjects are organized.
As you organize your team's internal wiki:
Concentrate on clarity. Everyone on your team, not just those who created it, should be able to simply explore your wiki. Utilize many pairs of eyes to ensure that your wiki structure makes sense widely and that everyone understands where to get information.
Allow teams to be flexible. Allow each team to create a subject or folder in the manner that makes the most sense for their workflow. A framework that works for one team may not work for another.
Import and supplement content
After you've established your architecture, you may begin adding material to your internal wiki. If you already have documentation (for example, on DocX, Markdown PDF and/or JSON files), you should import it into your new wiki before it goes live. We make it simple to import material from a number of tools, as well as markdown files into Docsie.
Additionally, you should include any significant new material into your wiki prior to its formal debut. Several items that teams commonly add when launching their corporate wiki are their employee handbook and a tutorial on how to navigate their new wiki or knowledge base.
Configure integrations
As indicated before, your team is likely to rely on a small number of technologies to hold critical data. Rather than replacing these tools, we've discovered that integrating them with your knowledge base benefits your team more.
Consider which material should be stored in your wiki and which should be linked to it. Certain types of material belong in a tool other than your wiki. For instance, engineering teams that utilize GitHub may use Docsie to sync markdown files and include bugs and pull requests from GitHub. Thus, users may continue to use GitHub for their workflow while adding effortlessly to their company's wiki.
Docsie allows our users to integrate various other SaaS solutions within our platform. We allow our users to integrate:
To learn more about how we can integrate other technologies with Docsie, click here.
Internal Wiki Best Practices
Navigating the information of an internal wiki demands a set of best practices to ensure users can seamlessly access and utilize the wealth of knowledge stored within.
-
Intuitive Structure: Construct a logical and intuitive hierarchy for information. Group related topics together, and establish a clear taxonomy that aligns with the organization's structure.
-
Search Functionality: Implement a robust search feature to empower users to quickly locate specific information. A reliable search engine can significantly enhance the user experience and efficiency.
-
Regular Updates: Focus on continuous improvement via regular updates as outdated information can lead to confusion.
-
Permission Controls: Create proper access levels because you don't need to provide access to all information to everyone.
-
Collaborative Editing: Facilitate collaborative content creation and editing. Encourage team members to contribute their expertise, fostering a sense of ownership and ensuring that information remains up-to-date and accurate.
-
Version Control: Implement version control mechanisms to track changes made to documents. This not only provides a history of edits but also allows for easy rollbacks in case of errors or misinformation.
-
User Training and Documentation: Offer comprehensive training and documentation for users. This ensures that everyone understands how to navigate the internal wiki platform effectively and contributes to its success.
Create a launch plan
You may now begin planning your launch. You'll need to make a critical decision: will the first rollout be limited to a single team or will it span the whole organization?
Team-specific: If you want to open your wiki to a single team, that team will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the product and begin developing their own information architecture. Then, as your internal wiki grows, the initial staff may give invaluable insight and assistance.
Company-wide: If you choose to deploy your wiki throughout your whole organization at once, ensure that everyone is aware of the procedure for managing your authorized knowledge base. Otherwise, it is recommended that you begin with a single team and then expand to departments and expand even further. For company-wide rollouts, we advocate hiring team ambassadors. They will develop into product specialists and will be able to lead the charge within their respective teams.
Final thoughts
Your organization's internal wiki is more than a repository for vacation policy. Your wiki contributes to the development of a culture of writing and information sharing.
However, the wiki you select is significant. Choose a wiki that simplifies and streamlines documentation. Nobody should be required to jump through hoops in order to have a good grasp of the knowledge you are sharing. This is why we suggest that having a well-thought-out internal wiki is a great way to share information in a strategic and methodological manner in order to help maintain strong company morale.