tiddly survey

[Alex Hough]

I have just been asked the following questions about TiddlyWiki:

[1] What do you like about it?
[2] And what, specifically, do you use wikis for?

The chap is doing some research on wikis in education.

Tough questions for me; i've been thinking about it for a while.  I suspect most TWs are private documents, mine are and i don't want to send any examples.  'Non linear notebook' is probably about right; everything is quite experimental at the moment for me.

I like pretty much everything about TW. (except the my 'done' is a bit slow, and that tiddlysnip required a reload before a tiddler is loaded). 

I just wondered-out of interest- if anyone else could answer the questions

Alex

[Ken Girard]

All of my life I've been looking for just the right way to orginize my
notes: different types of notebooks, pens for different colors,
different color and type of paper, etc. All it ever turned into was
more things to carry around, forget at home or even... loose.

TiddlyWiki gives me all that and more. It is the place to store all my
insanity, in a nice orginized and searchable way. I can make a back-up
copy in seconds, send it to my friends and yet still keep it. If I
want a different look for a new notebook I can make as many changes as
I want to the look (tiddlythemes.com), and the way it functions
(plugins), to make it fit my needs rather then being limited to what
is avalible at the store.

Another great part: I never run out of paper, and can always get a new
notebook!

Ken Girard

[HansWobbe]

Wikis are one of the most significant Productivity improvement tools
that I focus on. Initially, this was because their ability to
generate the HTML strings from WikiMarkup is a very useful type of
short-hand for me. During the past several years, my use of wikis has
evolved to include quite a few of the different different WikiEngines,
generally for "server-side" solutions. TiddlyWiki has emerged as THE
"client-side" wiki tool that I now use.

Given the rapid rate of development and the very productive
"Community" that has evolved around this software, I now find myself
using it almost as a personal "macro language" (courtesy of the
various plugins such as the recent WIKIFY plugin (from TiddlyTools)
that I use as a fundamental building block for my macro language.

As the MicroKernel implementations emerge, I believe there is a good
chance that TiddlyWiki will evolve into a type of PeerToPeer
Information Sharing and Collaboration facility that will be second to
none (at least in what is left of my lifetime).

[Ken Girard]

Guess I should add in some of the ways I use TW beyond just being a
notebook.

* At work it is how I track which steps I have taken in hiring
trainers and shipping materials for around 800 trainings a year. It
also lets me see things like how many trainings I have assigned to
'Joe White' listing them in a sortable table showing date, customer,
topic, and location.

* As the website and onsite activities guide for a SciFi convention
(http://conflation.org/2007.html)

* The guidelines document for merchants at the St. Louis Renaissance
Faire with comments and possible problems with various different
sections.

* A contact list with 600+ entries, including connections between
people (Tracking some of the social interactions of my friends can be
difficult, but makes for interesting parties), and between people and
companies.

* A recipe book, and a bartenders guide (TagglyTagging mixes with the
main types of alcohol in them so I can easily see what I can make with
the bottle of cheap store brand scotch someone left me).

* A searchable photo album (still getting the bugs out, but uses
multiple custom fields to group things as well as tags. Trying to use
a forEach search system to find all tiddlers where gender = female and
focus = face then write tiddler-title-th.jpg so I get thumbnails that
open in their own tiddler when clicked)

Ken Girard

[Dave Gifford - http://www.giffmex.org/]

[1] What do you like about it?

The tiddler concept, tags, plugins, macros, indexing, search window,
formatting, Google group support, heck, there's only a few things I
don't like about TiddlyWiki (mainly the filesize quickly balloons if
you add a lot of data, and there are limitations for printing because
it depends on the browser's print dialog box). But everything about
this application is genious, and the plugins make it even more genious-
er-y, er...

> [2] And what, specifically, do you use wikis for?

As a notebook (many, actually), as a personal organizer, as a way to
provide content in few files via the Internet as opposed to having
many webpages, as a way to organize my personal library and the
library of the seminary I work at, etc.

I would use it as a course syllabus if I were teaching in the States.
Some already do. If your friend wants to see how TW is being used, he
or she should see my TiddlyWiki in Action showcase. http://giffmex.tiddlyspot.com

I also use MediaWiki as a knowledgebase on the New Testament. Just
getting started - http://www.giffmex.org/wikint/. I felt this was
eventually going to get too big for TW.

