Information is ever changing. And it comes from many sources. Information or knowledge which can be quickly updated, edited, is very crucial for users. In such a situation Blogs and Wikis seem to be the perfect solution for today’s user-generated content scenario.
To benefit from both the concepts of a wiki and blog, bliki was the new term given to a blog that can be edited by members of the group.
What is a bliki?
A Bliki is a blog with wiki support. This means that after an article is posted to the blog, it can be edited, either by anyone or by some group of authorized users.
We have new and hungrier players throwing up better and faster blikis in the market. The SaaS delivery model ensures an even playing field. And the internet is the fair adjudicator of this great battle. So it means even the leaders cannot take their dominance for granted. (Et Tu, FireFox? Need we say more?)
So we feature a couple of established players and a new one for your perusal - namely JotSpot, Confluence (Atlassian) and cyn.in.
JotSpot
JotSpot is called an Application Wiki. It takes the concept of Wiki and uses html pages, spreadsheets, to-do lists, calendars, and photo pages as sharable data. You can also create folders. When all these elements are combined you have a neat online office collaboration tool.
New Page Creation
You can click on a new page option and get the option of selecting type of page (html, spreadsheets, to-do lists, calendars, file cabinet (folder) and photo pages). Once that is done you can start preparing your files. So it’s a simple two step process. The spreadsheet is a neat feature as you and your team can actually work on the same files without the worry latest document.
You can attach files to any page created.
There is a left panel has all your links for quick navigation- Global Links, My favorites, recent changes. The more admin related stuff is on the top of the page (preferences, account, help, skins/logo). All the menus here are smooth JavaScript menus and work very seamlessly.
The invitation via email is a quick 2 step process.
Features
Version Control: The pages have version history; roll back to earlier versions, even a version comparison and comments. Also all attachments have the same revision control as any other page in your JotSpot wiki.
Advanced Search: You have an advanced search - search your entire wiki, as well as attached Microsoft Word and Excel files.
Image storage: Images can be stored as a file/folder containing pictures with slideshow option.
RSS: You can subscribe to RSS feeds of individual pages or the entire site.
Permissions: You can set permissions for who can read and write certain pages in your wiki site creating a private and public group of members.
Editor
Visual WYSIWYG wiki editor - just like Microsoft Word. It has the basic functionality – Link, formatting, html code, and text and background color. The wiki hosting makes every page editable, directly by you and the people you invite as members to the site.
Note: JotSpot recently got acquired by Google and currently the site is not accepting further registrations. Only users registered earlier can use their accounts.