Second Generation Wiki
Explanation
A first generation wiki is focused on content. A second generation wiki adds structure: the same Pages also hold typed data, which turns them into applications.
XWiki is a second generation wiki, so a single wiki holds both your notes and the applications your team runs on.
| Generation | Focused on | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| First | Content | Page editing, version control, rights, search and exports. |
| Second | Structure and applications | Ready-made applications such as the Blog, the File Manager, Meetings, Forums and the Task Manager, plus the ones you build yourself with App Within Minutes. |
Why it matters
Most of the small applications a team needs are never built: developing one the traditional way costs more than the problem is worth, and by the time it ships the need has moved on. Chris Anderson's Long Tail describes that same shape.
Applying the Long Tail to application development.
The red area is what conventional development covers. The yellow tail, far larger, is the applications that are too small or needed too quickly to justify it. A second generation wiki puts that tail within reach of the people who need it.
FAQ
Do I need to be a developer to build an application?
No, App Within Minutes lets you define an application's fields, forms and views from the wiki interface, without writing code.