Blessings,

Dave Gifford

[Julie]

> [1] What do you like about it?

It works right out of the box and looks good without having to do much
to it.
If you want to do more, it's super adaptable (thanks to all those
plugins)
It's portable
It's amphibious - works just as well online as offline
It's a document but with web-style navigation and menus (genius)
I get to learn a little about code along the way without having to
make a commitment to study it
It has a really responsive and helpful community around it

> [2] And what, specifically, do you use wikis for?

Designing a curriculum for a journalism school - the head of school
and I each have access

Designing a social networking journalism workshop

Documenting stuff so I can a/ find it later and b/maybe share it.
Stuff like links to 'html for dummies' sites, notes on
setting up blogs, tips on proofreading and writing for the web, my
brilliant ideas etc.

Help site for TiddlyWiki beginners

Cheers, Julie

[iain]

What I like

It was quite simple to get up an running

What I use it for

Basically it I use Dave Gifford's Tiddley Notes to create two types of
databases. The first is notes on a particular topic I am researching
or a book I am reviewing.

The second is to create a database of my fire engine collection where
I can link using tags to information on the manufacturer of the model,
the type of fire engine being modelled, the fire brigade and any other
information i might need.

The third is similar to the second which is my database on the Snowy
Mountains Scheme where I have a basic set of information on a
particular type of infrastructure (e.g. dam, powerhouse, transmission
line, construction camp...etc) tagged to relate them to the
construction company, the section of the scheme ...etc.

What I don't like

I feel quite unable to progress beyond the basic TW without a
considerable investment of time in understanding programming which I
don't have the time to do. There seem to be a million things to do
with TW but little that is developed beyond the basic idea unless you
have the time to do it yourself.

[Eric Shulman]

> If you want to do more, it's super adaptable (thanks to all those
plugins)

Perhaps it is precisely because it IS so adaptable, TiddlyWiki seems
to offer people a "digital voice" in a way that is more "organic" and
"personal" than other types of documents.

My professional career activities have centered on creating tools that
can communicate a wide variety of knowledge and information in ways
that allow people to more effectively express their thoughts and ideas
and share them with others.

Every time someone encounters a use-case where their content is
difficult (or impossible) to present using TiddlyWiki, I see it as an
opportunity to write another plugin and give that person the digital
voice they are seeking... (so far, I've created over 150 separate
plugins and scripts... almost all of which are available on
TiddlyTools)

> It's amphibious - works just as well online as offline

I like this use of the term "amphibious"... it goes well with TW's use
of "tiddler" (one meaning of which is: "a small bait fish. See "Three-
Spined Stickleback"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickleback)

> It's portable

> It's a document but with web-style navigation and menus (genius)

I often describe it this way:

"You own it like a document, but use it like a web site. No
servers. No software to install. Carry it in your pocket. Use it on
any machine."

...or, for Mom and other older, less computer-oriented folks:

"TiddlyWikis are like boxes of 3x5 cards... the kind you use to
keep your names and addresses, recipes, etc. You decide what to write
on each card and how to organize the cards in each box. Then, share a
whole box with a friend, or just swap a few recipes..."

> It has a really responsive and helpful community around it

Absolutely! From the very start of this group (way back in June '05),
Jeremy, myself and others tried to set the 'tone' so that "newbies"
would always feel welcome.

No question is "too frequently asked"... and "RTFM" is simply *not*
an acceptable answer around here! (Partly because TiddlyWiki still
doesn't have a well-defined "M" to "R"... but mostly because "RTFM" is
an unfriendly and generally non-constructive response).

Even when there are (rare) disagreements, the "signal-to-noise" ratio
on this group is remarkably high, and there are very few messages
posted here that don't have *some* valuable tidbit of information in
them.... except, of course, for those contemptible spammers... though
I have to admit that, as a group manager (along with Jeremy and the
Baird brothers), I get a certain satisfaction in being able to wield
the "manager's axe" and KILL the spam postings and BAN the spammers...
though I really wish Google would figure out how to keep them away
entirely.

-e
Eric Shulman
TiddlyTools / ELS Design Studios

[Julie]

> Every time someone encounters a use-case where their content is
> difficult (or impossible) to present using TiddlyWiki, I see it as an
> opportunity to write another plugin and give that person the digital
> voice they are seeking... (so far, I've created over 150 separate
> plugins and scripts... almost all of which are available on
> TiddlyTools)

You like a challenge, then, huh.

