Learn more: wisdomclouds FAQ
- What is it / how does it work ?
- Benefits & problems solved
- Why is it different ?
- What's the difference to a Wiki ?
- What's your difference to Twitter / Yammer / Enterprise 2.0 ?
- Why is it called "Continuous-Knowledge-Exchange" and what's the difference to document-management-systems ?
- Do you support Questions and Answers (Q&A) ?
- Is it a knowledge-management tool ?
- Are you a kind of "Social Knowledge-Management-platform ?"
- Who is it made for ?
- How to run/install, how to start
- What does it cost ?
- Having doubts ?
What is wisdomclouds.com ?back
Wisdomclouds is a place to share knowledge with people you know and trust.
Wisdomclouds is a software for building closed social networks of experts who share knowledge. Knowledge can be lessons-learned, answers to questions, code-snippets or status-infos. The experts build knowledge-databases that are called "wisdomclouds". Wisdomclouds are closed, which means they are exclusive for you and your team.
Wisdomclouds significantly lowers the barrier for knowledge-sharing. Users just have to answer one question: what have you learned today ?
Wisdomclouds is a software for building closed social networks of experts who share knowledge. Knowledge can be lessons-learned, answers to questions, code-snippets or status-infos. The experts build knowledge-databases that are called "wisdomclouds". Wisdomclouds are closed, which means they are exclusive for you and your team.
Wisdomclouds significantly lowers the barrier for knowledge-sharing. Users just have to answer one question: what have you learned today ?
What is a wisdomcloud ?back
For all hackers:
tail -f /dev/thingsIveLearned >wisdomcloud
For the rest of us:
A wisdomcloud is a database of knowledge in which you continuously capture knowledge . It stores knowledge of a certain area of topic such as "Programming". Your team members join by invitation and build a closed social network of experts. Knowledge-units such as lessons-learned are shared within this social network.
Any project-team can create as many wisdomclouds as needed.
tail -f /dev/thingsIveLearned >wisdomcloud
For the rest of us:
A wisdomcloud is a database of knowledge in which you continuously capture knowledge . It stores knowledge of a certain area of topic such as "Programming". Your team members join by invitation and build a closed social network of experts. Knowledge-units such as lessons-learned are shared within this social network.
Any project-team can create as many wisdomclouds as needed.
Show me how it works at a glanceback
1. In your current wisdomcloud (your project can have many) search, invite new members or switch to another cloud.
2. Capture your knowledge by answering "what have you learned". If 140 characters are not enough hit details and submit rich-formatted text, source-code, images, links or whatever.
3. The wisdom-stream of the current cloud shows you all knowledge-units by all members in this cloud
4. Topics are the basic structure for a cloud. Move knowledge-units from a topic to any other topic, rename topics, delete them, create new ones ... just as your project's changing.
5. Members are the experts contributing knowledge-units. This is your social network of experts. If members are leaving a project transfer their knowledge-units to any other member.
What are the top-10 benefits ?back
- Capture knowledge before it gets lost: Capture and share knowledge in one minute instead of hours
- Improve your team by sharing knowledge continuously on a daily basis instead of sharing once every while
- Enjoy quality: Build closed, invitation-only groups of team-members instead of open-for-everybodies-opinion-forums
- End the mess: Many organizations have Blogs, Microblogs, Team-Sites, Wikis all at the same time. Users don't understand the differences. Wisdomclouds is a "best-of" Microblogging, Blogging, Wiki-Pages and Q/A without having anybody to worry about the difference
- Deals with small lessons and large ones as well: Capture small knowledge-units in 140 characters or use up to 4000 characters
- Relevant search results only: Super easy search with focus on racer-sharp results
- One-click feedback within the community: Tell people you like their contribution by clicking "useful"
- Auto-refresh of your knowledge-database: let irrelevant knowledge time out all by itself without any intervention
- Reflect on past lessons: get reminded of things you learned in the past. Because that's your and your team's most valuable asset
- No worries about security: Super-easy download for local installation in your environment, behind your company's firewall
So, if you already like Twitter and want to have something similar in private for your group or team in order to build persisent and searchable knowledge-databases: wisdomclouds is for you.
Please try for free , it's free for single-users or teams of up to 5 members.
What's the mission ?back
We believe that each team, no matter how smart and great,
has a huge potential for improving by applying an efficient,
continuous and easy way of knowledge-sharing.
For those teams we created a new approach towards knowledge-management. We provide the best simple knowledge-management tool.
For those teams we created a new approach towards knowledge-management. We provide the best simple knowledge-management tool.
Who is it made for ?back
Project-teams with sizes from 2 to 1000 or more users. Mission: Improve your team through an efficient, easy and continuous knowledge exchange.
