Smelling like a wiki: Difference between revisions

From Creative Crowds wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Created page with "<div style="max-width:650px;"> This text is written in a wiki. We're writing in the WikiEditor, which is the simple text editor that is enabled by default when you install a new MediaWiki instance. I had to check the Special:Version page to find the name of this text editor: {{Special:Version}} Shift: a writing infrastructure in flux Shift: non-linear workflow Shift: {{Special:RecentChanges}} ==Wiki-to-print as a practice== Wiki-to-print is part of a broader..."
 
No edit summary
 
(8 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
<div style="max-width:650px;">
<div style="max-width:650px;">
This text is written in a wiki. We're writing in the WikiEditor, which is the simple text editor that is enabled by default when you install a new MediaWiki instance. I had to check the Special:Version page to find the name of this text editor:
==Writing==
In a wiki, writers become contributors, shifting the understanding of what writing can be from a traditional understanding of an individual (genius) author, towards someone contributing to a distributed practice of writing text.


{{Special:Version}}
This text is written in a wiki with {{NUMBEROFPAGES}} pages, made through {{NUMBEROFEDITS}} edits, written by {{NUMBEROFUSERS}} contributors, of which {{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}} are considered active, and in the middle of {{NUMBEROFFILES}} uploaded files. We're writing in the WikiEditor, which is the simple text editor that is enabled by default when you install a new MediaWiki instance. I had to check the [[Special:Version]] page to find the name of this text editor.


Shift: a writing infrastructure in flux
Who else has been around on this wiki recently?


{{Special:RecentChanges/5}}


Who else has an account?


Shift: non-linear workflow
{{Special:ListUsers}}
 
What were the latest pages that were made?
 
{{Special:NewPages/5}}
 
Which are pages yet to be made?
 
{{Special:WantedPages}}
 
What are the 5 last files that have been uploaded?
 
{{Special:ListFiles|limit=5}}
 
And who contributed to this page?
 
...
 
==Rendering layout==


Shift: 


{{Special:RecentChanges}}


==Wiki-to-print as a practice==
==Wiki-to-print as a practice==
Line 21: Line 40:


</div>
</div>
[[Category:Draft]]

Latest revision as of 09:30, 19 September 2025

Writing

In a wiki, writers become contributors, shifting the understanding of what writing can be from a traditional understanding of an individual (genius) author, towards someone contributing to a distributed practice of writing text.

This text is written in a wiki with 586 pages, made through 5,670 edits, written by 36 contributors, of which 1 are considered active, and in the middle of 281 uploaded files. We're writing in the WikiEditor, which is the simple text editor that is enabled by default when you install a new MediaWiki instance. I had to check the Special:Version page to find the name of this text editor.

Who else has been around on this wiki recently?

List of abbreviations:
N
This edit created a new page (also see list of new pages)
m
This is a minor edit
b
This edit was performed by a bot
(±123)
The page size changed by this number of bytes

19 July 2026

Who else has an account?

What were the latest pages that were made?

