Matt+Sherwood

=A Tale of Two Wikis= GoogleSites vs. Wikispaces "It was the best of wikis, it was the worst of wikis..."

For this assignment, I decided to compare Wikispaces with [|Googlesites]. In the past, I have been unimpressed with Googlesites because I had a mindset that they were just a really poorly done website creator. When I looked at Wordpress, and even Blogger, it was hard to see why anyone would want to bother with Googlesites. Yet, when I finally realized that Googlesites was really a Wiki platform, I started to see the potential and understand why it was set up differently than a blog or website creator. I even realized that it excels in design and formatting when compared to other wiki software. Below, I wil l compare features between the two platforms.

Set-up and Sharing
Set-up in Googlesites is quite simple. It simply involves going to https://sites.google.com and logging in with a Google account. Some people may need to set up a Google account first before they can login. Once logged in, Goooglesites prompts the user to create a new site, name it, choose a basic design theme, and then get started on editing pages. In comparison, Wikispaces is just as easy, except that it doesn't provide any significant options in regard to design or formatting when you get started.

Sharing on Googlesites is easy as well. It simply involvesclicking on the "settings" link, and then the "sharing" tab and inviting others to the site based on their email address. This in turn will become their login name when they get to the site. When you invite them you can invite them as owners, collaborators, or viewers.

[[image:Googlesitesharing.JPG align="left"]]
Sharing in Wikispaces is slightly different, but equally easy. It simply involves going to the "manage space" link on the left and inviting users in a similar fashion. The one drawback, is that setting user permissions must be handled at a different time as the initial invite page does not make a way to set the permission level. Of course Wikispaces can set the user permission, but it can't be done on the initial invite.

Ediiting
In regard to editing of text and pages, Googlesites and Wikispaces are fairly similar in that they both provide WYSIWYG editing bars. They also are both loaded with the ability to easily add features and widgets that can add a great deal of functionality. Both sites can add images, videos, calendars, chat windows, Googledocs and others. In this respect, I actually preferred Wikispaces because their widgets provided more choices that were outside of the "Googlesphere".

Googlesites is probably slightly more accessible to the novice user in that it's editor looks very similar to other editing platforms like Microsoft Word and Googledocs. Googlesites also has automatic headings which simply make a separate field for a page title in a much bigger and bolder font. This simplifies the process as well. Other formatting can be done on the fly much like a word processor. One giant advantage for Googlesites is in regard to page creation. It has five preset page templates with the ability to cusomize them. The page template choices are a web page, dashboard, annoucement, file cabinet, and list. These are equivalent to a blank page, a widget page, a blog, a file-share, and a customizable list. Googlesites also allows for a level of cusomization in regard to the header and page colorinig and formatting. Wikispaces is equally easy when it comes to making page edits because it has a basic toolbar for fonts, sizes, alignments, and colors. It does fall short when it comes to templates because it requires the user to make their own templates from scratch. This is fine for the experienced user, but it is rather daunting for a user who is new to wikis. It also does not allow for a great deal of customization in regards to the header and page design. A user can pick one of four new "themes", which are not much more than a new color and a basic page template. To get more, the user needs to pay five dollars, or create their own theme-which is not an exciting option for a new user to wikis.

Version Control and Discussion
Version control in Googlesites and Wikispaces is fairly simple. Wikispaces is easier in that it provides links at the top of the page called "discussion", and "history". This allows for a quick review of all of the versions and the discussion history surrounding the page. Googlesites is not quite as intuitive, but does allow for version checking. To check changes that have been made, Googlesites has a small link on the top right that says "See earlier versions". This allows pages to be revised to previous versions. The only way to discuss a page in Googlesites is to leave a "comment" on the page at the bottom.

Subscriptions and Security
Both Wikispaces and Googlesites make it very easy to keep up on page changes. In Googlesites, the site administrator or user simply needs to select "subscribe to page changes" or "subscribe to site changes" under the "More actions" button. This allows the user to keep track of all changes being made on the site. Security comes into play in that all changes can be reverted and each user can have their level of permissions set by the site administrator. This can be done under site settings.

In Wikispaces, security is also controlled by the fact that all versions can be reverted to earlier versions through the "history" link. Furthermore, under the "Manage space" link, the site administrator can set the amount of control and access that individual users may have. Subscriptions are very easy in Wikispaces as well. The users or administrators simply select the "Notify me" link on the top right of the page. This allows changes to the site, or individual pages to be monitored.

Contributions
The best way to keep track of student contributions is simply to make sure that each student has an individual member name so they can be tracked. This can be done in Wikispaces or Googlesites. The history, version changes, and subscriptions could then easily keep track of all the contributions from every student.

In Summary
If I need to choose one of these two sites, I think I would lean towards using Googlesites because of the higher level of customization on the formatting. It also carries with it all the power of Google and all of the resources that Google has made available.