> > It's amphibious - works just as well online as offline
> I like this use of the term "amphibious"... it goes well with TW's use
> of "tiddler" (one meaning of which is: "a small bait fish. See "Three-
> Spined Stickleback"...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickleback)

I never knew a tiddler was a particular fish, as in a three-spined
stickleback. I always used it as a generic term for baby fishes that
had to be thrown back. Every day you learn something new.

> "You own it like a document, but use it like a web site. No
> servers. No software to install. Carry it in your pocket. Use it on
> any machine."

Nice.

> > It has a really responsive and helpful community around it
> Absolutely! From the very start of this group (way back in June '05),
> Jeremy, myself and others tried to set the 'tone' so that "newbies"
> would always feel welcome.

Smart move. I would have given up ages ago if y'all hadn't been so
uniformly obliging to newbies and others alike.

That's it for the love-in tonight:)

Julie

[Xavier Vergés]

Eric, these two descriptions are great!

[FND]

> Eric, these two descriptions are great!

Indeed.
I second pretty much everything that's been said so far.

Personally, I'm mainly using TW as a notepad for all kinds of things -
lecture/exam notes, thoughts/ideas, websites, references, etc. - and,
inevitably, also as sort of a developing platform that makes me want to
learn more about JavaScript coding...

This almost unlimited customizability has also been criticized, of
course. While I understand the notion that TW can be confusing and
intimidating sometimes, this adaptability is actually what makes TW so
incredibly flexible, and it has certainly helped in getting so many
skilled and passionate developers and community members on board.
I think Julie has summarized it perfectly:

> It works right out of the box and looks good without having to do much

> to it. If you want to do more, it's super adaptable

-- F.

[Lyall]

I have been fiddling with TiddlyWiki for a while now.

So far, I have used in 2 ways,
a notebook to replace my windows/phone secure note app (HandySafe) -
hence my creating the EncryptedTiddlerPlugin
a photo album experiment

I like the fact that it will run under linux, windows, I guess Mac
(although I have not tried that) and, eventually(!) a mobile phone

I do look forward to the day when javascript is threaded per tab in
firefox, so the whole browser does not lock up whilst tiddlywiki is
doing it's thing.

...Lyall

[Kashgarinn]

Love the bartender wiki idea. I myself was thinking about creating a
calorie-carb/fat/protein journal-wiki, as in add a food item as a
tiddler, put info in slices, and then just link to what you eat each
day in the journal tiddler. Adding new food at the start might be a
small chore, but once you've added your normal diet, new things would
be a breeze.

Anyway, I digress.

1) I like that it is as easy as π to edit and change, I like the
extensibility of it and its' programmability, the look of it and how
it displays and connects its information, and I love that the basic
unit "tiddler" is just some text with some tags and fields, and how
you define and relate that information to other tiddlers is up to you
(and your plugins).

2) I use both Tiddlywiki and CCTiddlywiki.
Tiddlywiki I use for a personal log of my workday, the phonecalls I
take, the requests I finish, it's logged into a TW for future
reference.

CCTiddlywiki I use for my departments knowledgebase, this started as a
normal TW, but soon was extended into a knowledgebase for the whole
department, and for that I needed a wiki which more than one user
could edit at a time and was quick and easy to edit, and CCTW fits the
bill.

I'd like to be able to extend CCTW from a knowledge base into a fully
fledged ticketing/request system, because a tiddler which is the
"ticket" and a tiddler which is a "contact" or "company" or "solution"
or "reply" to the ticket isn't any different, just the plugins used to
decipher and display the data. But for that to happen, CCTW would
have to use ajax so you wouldn't have to refresh the tiddlers, and
that's wishful thinking right now as it's awfully complex to
implement.

But this is what I love about it, bite-sizing information and linking
it together in intelligent ways is so powerful, and TW does it very
well.

K.

[Alex Hough]

Thank you for all your responses. I will get on with my task.  (I spend a lot of time "tiddlywiking" - just doing TW, tweaking and writing things to try an create a personal knowledge base. The last one I did is for an exercise for prioritizing values - a single use TW, but I have a master TW which is my homepage. 

