Get TiddlyWiki Known: The Malkovich Effect

[@TiddlyTweeter]

I've been looking for a visual metaphor that would show why Mat, an experienced TiddlyWiki user and developer, considers TiddlyWiki extremely difficult to describe. All attempts tend to fail at capturing what it is.

Add to that that the process of getting started is far too messy, with too many convoluted options, for trial software.

So (putting it over-extremely) you trying "god knows what" via "god knows how".

"Malkovich, Malkovich" neatly expresses "first-contact (options) overload": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIpev8JXJHQ. This explains itself better than words.

Currently we have multiple variations of TiddlyWiki. That is good.

But up on the STORE-FRONT (tiddlywiki.com) its too much IMO ... its creating a "Malkovich Effect".

Far better to have ONE universal method to start with to test it out (maybe in an online sandbox?).

THEN options (maybe by probing the visitor's browser to guess what system they visiting from and advise to suit?)

I'm interested in feedback on these thoughts.

This is only one part of the "Getting TW Better Known" thing. And maybe I'm wrong. But I think we'll do everyone a favour thinking more explicitly about how to get TiddlyWiki better known in the easiest, graspable, "I-do-want-to-try-it", way. And this issue should not be all on Jeremy Ruston's shoulders.

Best wishes
Josiah

[Mat]

LOL ;-)

But up on the STORE-FRONT (tiddlywiki.com) its too much IMO ... its creating a "Malkovich Effect".

Far better to have ONE universal method to start with to test it out (maybe in an online sandbox?).

I agree our store front is probably overwhelming. Not quite sure what would be better. Some years ago Jeremy called for radical and bold suggestions for a remake of tiddlywiki.com. The following ideas are (obviously) not thought through;

How about one single tiddler. That, with some veeery basic and brief instructions is all they get. There isn't much more to do there than to "make a note". If they want more, the must install plugins. 

Or maybe there's a introductory wizard. Again, you start with one tiddler but for every move you do, there is guidance about the options opening up. Entering edit mode... wizard informs about wikitext and links... tiddler saved ---> wizard tells you to click the/a link... after a while it brings up plugins....

Or maybe something more along  https://keep.google.com ...which actually resembles http://muritest.tiddlyspot.com/

Maybe you could get a list of applications. You tick some preferences and click "Generate my TiddlyWiki"... that way you know more what it is "supposed" to do for you.

...I guess a question is why people look into TW to begin with. 

...or is it perhaps happenstance and curiosity that put people in contact with TW and then it is the community - and discoverability in TW - that kind of foster peoples ideas about what to do?

What problems do people have anyway... where TW is a potential answer?

This is only one part of the "Getting TW Better Known" thing. And maybe I'm wrong. But I think we'll do everyone a favour thinking more explicitly about how to get TiddlyWiki better known in the easiest, graspable, "I-do-want-to-try-it", way. And this issue should not be all on Jeremy Ruston's shoulders.

As mentioned before, I tried to identify Appetizer TiddlyWikis that aim to be exactly that; "I-do-want-to-try-it"-TWs. IMO it would make sense to make "TW editions" - or, as I'd rather call them; TW Applications - that are officially presented on tiddlywiki.com. I think the bar is pretty high to actually have something be accepted as an edition though and as long as we don't have any other official website / "app store" / distribution system then this is problematic.

<:-)

[TonyM]

Josiah,

I had a little time off lately, it gave me time to ruminate, the two issues for me are my professional services marketing and what I am doing with TiddlyWiki. I discovered a very close relationship and that is, in both they have almost too much to offer.

This parallels your ruminations. Of course my income depends on me being engaged and paid for my services however after 30+ years in IT services I have too many skills to offer, and knowing where to start is difficult. This is further complicated by the fact I intend to use TiddlyWiki within my offering, which also has too many possibilities to mention.

My current state of examination suggests I need to multi-thread this. Almost hide the potential diversity of my skills and Experience, and TiddlyWiki's possibilities in focused offerings - once they contain the key words to attract people to that focused offering, if that is what they are looking for, now do this for each focused offering. That is provide access to the diversity of offers from a diversity of websites. Sure they can cross reference each other but why would someone wanting a Personal Note Book need to know you can serve it on the LAN with multiple users? Sure a small proportion of people wanting a Personal Note Book need to know you can serve it on the LAN with multiple users! but these combinations result in diminishing returns, and when presented all together, it is a big list of ever less likely combinations of needs, the sum possibly scares people off, after all they were looking for a "simple" Personal Note Book, and how do they evaluate this with so much information in their face?

I and TiddlyWiki need to establish credibility in Focused offerings that match peoples needs, before we start to boast it can match many needs.

I expect its like Swiss Army Knives, Some people are looking to buy one that does every thing, but a lot of people are looking for spoons, knives, toothpicks, saws, nail cleaners, screw drivers and pliers and they want the best. I am sure far more of these individual items are sold than are swiss army knives.

We need to tell people how TiddlyWiki can be the best personal Note Book, can be the best Personal Organiser the best ... but not all at once so it looks like a Swiss army knife and makes it hard to decide if it will be the best or even good at what they are looking for. We can have a swiss army knife on offer as well.

It is made more difficult for us enthusiasts because no matter how we found TiddlyWiki we have drunk the cool aid, we love its capabilities and diversity, and discover more every day. Sure people will be attracted to TiddlyWIki due to this diversity but only a small group of people look for such solutions. Most are looking for one or more things tiddlywiki can do, not everything it can do.

We need to curate the different and popular areas tiddlywiki can thrive in and present these in focused subject or outcome specific areas. It is not important, even necessary for people to come to TiddlyWiki.com until they have "drunk the cool aid".

  

I hope these thoughts are of some value.

Tony

[@TiddlyTweeter]

Mat wrote ...

Maybe you could get a list of applications. You tick some preferences and click "Generate my TiddlyWiki"... that way you know more what it is "supposed" to do for you.

Right. The "generate-your-own-wiki" using clicks I think has great merit. Building applications on the fly for a purpose I think bridges part of the gap towards rich potential applications end users are interested in. This approach is used, FWIW, for other JS based apps you can find online. Its usually a way of handling their "plugins" to build "my edition".

... I tried to identify Appetizer TiddlyWikis that aim to be exactly that; "I-do-want-to-try-it"-TWs. IMO it would make sense to make "TW editions" - or, as I'd rather call them; TW Applications - that are officially presented on tiddlywiki.com.

Right. At an obvious level we lack a decent SHOWCASE.

There is nowhere a user can easily go shopping for examples of decent variety of things acheived. For instance, Gamers, who do use TiddlyWiki quite a lot, yet we don't have a single example Game Campaign to show off. Apply that to any area you can think of. We seriously lack examples.

TonyM wrote...

I and TiddlyWiki need to establish credibility in Focused offerings that match peoples needs, before we start to boast it can match many needs.

... tell people how TiddlyWiki can be the best personal Note Book, ... the best Personal Organiser the best ...

... but not all at once so it looks like a Swiss army knife and makes it hard to decide ...

Dead right.

Part of this is about, I think, being orientated towards END ORDINARY USAGE first. As you put it ...

... curate the different and popular areas tiddlywiki can thrive in and present these in focused subject or outcome specific areas. It is not important, even necessary for people to come to TiddlyWiki.com until they have "drunk the cool aid".

 
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Regarding the platform/saving variants that, like variations in what you can do with TW, are also a big part of the "Malkovich Effect", I was thinking, similarly, to narrow focus to only what is relevant to the users (visitor) at first (maybe by browser probing?).

I think this is a discussion worth having and pondering and working on.

Best wishes
Josiah