Examples:
- IT-projects and teams developing software
- Consultancy companies with specialization in a certain area (e.g. HR, Law)
- Research projects
Single-Usage. Mission: Improve yourself through writing down your lessons-learned and reflecting upon them.
Examples:
- IT-projects and teams developing software
- Consultancy companies with specialization in a certain area (e.g. HR, Law)
- Research projects
Single-Usage. Mission: Improve yourself through writing down your lessons-learned and reflecting upon them.
Why is it perfect for project-teams ?back
In the daily life of a project, things are ever-changing. People come and go. Priorities are changing.
Structures are re-organized. Names are changing. New teams appear.
Wisdomclouds was specifically designed to handle change within a project: easily capture and maintain your relevant knowledge
independant of what's happening around you.
Examples:
- If somebody leaves the project, transfer her knowledge-units to somebody else
- If the structure of a project changes, easily rename wisdomclouds and/or topics
- Easily move or delete many knowledge-units at once
- Export knowledge-units any time if a project ends
Examples:
- If somebody leaves the project, transfer her knowledge-units to somebody else
- If the structure of a project changes, easily rename wisdomclouds and/or topics
- Easily move or delete many knowledge-units at once
- Export knowledge-units any time if a project ends
On which platforms does it run, can I install it ?back
Wisdomclouds is a web-based service, which means you use it via any internet browser (Microsoft Explorer 7 and above, Firefox 3 and above, Google Chrome, Apple Safari).
- Online version: Team of 5 or less or singe-user ? Try out our free online-version. Please note that we currently do not offer options for larger teams online. If you'd like to use it in your project-team with more than 5 members, please consider the download-option.
- Download and install locally: You can easily download and install wisdomclouds. You can try out the software for 30 days and then decide if this is the right tool for you. You can install it and try it out on your local PC or machine to show a demo to your colleagues or boss. The average time for this installation is between 15 and 30 minutes.
The local version is Java-based and running on every operating system supporting Java 1.5 and greater, such as Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 7, Linux and its derivates (e.g. Suse Linux, RedHat, Ubuntu), MacOS X.
- Online version: Team of 5 or less or singe-user ? Try out our free online-version. Please note that we currently do not offer options for larger teams online. If you'd like to use it in your project-team with more than 5 members, please consider the download-option.
- Download and install locally: You can easily download and install wisdomclouds. You can try out the software for 30 days and then decide if this is the right tool for you. You can install it and try it out on your local PC or machine to show a demo to your colleagues or boss. The average time for this installation is between 15 and 30 minutes.
The local version is Java-based and running on every operating system supporting Java 1.5 and greater, such as Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 7, Linux and its derivates (e.g. Suse Linux, RedHat, Ubuntu), MacOS X.
What is wisdom / knowledge ?back
Philosophers didn't find an easy to digest answer to that question in the last 3000 years.
So let's define it pragmatically in the context of what's relevant for a typical IT-project:
- Lessons-Learned
- Questions and Answers (Q/A)
- Screenshots
- Videos
- Project-Documents
- Source-Code-Snippets
- Status updates
- News
- Know-How-Stories
- Bookmarks or links
Wisdomclouds.com lets you share all these types of knowledge for you and your team.
- Lessons-Learned
- Questions and Answers (Q/A)
- Screenshots
- Videos
- Project-Documents
- Source-Code-Snippets
- Status updates
- News
- Know-How-Stories
- Bookmarks or links
Wisdomclouds.com lets you share all these types of knowledge for you and your team.
Do you support questions and answers (Q&A) ?back
Yes, we do. Questions and Answers (Q/A) are one aspect of knowledge-sharing within wisdomclouds, but not the only one.
We support all of the above mentioned "knowledge-types" in one easy to use approach.
Is it a knowledge-management tool ?back
Yes, but ...
Yes, because we manage knowledge. We build social networks of experts that create
databases of knowledge.
But, because "knowledge-management" in IT for some reason equals document-management. Wisdomclouds is not document-management (though users can use it to exchange project-documents). Please see the next point for a clarification on the difference to document-management.
But, because "knowledge-management" in IT for some reason equals document-management. Wisdomclouds is not document-management (though users can use it to exchange project-documents). Please see the next point for a clarification on the difference to document-management.
Why is it called "Continuous-Knowledge-Exchange" and what's the difference to document-management ?back
Document- or Content-Management-Systems focus on storing and managing documents. They
put the document in the middle. People share this document and work together on one
document. That's called collaboration. In document-management-systems, the document is the center of all
activities. People working on a document don't necessarily know each
other.
Wisdomclouds focuses on sharing knowledge within a private and closed social network of experts. It's like you'd be using Twitter exclusively for you and your team for doing Knowledge-Management.
People know each other because they are directly linked within a wisdomcloud. Being connected, they exchange small knowledge-units of 140 characters or more within the expert-graph. Wisdomclouds doesn't put the document in the center, but the social network of experts.