I am addicted to TW and should really spend some more time doing other things (there... I said it)

TW has taught me a lot about computer code. For me the process of tending to my TW, linking and tagging has helps me think clearly and remember things.  I hope this will lead to better creativity.

Thanks again,

Alex

[Morris Gray]

> I am addicted to TW and should really spend some more time doing other
> things (there... I said it)

Like all good things there is a double edge to them; Tiddlywiki is
both at once a great time saver but equally a highly efficient time
waster.

http://twhelp.tiddlyspot.com/#TiddlyWikiWoes

Morris Gray
http://twhelp.tiddlyspot.com
A TiddlyWiki help file for beginners

On Jan 15, 12:49 am, "Alex Hough" <r.a.ho...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Thank you for all your responses. I will get on with my task. (I spend a
> lot of time "tiddlywiking" - just doing TW, tweaking and writing things to
> try an create a personal knowledge base. The last one I did is for an
> exercise for prioritizing values - a single use TW, but I have a master TW
> which is my homepage.
>
> I am addicted to TW and should really spend some more time doing other
> things (there... I said it)
>
> TW has taught me a lot about computer code. For me the process of tending to
> my TW, linking and tagging has helps me think clearly and remember things.
> I hope this will lead to better creativity.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Alex
>

[Eric Shulman]

> Like all good things there is a double edge to them; Tiddlywiki is
> both at once a great time saver but equally a highly efficient time
> waster.

Someone once referred to it as FiddlyWiki: "...cause it's just so easy
to spend the whole day fiddlin' around with it, instead of getting
other work done!"

Personally, working on my own TiddlyWiki document has kept me occupied
for over 2 1/2 YEARS so far... and TiddlyTools is the result... so at
least it seems to have been a *useful* consumption of time.

I expect that, in the long run, once someone sets up their TW document
arrangement to suits their needs, with all the right plugins and
layouts, etc., they don't spend nearly as much time "TiddlyHacking",
and focus more on producing useful TiddlyWiki content.

It's just that the initial setup and tweaking is so much fun! :-)

-e

[Alex Hough]

For me it is the learning that has takes the time.  The world of CSS and javascript takes some getting used to: DOM - this is something for me to look forward to.

Last night on the radio there was a discussion about metaphors of memory. The author of a new book on the subject said something about Locke using the metaphor of the record card. It made me think of TW

get the podcast here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/stw/

For me the core of the addictiveness is the fractal like quality of TW. 

[Morris Gray]

> I expect that, in the long run, once someone sets up their TW document
> arrangement to suits their needs, with all the right plugins and layouts,
> etc., they don't spend nearly as much time "TiddlyHacking", and focus more
> on producing useful TiddlyWiki content.
>
> It's just that the initial setup and tweaking is so much fun! :-)

This is one of the addictive charms of TiddlyWiki; in some ways it can
be all things to all people. Few people, well none really, have pinned
down its true essence. It rolls over and obeys the hacker's gentle
prodding, explorations, pushing the boundaries. Yet to the collected
thoughts of a master with a mission; it is the seeing eye dog, the
faithful best friend with tail wagging generously giving of its power
and usefulness for a given purpose.

I believe that it is TiddlyWiki's potential that intrigues. Like a
little embryo it bounces into the world saying; teach me.. teach me...
show me... show me... By being so susceptible to CSS, Javascript, and
HTML; empowered by the power of a good browser sets it above the petty
jealousies of operating systems. It frees one from the restrictions
heretofore that have chained the inquiring mind looking for a tool to
achieve its purpose. Set above and beyond the digital proprietary
predators who have lined their pockets with their code, TiddlyWiki has
given the freedom to invent back to the people.

It's like an energetic young colt to the new user, wild; unbroken;
mysterious; chaotic. And as the days go by the new user gets thrown
less and less often.... sometimes even thinks they have it under their
thumb and decide to inform others of their new found expertise. Then
it rears back and charges off in yet a new wild direction proving once
again that anarchy is the norm and it will never be corralled.... for
it was born free and thus it will remain. One can only grab onto one
of the brass rings on this carousel of time and go 'round and 'round
and 'round in the circle game...

Morris Gray
http://twhelp.tiddlyspot.com
A TiddlyWiki help file for beginners