8 July 2026

  • 10:2010:20, 8 July 2026 Typesetting tools/PostScript (hist | edit) [1,198 bytes] Manetta (talk | contribs) (Created page with " launched in 1984, in the US, by Adobe PostScript had a huge impact on the printing industry PostScript aimed to be "the" universal standard, as a business strategy and preferred way of working... PostScript starting from geometry as main framework for aesthetics. [https://computerhistory.org/blog/postscript-a-digital-printing-press/ PostScript: A Digital Printing Press, documentation page by Computer History Museum in California] [https://www.adobe.com/products/po...")
  • 10:2010:20, 8 July 2026 Typesetting tools/Modular Composition System (MCS) (hist | edit) [297 bytes] Manetta (talk | contribs) (Created page with " launched in 1981?, in the US, by Compugraphic https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_compugraphphicModularCompositionSystemBrochure_14979239 https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_compugraphphicAutomatedPublishingSystemBrochure_7972610/page/n9/mode/2up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compugraphic")
  • 10:2010:20, 8 July 2026 Typesetting tools/Scantext 1000 (hist | edit) [891 bytes] Manetta (talk | contribs) (Created page with " <gallery> File:9014869362 830c3728f4 k.jpg File:9013499601 a4daccfd8f c.jpg </gallery> launched in 1981(?), in Germany, published by Scangraphic a full typesetting system (! so typesetting software + printing + os + hardware in one + scanner system to "upload" new fonts?!) https://www.flickr.com/photos/albert-jan_pool/9014869362/in/photostream/ <blockquote> Spread from the Scangraphic 1985 system brochure showing typesetting jobs on the Page View 1000, a preview ter...")
  • 10:1910:19, 8 July 2026 Typesetting tools/Typesetter (hist | edit) [593 bytes] Manetta (talk | contribs) (Created page with " <gallery> File:Typesetter d7.jpg </gallery> launched in 1985, in the US, written by by Dennis Young and Len Dorfman, published by XLEnt Software https://www.atarimania.com/pgesoft.awp?version=12536 [https://archive.org/details/typesetter-version-2-xlent-software/page/3/mode/2up Typesetter 2 - User Manual on archive.org] The same software makers and publisher, also published in the same year: [https://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-page-designer_12538...")
  • 10:1910:19, 8 July 2026 Typesetting tools/The Newsroom (hist | edit) [802 bytes] Manetta (talk | contribs) (Created page with " <gallery> File:Screenshot from 2024-02-08 12-15-19.png File:Newsroom-Samey.png File:Newsad.jpg File:Newspro.jpg File:Newsroom-2.jpg </gallery> launched in 1984, in the US, published by Springboard Software "Designed for journalists, The Newsroom was an early piece of WYSIWYG desktop publishing software with the flexibility to create stylish, sophisticated layouts. " https://archive.org/details/a2_Newsroom_1984_Springboard_Software_cr_Ripper WYSIWYG desktop publishin...")


Which are pages yet to be made?

What are the 5 last files that have been uploaded?

Date Name Thumbnail Size User Description Versions
19:08, 18 June 2026 Resources-for-radical-infrastructures.jpeg (file) 626 KB Simoon (talk | contribs)   1
23:33, 19 April 2026 Thoughts-on-sex-work.png (file) 254 KB Simoon (talk | contribs)   1
21:42, 25 March 2026 Flyerconstanta2-82dd7.jpg (file) 93 KB Manetta (talk | contribs) Category:Octomode 1
20:56, 25 March 2026 Scan-cover7.jpg (file) 744 KB Manetta (talk | contribs)   1
08:33, 19 March 2026 DBPrize 128 TPG HeatherShuker.jpg (file) 594 KB Manetta (talk | contribs) CC part of https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/connection-established-digital-folklore-and-web-craft ! March 2026 1


And who contributed to this page?

...

Rendering layout

Wiki-to-print as a practice

Wiki-to-print is part of a broader interest in making publications using code and layout engines, instead of canvas and GUI based tools, as it allows us to work in collective modes and explore what this means, while being entangled with other communities of practice through the open standards (HTML and CSS) and tools (Mediawiki, Paged.js) we use. This means that books are being generated through scripts, newspapers rendered from multiple networked sources, or zines written HTML and CSS.

Using a wiki as an editing-design environment shifts multiple things around. What we currently refer to as wiki-to-print or wiki-layouting [i think we need a cute catchy name!] is actually a genealogy of practices of generating publications through a wiki. The trail includes work done at Constant in Brussels, Open Source Publishing in Brussels, the making of the book Volumetric Regimes in between Barcelona-Brussels-London-Rotterdam by Possible Bodies and Manetta Berends, the setup at The Institute for Technology in the Public Interest (TITiPI) by Femke Snelting and Martino Morandi in Brussels, the book Making Matters made by Hackers & Designers in Amsterdam, the making of the research newspapers Toward a Minor Tech and Content/Form with Geoff Cox, Christian Ulrikson, Winnie Soon and Varia/CC represented by Simon Browne and Manetta Berends in London-Rotterdam-Berlin. In all these occasions, wiki is used as a shared place for materials, editorial work and the making of the layout. Writing and design work can happen in a non-linear way and evolve parallel to each other, which invites to rethink editorial production workflows. Publications can be re-rendered over time, embracing the changes and transformations that might have emerged in between now and the previous edition. The versioning tracker and features like transclusion challenge traditional notions of authorship and modes of writing. Often a wiki becomes a rich messy archive and plays an important role as community infrastructure.