That's much more efficient because it enables a daily exchange and communication about the relevant knowledge within the network of experts.
Built-in-reflection helps teams to remember and draw lessons from what they've learned in the past. Wisdomclouds enables a daily, continuous knowledge exchange within any project-team.
Wisdomclouds focuses on sharing knowledge within a private and closed social network of experts. It's like you'd be using Twitter exclusively for you and your team for doing Knowledge-Management.
People know each other because they are directly linked within a wisdomcloud. Being connected, they exchange small knowledge-units of 140 characters or more within the expert-graph. Wisdomclouds doesn't put the document in the center, but the social network of experts.
That's much more efficient because it enables a daily exchange and communication about the relevant knowledge within the network of experts.
Built-in-reflection helps teams to remember and draw lessons from what they've learned in the past. Wisdomclouds enables a daily, continuous knowledge exchange within any project-team.
So, you are a kind of "Social Knowledge-Management-platform ?"back
If you really love buzzwords: yes, we are indeed. And please throw in "Web 2.0" whenever
and wherever you want ;-)
What's your difference to Twitter / Yammer ?back
Twitter/Yammer/Enterprise 2.0 are tools for managing temporary information-snapshots. They are
kind of enterprise-wide chat tools.
Our mission is fundamentally different: Wisdomclouds does not focus on a temporary information-exchange of what's happening right now. We engage team-members in a continuous process of capturing, sharing and storing knowledge. Wisdomclouds does not only include the present, but also the past.
Wisdomclouds builds permanent and searchable knowledge-databases with the ease of a Twitter-like interface.
Reflection (thinking about and learning from the past) is a very important feature of wisdomclouds. Normally you don't use Twitter / Facebook / Yammer to reflect on the past, don't you ?
Wisdomclouds.com is the concept of a "Community of Practice" (Wenger, Lave, 1991) brought to software. Combined with Social Software and inspired by aspects of Agile Development ("continuous") Communities of Practice can now be applied in every project-team or IT-organizsation, no matter how small or big.
Our mission is fundamentally different: Wisdomclouds does not focus on a temporary information-exchange of what's happening right now. We engage team-members in a continuous process of capturing, sharing and storing knowledge. Wisdomclouds does not only include the present, but also the past.
Wisdomclouds builds permanent and searchable knowledge-databases with the ease of a Twitter-like interface.
Reflection (thinking about and learning from the past) is a very important feature of wisdomclouds. Normally you don't use Twitter / Facebook / Yammer to reflect on the past, don't you ?
Wisdomclouds.com is the concept of a "Community of Practice" (Wenger, Lave, 1991) brought to software. Combined with Social Software and inspired by aspects of Agile Development ("continuous") Communities of Practice can now be applied in every project-team or IT-organizsation, no matter how small or big.
Submitting my knowledge in 140 characters ? Isn't that too small ?back
No. Projects using wisdomclouds.com have shown that the average size of a "knowledge-unit"
in IT-project-teams is 221 characters. That's very easy and
quick to submit. The fundamental concept of wisdomclouds is: make capturing
of knowledge as easy and quickly as possible. B.t.w.: this paragraph has ca. 450 characters.
And yes, wisdomclouds.com lets you submit more than 140 characters if necessary.
And yes, wisdomclouds.com lets you submit more than 140 characters if necessary.
What's the difference to a Wiki ?back
Wiki's are made for creation of static pages. Wisdomclouds is made for exchanging an ever flowing knowledge-stream.
It's static content publishing vs. continuous knowledge-exchange..
Furthermore, the granularity of the content is different: Wiki-pages are large. Knowledge-units in wisdomclouds are small.It's an average of 2000+ characters in Wikis (just check out Wikipedia) vs. an average of 221 charcters in a wisdomcloud (less than 2 SMS). Although, if wanted and needed, you can create Wiki-like content up to 4000 characters within wisdomclouds.com as well.
Furthermore, the granularity of the content is different: Wiki-pages are large. Knowledge-units in wisdomclouds are small.It's an average of 2000+ characters in Wikis (just check out Wikipedia) vs. an average of 221 charcters in a wisdomcloud (less than 2 SMS). Although, if wanted and needed, you can create Wiki-like content up to 4000 characters within wisdomclouds.com as well.
We are already using Wiki for knowledge-management. Why should we get rid of it ?back
Don't. You probably put in a lot of effort collecting the content.
Nevertheless, if you face one of the following problems, consider giving wisdomclouds.com a shot:
- Can't find stuff anymore in your wiki ?
- Too many different wiki-pages ?
- No overview of the people using the wiki ?
- Finding it hard to restructure your historically grown Wiki ?
