[Cialug] Wiki Task Tracking

[kristau]

On Jan 21, 2008 5:26 AM, Todd Walton <tdwalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 20, 2008 2:33 PM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org> wrote:
> > I have to ask, are you sure that a wiki is the right tool for the job?
>
> Yes, I am.  I want the flexibility of a wiki to adapt to whatever it
> is we might need to track.  I have a feeling that "what we need to
> track" is pretty stable and unchanging, but at this time I want to
> allow the tracker to evolve as we get new ideas.

I've adopted Mediawiki at Ag Leader Technology for two wikis I manage.
 One documents our entire IT infrastructure (ITWiki), including
profiles and logs for every server and workstation, network
infrastructure documentation (UPS X powers server Y), and pretty much
everything else we manage.  I even keep a daily journal with links
back to the relevant system log pages so I can go back and see what I
did on a particular day.  I still have some holes to fill in here and
there, but it is far better than what we had before (the contents of
one person's skull and a few papers in a small safe).

The other wiki is an attempt at providing a help desk reference for
frequently issued end-user instructions.  If I find myself giving out
a procedure more than once, I create a page in this wiki for it.
Then, when next someone asks, I simply provide the URL to that
procedure.  Takes some time to set up (writing a good procedure and
"play testing" it) but saves a lot of time in the end (URLs are easy
to copy and paste; procedures are consistently given).

Some comments on Mediawiki and wikis in general:
* Mediawiki's search function doesn't return very good results.  There
may be modifications or syntaxes of which I am unaware, though.  It
hasn't annoyed me enough yet to warrant the research time.
* All wikis are essentially free-form databases.  You have to enforce
some structure, but also welcome collaboration.  There is a fine
balance, but you do need to have one or more "wiki police" to keep an
eye on structure or it may get away from you.
* I've had others ask if we could set up new wikis for other
departments.  I set up a separate sandbox wiki for them to play in.
So far, they like Mediawiki and sound like they will implement an
official wiki some time soon.

One function I'll mention that may be along the same lines as what you
are considering: Patch management and tracking.  I set up a special
page inside the ITWiki on which I list the currently available (but
not yet applied) patches for each server.  I then send out an e-mail
to a group of individuals requesting they review the patches available
prior to them being applied.  I advise them that patches will be
applied unless I receive feedback to the contrary.  This has gone over
well, as stakeholders are made aware of the patching process I've put
in place (there was NONE prior to my starting here) and given the
opportunity to participate.  Come patch day, I use that page as a
guide for installing the patches and documenting what has been done
(pretty much pasting from the patch page into each server's log page
as I go).

Hope that helps a little!
-- 
Tired programmer
Coding late into the night
The core dump follows

My GNUPG public key is available at http://www.kristau.net/public_key.asc