This wish is for the Wikidot team to make a commitment to creating new features or granting wishes.
As far as we (the Wikidot consumers) can observe, the Wikidot team have an order of priority with development:
First Priority: Ensure Wikidot itself is online and stable
Second Priority: Fixing bugs (reported or otherwise)
Last Priority: Granting wishes/implementing new features
This seems a logical hierarchy… however, the first two priorities are continuous and ongoing. If you keep development in this order, the last priority (granting wishes/implementing new features) will NEVER EVER get any attention.
The Wish:
I wish that the developers would make a commitment to delivering X number of wishes/features annually. For example, committing to granting at least 1 wish every month (which equals 12 wishes annually).
Currently there are 698 wishes that aren't getting much attention. Whilst the list will never be 100% fulfilled, at least it wouldn't be left in the dark to wither and die.
As an idea, maybe once a month have a day where the team stops everything and work completely on one feature. Surely one day of not doing normal duties won't hurt Wikidot.
So please Wikidot! Please make an effort to commit to regular new features!
Everybody rate this wish up for support!
λ James Kanjo
Blog | Wikidot Expert | λ and Proud
Web Developer | HTML | CSS | JavaScript
+1
Bartłomiej Bąkowski @ Wikidot Inc.
';.;' TeRq (Write PM)
Thanks, TeRq! It's nice to see this wish getting direct support from a developer. Please, please, please, plead our case at your next staff meeting!
Here's a good place to start: http://feedback.wikidot.com/system:page-tags/tag/_accepted/category/wish
Community Admin
I have given up any hope for Wikidot.
It used to be a brilliant idea, it gathered critical mass of people and more importantly enthusiasm and then it all stalled…
I am confident it all boils down to mindset. Wikidot has been lead by IT guys and not business guys. What happens with Wikidot is the usual scenario of a project run by IT people.
IT guys get fascinated by things like code and graphic design which are important but the least important for a web project to live and prosper.
For IT guys, though, those things are the essence. If you can do such a hard thing as coding this great platform, all the rest must be a joke, mustn't it? Marketing stuff such as business models, pricing, customer care, advertising, usability, etc must be something ridiculous or some "soft matter" or something vexing at best. Let's do it in the meantime and not waste time money on marketing fools. The product must sell itself, we've coded it so hard… And we know the basics anyway - get the product running, then make some noise, seek investors, then sell advertising and premium plans…
Well, I might be wrong. I do not know the Wikidot guys personally, I do not have inside information. But judging from what I've seen happen with Wikidot so far, I have full suspicion it's the above story.
And don't get me wrong, it's not that IT guys do not happen to create great businesses (from great products); as well, really 99% of marketing/ business development guys (gals more often than not) are not worth a p*ss. But that does not mean you do not need business mindset over IT mindset in order to reach a sustainable service. Developers just focus their attention on code, not people. If they focused it on people, that would be at the expense of time devotes to code, then they wouldn't be capable developers. At the same time a successful service requires focusing attention, thinking and talent on people and especially that annoying and illogical breed of people called clients (or users if you wish).
http://feedback.wikidot.com/wish:382
Don't give up on Wikidot. The developers have been working very hard on maintenance and optimisation, things that us as end users love because it often gets neglected in other programming businesses. They're not sitting around doing nothing, they're just really busy with bugs and maintenance.
I posted this wish because in my opinion, making new features is essential for Wikidot's growth, and keeps us as end-users happy. It is a "last priority" on a day-by-day basis, but it needs to be the first priority every month or so to keep Wikidot growing.
And for the record, the Wikidot team are incredibly well rounded people. Great at programming, great at socialising and especially great at business. They care about us, and they're transparent with us. Top blokes, I promise you.
Edit: And from what I've noticed, they are extremely careful when employing to make sure they have the RIGHT people in their team with similar well rounded qualities.
But they do need to make a regular commitment to new features.
λ James Kanjo
Blog | Wikidot Expert | λ and Proud
Web Developer | HTML | CSS | JavaScript
I entirely echo what James has said. I don't see any evidence at all that things have stalled and I still see Wikidot as a viable alternative to platforms like Wordpress, and it's more flexible and powerful in many areas. The focus recently has been on other things but I do think that a more regular and systematic approach to new features and the delivery of (or at least communication about) accepted wishes would pay dividends
Rob Elliott - Strathpeffer, Scotland - Wikidot first line support & community admin team.
I also agree with James' comments.
Wikidot is still relatively small, and therefore it doesn't get the attention that it deserves (and probably could do with some more outside advertising, which is why I recommend it to others all the time) — but it's definitely not an inferior product, and development hasn't stalled.
Just the other day, Wikidot completed another request on the Feedback site (although that one hasn't made it into the changelog yet).
~ Shane (Wikidot Community Admin - Volunteer)
Wikidot: Wikidot Editor, Official Docs
Other: YouTube (gaming, primarily Minecraft)
+1
i am an old developer and I agree with maki - what me concerns - I am not really a business man.
I want to write my book about wiki's ( and wikidot as an example) to explain where the extra bonus is in a little small social "private" web-site. Not in facebook or twitter or google+ and so on.
We all feel this extra bonus we have found in wikidots sub domains.. even all my colleguas say - it is soo poor in velocity… every handmade html page is 10 times faster… ( this is not always true :) ).. but more and more of them use it for their business documentation ( better than every share point) and their private issues like calender/notice block or family pictures.
What I am missing is more the explanation of what a wiki is for… a lot of people have no idea what I am talking about and this in time of "wikipedia", "wiki leaks" !
No,I think I do not agree with maki - wikdiot is pressing the hand on the cooking pot with growing pressures of user wishes, technical problems and all the issues with a living system with growing users-counts - to prevent all this from exploding.
Service is my success. My webtips:www.blender.org (Open source), Wikidot-Handbook.
Sie können fragen und mitwirken in der deutschsprachigen » User-Gemeinschaft für WikidotNutzer oder
im deutschen » Wikidot Handbuch ?
I can partly agree with all of you. Wikidot is indeed run by a small group of people and is itself relatively small with no aggressive business/marketing attitude. This has good sides.
The "business attitude" can help a project grow and reach new territories, but honestly in most cases I know there is an enormous tendency to push the limits towards maximizing growth and monetization. Needless to say, the cost for "ordinary users" is high. Somehow I am glad we can be an independent project without a need to sacrifice too much.
Wikidot is still a "work in progress". Some of our plans to make Wikidot Internet-wide popular failed. Some worked partially. Some ended in a drawer because of the hight estimated cost. We grow organically at a somehow stable rate, which is better than experiencing epic growth followed by an epic fail. But we are still looking for ways to move Wikidot forward.
There is one thing I must agree in 100%: doing nothing is going backwards. Doing "daily stuff" takes us a lot of time and effort, but indeed there is much to be done in "user space" too.
Everything is a matter of balance.
One feature per time period is a great idea that should keep us active. Small steps is a good strategy and this pressure should be a good motivation, and our users should know what to expect.
Michał Frąckowiak @ Wikidot Inc.
Visit my blog at michalf.me
WOOHOO!!!
You accepted this wish!!!
BRILLIANT!!!
λ James Kanjo
Blog | Wikidot Expert | λ and Proud
Web Developer | HTML | CSS | JavaScript
I like your mindset, and I am very happy I chose Wikidot 4 years ago to start various web projects. Thanks.