Those are our solutions:
- How things are found in wisdomclouds: Automatic distribution ("bring knowledge to the people") through wisdom-streams instead of "put information somewhere and let people find it".
- Too many pages ? Not in wisdomclouds. Small knowledge-units are shown in "wisdom-streams" (similar to "activity-streams") instead of a page-centric structure.
- Who are the experts ? An active and publicly-known social network of experts instead of user-accounts unknown to each other.
Don't get us wrong: we like Wikis and they serve an important goal: the easy creation of web-pages. So if you need to publish static content (such as process descriptions, installation instructions) still use your existing wiki (though you could do the same in wisdomclouds).
For a continuous and daily knowledge-transfer of lessons, code-snippets, questions: use wisdomclouds. Oh, b.t.w. they fit together: you can always put links from your wisdomcloud to any existing page within a Wiki. So, don't throw your stuff away, just integrate and slowly migrate.
Nevertheless, if you face one of the following problems, consider giving wisdomclouds.com a shot:
- Can't find stuff anymore in your wiki ?
- Too many different wiki-pages ?
- No overview of the people using the wiki ?
- Finding it hard to restructure your historically grown Wiki ?
Those are our solutions:
- How things are found in wisdomclouds: Automatic distribution ("bring knowledge to the people") through wisdom-streams instead of "put information somewhere and let people find it".
- Too many pages ? Not in wisdomclouds. Small knowledge-units are shown in "wisdom-streams" (similar to "activity-streams") instead of a page-centric structure.
- Who are the experts ? An active and publicly-known social network of experts instead of user-accounts unknown to each other.
Don't get us wrong: we like Wikis and they serve an important goal: the easy creation of web-pages. So if you need to publish static content (such as process descriptions, installation instructions) still use your existing wiki (though you could do the same in wisdomclouds).
For a continuous and daily knowledge-transfer of lessons, code-snippets, questions: use wisdomclouds. Oh, b.t.w. they fit together: you can always put links from your wisdomcloud to any existing page within a Wiki. So, don't throw your stuff away, just integrate and slowly migrate.
So, with just 140 characters given, where shall I put my 40-pages shiny Power-Point ?back
First of all: congratulations for all the work and effort you put in to create those. You are amongst
the very few within any organization who do that. Like this, sadly enough, most of the relevant
knowledge vanishes.
No worries for storing you Power-Point: Wisdomclouds lets you store and share documents as well as small knowledge-units, as well as code-snippets, as well as blog-like entries of up to 4000 characters, as well as Wikipedia-like sites. We just don't make any difference inbetween all those types. Because it doesn't matter and the user should not care about this technicality.
Wisdomclouds is a mixture of Microblogging, Blogging, Wiki-Pages and Q/A without anybody noticing the difference.
No worries for storing you Power-Point: Wisdomclouds lets you store and share documents as well as small knowledge-units, as well as code-snippets, as well as blog-like entries of up to 4000 characters, as well as Wikipedia-like sites. We just don't make any difference inbetween all those types. Because it doesn't matter and the user should not care about this technicality.
Wisdomclouds is a mixture of Microblogging, Blogging, Wiki-Pages and Q/A without anybody noticing the difference.
How do I start as a single user ?back
Please sign up for free
, it's free for single user or teams of up to 5 members.
As a single user, start submitting your lessons, code-snippets, whatever's relevant for you and your daily work. Every three weeks, wisdomclouds.com will send you an email with things you learned in the past. Like this, you put yourself on a mission: improve yourself through continuous learning and reflection on your past lessons. Here's a challenge: every day, write down 3 things you learned. Let wisdomclouds remind you.
In a future step, you can invite some of your team-members to join your wisdomcloud. You can also start new wisdomclouds if you see new areas of topics.
As a single user, start submitting your lessons, code-snippets, whatever's relevant for you and your daily work. Every three weeks, wisdomclouds.com will send you an email with things you learned in the past. Like this, you put yourself on a mission: improve yourself through continuous learning and reflection on your past lessons. Here's a challenge: every day, write down 3 things you learned. Let wisdomclouds remind you.
In a future step, you can invite some of your team-members to join your wisdomcloud. You can also start new wisdomclouds if you see new areas of topics.
How do I start as a team ?back
Please sign up
, it's free for single user or teams of up to 5 members.
Or download and install a 30-day-free trial version.
Invite some your team-members to join your wisdomcloud. Submit lessons-learned, questions, code-snippets, documents. Or answer questions posed by your team-members. You can also start new wisdomclouds if you see new areas of topics. Share your knowledge on a daily basis and built your private and closed knowledge-databases.
Invite some your team-members to join your wisdomcloud. Submit lessons-learned, questions, code-snippets, documents. Or answer questions posed by your team-members. You can also start new wisdomclouds if you see new areas of topics. Share your knowledge on a daily basis and built your private and closed knowledge-databases.