WebSeitz/wiki

Bill Seitz Writing Tool History

Some notes on various tools I've used for various kinds of writing over the years...

1984-88: PCs at work (Word Star, MsWord for DOS, FrameWork which I loved). Mac on the side (MsWord), plus little note-munging utilities which I've forgotten.

1989: use InfoDepot for some class notes during MBA program. Too bad much of that was lost due to hard disk crash with no backup!

Outliners: mainly for task/project mgmt, but a little for writing.

1992-1995: HyperCard for personal diary (wow, just opened that old stack with MetaCard with no problem at all!)

Mind Mapping tools to Brain Storm (prioritize, shake out ideas, etc.). The Brain, Mind Man, later EMindMaps.

Jul'1997: start saving the emails I send to a bunch of people, pointing out links, with a bit of commentary...

Apr'1998: start manual WebLog (buried in MedScape public server). I think...

  • we had moved servers from Macs (Medscape and Frontier) to WinNT/NetscapeServer/ColdFUsion
  • I was using HomeSite visual HTML editor (originally built for Borland, then sold to Allaire
  • I was mimicing Dave Winer's blog format
  • I used 1 page per month, with a date-block for each date
  • at the start of every month I'd roll over a new page, update navigation pages, etc.
  • and using some FTP app to copy my file(s) over to the server

Sep'1999: get interested in Extreme Programming processes. Discover the core Wiki Wiki Web site, which was a hotbed of XP and Design Pattern-s. Get intrigued by the site's Wiki engine. Download a Python-based wiki clone onto my laptop and use it to start writing big-picture notes about tech issues (e.g. (Content Management System) relevant at work (MedScape). One of my first pages notes the potential for wiki as a WikiWeblog tool!

Nov'1999: considering leaving MedScape, come up with idea for new veture (Project Flux). Start writing ideas in Wiki.

Dec23'1999: start my Userland Manila WebLog at http://webseitz.editthispage.com/1999/12/23

  • oldest WaybackMachine page is from Jul'2000

Jan'2000: decide to leave MedScape to start Project Flux. Wiki acts like a Business Plan in outline form, where there's a big Table Of Contents page that links to single-topic pages.

Fall'00: once we have our own servers in place at Axiom Legal, I launch a Zwiki server to use as our Intranet.

Oct'2001: having earlier started renting Zope space and used it just for static document posting, I finally launch/tweak Zwiki.

Jan30'2002: start noting RecentChanges in my Userland Manila weblog.

Feb7'2002: stop blogging in Userland Manila, doing it all in my WikiWeblog.

Jul'2010: 2010-07-10-WikilogRelaunchedWithMoinMoin

Nov'2016: migrate to custom-built WikiFlux

Feb'2018 still

Feb'2020: PrivateWiki and WikiLog both running on WikiFlux

Hi Bill! You might be interested in our lab's working group Thinking Powerfully http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thinkingpowerfully/ to jumpstart a network of software tools for augmenting thinking including an import/export standard http://www.ms.lt/mindset.html We award free membership to makers of open source tools. Is your tool open source? Andrius Kulikauskas, ms@ms.lt

  • Bill replies: yes, this tool is Open Source. You might want to check out what the Open Hyperdocument System people are working on, esp. their recent thoughts on modelling many collaboration process bits as graphs - they'll probably aim toward RDF as an import/export format.

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