A witi is a Website of Information
about a Topic of Interest. (witi is pronounced witty & wheaty)
A witi has elements of both a wiki and a blog but it’s neither.
The pages that make up a witi serve as a reference; so in that regard,
it is most like a wiki.
It is most like a blog in that it may discuss personal experiences.
The person or group that chooses to create, manage,
and replenish a witi is the witimaker, aka witilord.
A witi is not necessarily intended to be a formal and
comprehensive exposition of the chosen topic;
it can be a series of articles on the topic subjects
for which the witimaker has some knowledge. It can be one page or thousands.
It need not be collaborative.
Yet it is done with essential and perspicuous characteristics.
Essential are the spirit and wit of the witi, defined as follows:
witii provide honest information.
witii can be about any chosen topic and no information about
that topic is purposefully withheld.
It’s fine if the witimaker hasn’t gotten around to covering a subtopic or item
(especially where knowledge may be weak),
but it’s something other than a witi if missing info is
contained in a product or service being sold –
witii are not used to give away an incomplete product in order to sell the rest of it.
witii can be closely associated by way of links with anything that is not a witi,
but they do not commingle.
witii are genuine. Any advertising on a witi page is unobtrusive,
clear as to what it is, considerably secondary to witi content, and separated from it.
Mouseovers (anywhere on a page) do not initiate ads that overlay witi content or
initiate marketing-related audio/video.
Advertisements and surveys are never animated, never mask witi content,
and never impose a change in display, ever, unless explicitly selected by the visitor.
Clickable or selectable items and links within witi content boundaries are never
for a marketing purpose.
The witilord keeps to the topic but may describe personal background, biases,
and philosophies, and may use analogies in presenting information.
However, purely political opinions and analogies do not belong unless
there is no other way to explain an issue.
Of course if the wititopic is meant to be political, then there’s no holding back.
Visitors are typically invited to submit comments on the pages of a witi.
Visitor comments and contributions can be used to improve the content.
Comments may be archived or removed at the witilord’s discretion.
witi content evolves and advances as the witilord becomes more knowledgeable and witty.
Since a witi is a reference, it’s less likely to require frequent updating with
new content as does a typical blog (especially if it’s an itsy-witsy witi).
Each section of content gives the last-update date of the section, and, optionally,
the creation date. wititopics can be social or event related.
Events could be ongoing which would make the witi chronological like a blog.
The witimaker organizes the witi so that all subtopics can be quickly and
easily found through menus. For most witii, there would be no ordering of
content by date and the URLs for the witi would not contain dates as is common for blogs.
For example, a good permanent URL segment for a witi would be:
/cobweb-killers/bio-friendly.
Last but mighty,
the witilord should be creative in presentation!