33 Wikis -- #25 -- Mozilla Developer Center

This is the twenty-fifth installment in "33 Wikis," a close look at best practices in wiki-based collaboration.  Each day -- for 33 days   -- we look at one wiki and briefly describe what the wiki is for, why we like it, and what we all can learn from it.  If you want to nominate a wiki, please let us know.  On day 34 we will post a public wiki featuring info on all nominees.

What this wiki is for:   Today and tomorrow, we will look at two wikis for software developers.  Our pick today is the Mozilla Developer Center which serves as "a central nexus for all developer documentation related to the Mozilla Project and Mozilla technologies.  In time, it is hoped that the Mozilla Developer Center will become a resource that web designers, application developers, and extension and theme writers visit on a daily basis."  For those of you outside the technology world, Mozilla is the open source project that organized the creation of the popular Firefox browser.

Why we like it:   This is an example of a medium (a wiki) almost perfectly suited to the demographic (developer) and purpose (the creation of an open source alternative) of a community.  The development of any open source service or product requires a select but sizeable developer community, and the wiki --- a tool that many developers understand -- is a great environment for building such a community.  It also helps that wikis function in an open source manner -- tapping the collective wisdom and contributions of the many.

What we all can learn from it:   There are a number of developer communities like this; tomorrow we will look at another.  But the visibility of the Mozilla Project should help publicize the viability of this approach among many other software companies that are looking for purposeful ways to engage with developers in their markets.