Jimenez_WikiPage

=The Summer of 2008 Wiki Smackdown!=



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Set-up for PB Wiki is comparable to that of Wikispaces. Upon visiting the main [|site] you select whether your wiki will be used for business or education. I am not certain if that is an option for Wikispaces since I was invited to join a pre-existing wiki. I selected an education wiki from PBWiki and chose a name. They sent you a confirmation e-mail and then your account is active. The sign-in process details the three premium services available for an added monthly fee. These levels pertain mostly to the amount of space needed to host your site. I found it much easier on PBWiki to find the option for inviting users. This option is set to show-up by default as a part of the right sidebar tools. You simply enter in the e-mail address of the person you would like to invite and click "add." This will send a invitation e-mail (much like the one that invited me to this wiki). I can't really give the nod to one wiki or the other on this category. Both were relatively easy to set up.
 * ==How easy is it to set up? - How easy will it be to invite others?==
 * Verdict: Tie**

The editing interface of PBWiki is essentially the same at Wikispaces. It follows the WYSIWYG format. It appears an upgrade is necessary on PBWiki to access new templates for page appearance and layout. I was, however, able to edit the color scheme of my sample page. The editing tool bar allows you to insert the same variety of headings as provided in Wikispaces. I was unable to locate any "custom heading" feature. Editing the "settings" allows the user to insert a "comments" function so that visitors can leave comments on your pages. It appeared that the comments feature is set to "allow comments" by default. There is a textbox at the bottom of the page so that visitors can easily leave comments. It didn't really prefer one wiki program over the other in this category. I liked the drop down editing toolbar in Wikispaces. For that alone I would have to give a slight edge to Wikispaces in this category.
 * ==Your article should explore the way the 2 (or more) of the wiki software handles editing. (Is it WYSIWYG? Does it have templates? Automatic Headings?, comments?)==
 * Verdict: Wikispaces**

One immediate difference I noticed with PBWiki is that the editing history was listed right at the top of the page. Since I am the only user on my PBWiki sample page, it showed that I was the last user to edit the page and it makes note of how long it has been since the last edit. There is a similar feature that shows recent wiki activity on the right sidebar. Clicking on that link shows a list of the dates/times of the most recent edits. Although I like the fact that PBWiki shows editing history in the sidebar I found the access to the page history to be more intuitive in the Wikispaces format. It's just something about the ease of hitting a tab at the top of the page rather than scanning down the sidebar to find page history information. In the long run, I suppose simply shifting the page history towards the top of the page on PBWiki would make it easier to access. Wikispaces takes the prize here. Unlike the wikispaces page, PBWiki only appears to allow discussion as a comment at the bottom of the page. The wikispaces page uses a tabbed "discussion" feature aside from the comment feature. I was unable to locate a similar feature in PBWiki aside from the comment feature. As a user, I wouldn't really count this a shortcoming of PBWiki since I think the comment/discussion features of wikispaces seems redundant. I don't really see the point of having a comments AND a discussion section for a wiki page. I suppose that is because I'm a relative newbie to the wiki world. Regardless, I give this round to PBWiki. Unlike, Wikispaces, I did not see an RSS feed option on PBWiki to notify me of any changes made to my page. There is an option to cancel these notifications. PBWiki is set to notify the administrator of any page edits via the e-mail account used to activate the wiki page. I would have to give the nod here to Wikispaces since the RSS feature can be a time-saver in a pinch. It might be prudent for PBWiki to add the RSS feature to allow it's users to track changes at a glance. It seems more and more people are using RSS feeds to track any changes to their favorite websites. Clicking on the security settings button in PBWiki takes the user to a page that allows you to determine the level of access users will have to the page. There are options to keep the page public (default settings). Site administrators are able to set security to only allow administrators to see or edit the page. There is an option to use custom settings, but a subscription to a premium wiki service is required to access and edit those features. After using the control page edit features of both programs I kept getting the sinking feeling that PBWiki was constantly putting the squeeze on me to buy a premium service. It seemed any security related window that I nagivated to offered to sell a premium wiki page to me. I have to give Wikispaces the clear win here only because PBWiki annoyed me with its constant offers to "upgrade."
 * ==Version Control - How is page history handled?==
 * Verdict: Wikispaces**
 * ==Discussion - Is there a place to talk about the article outside?==
 * Verdict: PBWiki**
 * ==Subscription to articles - How can you be notified of changes to the pages you contribute to?==
 * Verdict: Wikispaces**
 * ==Security - How will you be able to control page edits?==
 * Verdict: Wikispaces**

If I was to use PBWiki as a learning environment for my students, I would be able to track the four most recent edits via a window on the right page sidebar. The entire history of edits can be seen via a link from the sidebar. Although Wikispaces allows you to track edits by hitting the "history" tab at the top right of page, I liked the sidebar feature of PBWiki. As a teacher, I found it useful to track most recent edits from the sidebar. I give the prize to PBWiki here only because I really liked the history tracker sidebar feature.
 * ==Contributions - How can teachers see what each student has contributed to the wiki?==
 * Verdict: PBWiki**

After 5 hard-fought rounds let's go to the scorecards: the winner is Wikispaces 4 to 2 with one round even.
I guess in the end both wiki programs are pretty much even across most of the categories. One area that I didn't address was the fact that PBWiki does not have ads posted all over the page. Honestly, the sidebar feature and clean "commercial" free aspect of the PBWiki page has its own appeal. As I prepare to have my students set up their wiki projects for my AP World History I'm actually leaning towards PBWiki simply because of the ad-free environment and the ability to track edits on the sidebar. Overall, however, I think that Wikispaces just comes out of the taste trial as more seasoned and experienced. PBWiki just has a little growing up to do, but they're not far behind. Rumor has it this fight had a rematch clause in the contract language. Can Wikispaces retain it's title in the long run? Or will the up-and-coming #1 contender rise to take the crown?