Posted by Jock on July 31, 2008 at 18:46:21 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Arthur Ransome Wikia posted by Mike Dennis on July 31, 2008 at 17:11:02:
I was criticising the overall look and the navigation around the site; this is controlled by the hosts and is beyond the control of contributors (the same goes for blogs).
Well Mike, I would agree with you up to a point. At first glance there does seem to be a generic 'look and feel' to Wikis. They haven't grown the facility to decorate themselves in different colours, but given the focus on collaboration and content rather than fancy bells and whistles that is understandable. On closer examination the different Wiki engines do generate somewhat different flavours and I guess that Peter took that into account when choosing which engine/host to use for his AR Wiki.
I'm not sure I understand your point regarding navigation. The navigation options available to a user are created by the Wiki's authors and editors. They are not set in stone.
Regarding blogs, I launched If Not Duffers on Blogger and then Behind The Water Tower on Wordpress. Both engines/hosts offer a huge amount of options regarding customising the 'look and feel'. What restrictions there are I happily accept as the price of being given a simple tool which allows me to focus on content and not waste time tinkering about with code.