Andrew Morgan wrote: > There doesn't seem to be many Themes on CPAN and the ones that are > there don't have any screenshots or links to sites using them. > > Is there a better place to find a nice theme that I might like? > > I think my users would like a theme that looks like a MediaWiki > implementation. > Anybody got one of those? > > > And why isn't the Kwiki homepage http://www.kwiki.org using a theme? > At the moment it looks a bit ragged. It makes it hard for me to sell > the idea to my boss. > There is even some text in the wiki suggesting a theme! > http://www.kwiki.org/?KwikiSucks > > /Andrew >
Hi Andrew, I'm not a kwiki developer or anything, but I have a few points I've learned from my own experience... #1: you probably don't have to "sell it" to your boss in the normal way I mean that you should just go and install the wiki, use it for stuff and only then should you try to drum up some support from management. Basically, wiki "prefers" a bottom-up approach, at least in my experience. #2: if you "just do it" you'll gain some valuable experience in setting up and maintaining the wiki I've found the learning curve to be short enough that you don't need to devote much time to become "expert" on it. By that I mean, if you've been messing with the config files and playing around with various editing features within the wiki, chances are that you will be able to answer most, if not all questions that newcomers will throw at you. It's easy to become "the kwiki guy" with minimal effort. #3: It follows from this that you'll be able to find out how to change themes fairly easily Really, it's as simple as commenting out the Kwiki::Theme::Basic line in the plugins file, uncommenting the theme you want, and running kwiki -update while in the same directory. If you want to set up a gallery, just visit some test page in the kwiki and Save As an appropriate filename. Or capture a screenshot. Then use that in your "gallery". #4: Themes are easy to add If you know CSS, you can create new themes for kwiki. As far as I can remember, there's not really much extra complication involved in writing CSS for kwiki over writing CSS for regular XML/XHTML. #5: Be realistic about kwiki's shortcomings when selling to management Kwiki is wonderful, and a great way for storing ad-hoc data and documents (ie, documents that evolve "organically"). But sometimes the organisation is more in need of structured document storage. Kwiki can be used in such a way, but it's not the best way to use it... you're moving away from a bottom-up, organic, ad-hoc approach to trying to shoehorn kwiki into top-down problem. The top-down versus bottom-up dichotomy is really key to having realistic expectations here. Don't sell a bottom-up technology (eg, kwiki, rss) as being a solution to top-down problems (basically, bad management of any kind, eg Quality, document, requirement, defect management, etc.). Likewise, kwiki use that is mandated from on high will not really work the way you expect it. #6: Become a champion of wiki Wiki is a subversive, bottom-up technology. For it to find a foothold in an organisation, it needs three things in this order: * a champion (someone who will use the technology and help others use it) * allies (people who will speak up for the champion and basically justify the time they're spending on the technology) * patrons (key people with power who either need to be convinced of the tech's utility, or who can provide political support when needed) Depending on your organisation and the people in it, it might even be a bad thing to go seeking patronage first. It may just strangle the life out of the wiki and make it harder to re-introduce the technology at a later stage. --- I hope these ramblings have been of use. Regards, dec
