eManuals (Wikis)

What Are Wikis?

A wiki is a website that allows you to create and maintain any number of interlinked web pages using a web browser and a simplified WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) text editor. Wikis are often used collaboratively by multiple users and virtual teams to capture, maintain and distribute information. Examples include business intranets, project websites, community forums, and knowledge management systems.

eManuals

Businesses are increasingly using wikis to support online business documentation including operating and training manuals, policies, procedures, and company service and product descriptions.

For insight on their look and feel, have a look at this family business resources website and this wiki-based operations manual website.

Business Benefits

eManuals provide major advantages over traditional paper-based documentation including:

• Easy to learn and use: any non-technical user can use, edit and maintain them.
• Instantaneous and up-to-date: no need to wait for a publisher to create/circulate updates.
• Easy to access: accessible at any time and from any location with internet connectivity.
• Easy to control: they keep track of every edit and previous versions are easily restored.
• Flexible: their structure, navigation, and style are easily customized.
• Low cost: there are many open-source systems providing license-free solutions.

System Implementation

eManuals can be set-up on virtually any webserver, whether in-house or third-party hosted. Almost all website hosting companies provide support for wikis including server-side scripting and database support. Once installed and configured, a wiki-based eManual can be seamlessly integrated with your existing website. This approach requires no hardware or software investment but instead levers your existing website hosting services.

Why Use Them?

eManuals provide a very powerful and easy-to-use tool for business owners to document their day-to-day operations. Rather than creating costly third-party dependencies, eManuals empower the subject matter experts (i.e., the owners and designated staff) to capture, maintain, and protect your business' intellectual property.

eManuals provide a low-cost, low-overhead approach to documentation that will improve organizational scalability, streamline business operations, and strengthen future options for franchising, third-party investment, and/or business sale.

Have a look at two customer service manual examples using DokuWiki and MediaWiki ^†

There are numerous wikis available to support your eManuals. Wikimatrix provides an overview and comparison of their many features. Other open-source solutions are available that provide broader knowledge base functionality.

Contact Divinitus for a free consultation on setting up your own wiki-based eManuals.

^† The username is "guests" and the password is "password".