User:JWSchmidt/Blog/20 May 2007

I have been editing wikis since 2002 and have had a user account at Wikipedia since early 2003. I think it is official; I have forgotten what it is like to start out as a wiki editor.

Culture shock
What do new Wikiversity visitors experience? I am devoted to the idea that the Wikiversity Main Page should provide a gentle entry into the wiki universe for people who have never edited a wiki. At my current draft for a newbie-friendly main page there is a link to Introduction to Wiki. I guess that introductory page should be split into: 
 * 1) an initial part about browsing and finding content, and
 * 2) a part that shows new participants how to edit.But I need to try to remember what it is like to be a new wiki editor.

Newbie game
In order to make Introduction to Wiki effective, I am going to play a game. I am going to pretend to be a new visitor to Wikiversity who has never edited a wiki. To document this "game", I will keep a record of my reconstructed "newbie steps" at The newbie experience. The goal of this exercise is to force myself back into the shows of a wiki newbie so that I can be sure that the Wikiversity introductory and help pages correctly provide new Wikiversity participants with what they need.

Top level portals
Discussion at Pre-tertiary portal led to the idea that it might be time for a new way to categorize content at Wikiversity. Is Wikiversity too centered on organizing content according to the traditions of college-level educational institutions? Do we need a new set of "high-level" portals?Would each "high level portal" need its own Browse page?

Related effort

 * Service community - needs to explain/remind new visitors what the key differences are between Wikiversity and other Wikimedia sister projects.
 * Student union - needs to force students into editing
 * Wikiversity teachers - needs to be broadened beyond Wikiversity's current emphasis on college-level content.
 * Content development - needs to be integrated with the learning materials at Topic:Wikiversity.
 * All these introductory pages need to be supported by a set of short screen cast tutorials.