Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Introducing PrintWiki
Over the past few months I have been working on an exciting project that is finally ready to be shared with the world.
Today, PrintWiki - The Free Encyclopedia of Print is be publicly announced. PrintWiki provides a collaborative platform to support a comprehensive, open-source encyclopedia of printing and publishing. See the press release for all the details or visit the wiki and dig in.
The idea of PrintWiki was born in late July. Over a short period of a time, a number of people expressed to me that there was a lack of comprehensive information on printing and publishing technology on the internet.
In mid-August I proposed the idea of a wiki site covering the printing industry to Michael Woods, a long time friend and industry colleague. Mike was very receptive to the idea and by the end of August the printwiki.org domain had been purchased and server space had been allocated.
Over the next week or so Mike and I evaluated wiki software - at one point I think we had all the stable community-based wiki engines installed and in some phase of testing. After our evaluation we decided to go with Project Sycamore, a wiki engine with a focus on providing solid features rather than providing every feature. Having selected an engine, we started working on the infrastructure - customizing the code, writing back-up routines, and all that fun geek stuff (this is an ongoing process).
The Foundation
It's important to point out that PrintWiki is not a staffed organization. PrintWiki is maintained by a group of volunteers who carry out site maintenance, code development, and provide other administrative support.
To provide oversight for the PrintWiki Project, the PrintWiki Foundation is currently formalizing as a non-profit legal entity (all the fun IRS-stuff). The founding board will consist of Michael Woods and myself. I will serve as interim executive director during the formalization process. All position within the foundation will be volunteer-based.
Budget
Running a web site is not a free enterprise and there are certain costs associated with maintaining the site, such as web hosting. These costs are not tremendous but they do exist.
Currently these cost are being absorbed out of pocket. We are evaluating our technology needs and developing a budget that will allow the PrintWiki project to reside on its own hardware and internet tube.
The PrintWiki Foundation will partner with corporations, institutions, and individuals willing to provide underwriting to support the costs associated with maintaining PrintWiki.org This is a main force driving the formalization of the foundation. While people give money to boost karma, the IRS write-offs are an added benefit.
I look forward to seeing you on the wiki.
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