The Media-Geek.com Wiki is officially launched! Oh Wiki you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind hey Wiki! Hey Wiki! Yep, I've officially lost my mind, but at least you didn't have to hear me actually sing that.

The Media-Geek Wiki is now available for our registered members, adding yet another way for members to share information, documentation, files, etc... One might think that a forensic community content management solution/system (CMS) with a multitude of additional content submission, categorization, and search abilities would be enough...but then, one would be wrong wouldn't they?

Using a Wiki was one of the original concepts for this site discussed over three years ago while I was attending LEVA's Advanced Forensic Video Analysis & The Law course. Since then there have been various tests and even a BETA launch in the summer of last year that was based on Microsoft's CMS product SharePoint. What it boiled down to was CMS or Wiki, knowing that both have advantages and disadvantages regardless of what product(s) or platforms you use. Then it hit me - why not both?

Fortunately, as with most of my ideas, someone had long since beat me to it, and I wouldn't have to "recreate the wheel." If you're familiar with Wikipedia you're golden, as the Media-Geek Wiki uses the same software package originally developed for Wikipedia. If you're not familiar with Wikipedia or any other Wiki, no sweat, because the beauty of a Wiki is it's ease of use. Collaborating on documentation couldn't be any easier, and it's entirely up to our members as to where this Wiki goes and what it's used for.

One of the primary things I was hoping to see it used for was for documentation, recommendations, and discussions regarding digital CCTV systems. Did the manufacturer go out of business? No english documentation, "weak" or non-existent manuals, poor tech support, etc...? Maybe another member took a few minutes to add their notes on that system to the Wiki. Use it for collaborating on guidelines, best practices, training materials, definitions, etc...

A few notes regarding the Media-Geek Wiki:

• The Wiki is accessible through the Main Member navigation menu.
• Your personal preferences for the Wiki (e.g. email notification options, skin settings, language, etc...) are managed separately from your Media-Geek profile settings; however, you only have one set of login credentials and do NOT need to re-enter them to access the Wiki.
• You can attach files and embed images, etc...
• The Wiki is NOT directly accessible to non-members.
• There is currently a minor cookie "issue", depending on browser and settings, that may require you to re-load the page when you first access the Wiki; you may receive and error such as "You must be logged in to view this Wiki". Simply refresh/reload the page or click the Wiki Home link again.

I've been postponing the launch of the Wiki for weeks, as I just haven't had time lately to work on this site and add all of the pages to the Wiki that I wanted to before launching it.  Long story short, rather than wait on me to find time I've decided to let it fly.  As with the rest of our member features, the Media-Geek Wiki is and will be what we collectively make of it.  

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