Update 11.10.09: CantonWiki.org has launched.
Through my affiliation with ArborWiki.org, I was approached by a guy that wants to start a city wiki for Canton, MI. He had some specific questions about starting a city wiki and building momentum. Here is my response, which I felt is appropriate for anybody wishing to start a wiki:
The RichmondWiki project is largely influenced by the Arborwiki success in terms of content volume and community participation. I’m a few years behind, so we don’t have as much content or as many active contributors but we’re getting there. I would suggest finding a “coalition of the willing” (friends, family, techies, etc.) that can share moderation and content seeding responsibilities. Only a small percentage of normal visitors will actually know how/care enough to edit an article. You will likely end up relying on a small cadre of regular editors and a few drop-ins. I have found that aggregating local content works well to get some attention from the local bloggers and tech folks. My best examples are the list of Haunted Houses (http://www.richmondwiki.org/wiki/Haunted_Houses) and Tacky Lights Tours (http://www.richmondwiki.org/wiki/Tacky_Lights_Tours) that are seasonal favorites in Richmond.
I started my MediaWiki adventure by reading the Mediawiki book listed on the project blog. It gave me enough info to feel comfortable deploying and administering the MW installation. Other than that, it’s all about content. Figure out what works in your area and push it to local bloggers, news sources, etc. Keep adding content even when it seems nobody else is paying attention. Eventually you will find the right mix that Google likes and the natural search engine traffic will bring enough visitors and new contributors to push you over the hump so the project doesn’t rest solely on your shoulders.
I could add a lot more to this list based on my experience. Perhaps a future post.
Possibly Related Posts:
