Wiki diagrammer (Steal this idea!)
19 April 2007 14:15

Someone out there with more time than I have, please steal this idea! (Or, maybe the LazyWeb can point me to someone who already has.)

A number of wiki engines these days have made it easier than ever for anyone to add wiki content by using WYSIWIG editors when you click the "Edit Page" link. DekiWiki is one that comes to mind

I'd like to see that idea taken further. What if I want to include a diagram in a wiki page? Can someone make a Visio-like plugin for a wiki engine such that when I click "Edit Page", I get all the controls to whip up a nice network diagram? Clicking "Save" would generate an image that is subsequently displayed on the page, as well as a link to the SVG source for the diagram. A plugin for Mediawiki that allows this would be superb. Could we get Gliffy embedded into a wiki?

And why stop at diagrams, what about a photo-editor plugins, complete with links on each image included in a wiki, "Edit this photo." I know there are a buch of Web 2.0-ish online photo editor applications out there (like Pixenate). How about spreadsheet controls so I can embed a spreadsheet in a wiki page? I think JotSpot already has this sort of thing.

I've recently been using Google Spreadsheets to collaboratively edit a spreadsheet of product research with some of my co-workers. If you haven't tried this already, it's a paradigm-changing experience. Anybody who has been through the nastyness of passing around countless versions of spreadsheets and Word docs via email will appreciate the beauty of seeing near real-time updates to the shared spreadsheet by your co-workers as they find and add more info to the document.