Comments on: Getting wiki with it: Wiki types (AboutUs included) collaborate on universal wiki edit button

By: MarkDilley

MarkDilley — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:05:31 +0000

there is an update, it is on it’s next version and it has a new icon! https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7804

(granted this happened over the summer!)

By: Universal Edit Button: Ward Cunningham, Mark Dilley, and Peter Kaminski » Silicon Florist

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:38:31 +0000

[...] the little orange RSS chiclet, the Universal Edit Button—launched last week—is, in my opinion, one of the most promising promotional tools for raising the visibility of [...]

By: John Abbe

John Abbe — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:25:59 +0000

The very fact that you can ask what types of websites besides wikis can be edited helps explain why this is such a good idea. Separate from the convenience of the tech, it spreads awareness that many website have – or could have – opportunities for readers to become contributors.

By: Rick Turoczy

Rick Turoczy — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:41:02 +0000

@Mark Yep, that helps! Thank you!

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:19:08 +0000

One such instance is that Brian Kerr wrote the plugin (minus the plugin casing) for his wordpress weblogs. So now when he is logged in, he can edit from the URL bar.

He will upload the code soon to this FutureLink :

http://universaleditbutton.org/Wordpress_plugin

Is that what you are asking? Best, Mark

By: Rick Turoczy

Rick Turoczy — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:39:06 +0000

@John Abbe: Interesting. Could you provide another example or two of types of sites–beyond wiki–that might employee this edit button? Thanks in advance for the additional insight.

By: John Abbe

John Abbe — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:35:16 +0000

I see a lot of commentary about this framing it as a wiki thing. While it clearly comes from the wiki community, the tech itself is entirely general – so it’s about raising the visibility of editability *anywhere* on the web, not just on wikis.

By: Rick Turoczy

Rick Turoczy — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:45:38 +0000

I think there’s an important “promotional” element that’s intrinsic to this whole thing. Like RSS feeds adopting a common icon, this move raises the visibility of, well, “editability.”

RSS really took off when it became more obvious and there were easy ways of managing feeds. Wikis only have the problem of becoming more obvious, because the editing is part and parcel of the form.

It will be really interesting to see if this moves wiki participation in the same direction as RSS consumption. At the very least, hopefully it will help people better understand what they have the ability to change.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:50:47 +0000

@Jmartens: the question you bring up is one of the culture within the individual wikis, not really a problem that is related to the Universal Edit Button. Like most aspects of wiki editing, it just depends on the community of that wiki. The same question already applies to any wiki that already prominently features open editing.

By: Jmartens

Jmartens — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:40:18 +0000

I agree that this is a cool and important step.

However, I worry about 1 possible negative effect. It has been my experience that most wiki pages are monitored and edited by an ‘elite’ and tight knit group of wiki-enthusiasts. What happens when people not part of this elite community start clicking on the edit button? Will the elite’s effectively block the regular guys contribution?