---
title: "Podcast: Embracing Wikis – Interview with Stewart Mader"
date: 2008-05-10
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $('#toc').toc({ minimumHeaders: 3, listType: 'ul', showSpeed: 0, headers: '#content h2, #content h3, #content h4, #content h5, #content h6' }); /*..."
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2008/05/10/podcast-using-a-wiki-for-your-technical-documentation-interview-with-stewart-mader/index.html
---

> For AI agents: a documentation index is available at https://idratherbewriting.com/llms.txt. Markdown versions of all pages are available by appending .md to any page URL.

# Podcast: Embracing Wikis – Interview with Stewart Mader

**Listen here:**

[Audio](https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/podcasts/mader.mp3)

[![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/apple_podcasts.png)](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id-rather-be-writing-podcast/id277365275) [![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/watchonyoutubeblack.png)](https://www.youtube.com/@idratherbewriting) [![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/spotify.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/4HeOZfPGMMfViOhVS40QBD)

[![Stewart Mader](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/stewart_mader1.jpg)](http://ikiw.org/)

[Stewart Mader](http://ikiw.org/) was one of the coolest people I met at Doc Train West 2008. He is a person driven by his enthusiasm for wikis.

In this podcast, Stewart talks about the following:

- Advantages of using a wiki for your technical documentation
- Why lack of advanced styles in wikis isn't a major problem
- The relentless focus on simplicity with wikis
- Choosing the right wiki among dozens of wiki engines
- Pitfalls with using an open source wiki (like Mediawiki) for your company
- Why your content (not your format) is the most important element of any wiki
- Techniques for growing wiki use and adoption in your organization
- Why customizing your wiki to look like a professional website isn't that important
- Managing multiple spaces inside wikis, and integrating with Active Directory
- Why Stewart recommends Atlassian Confluence wikis
- The number one reason why wikis fail

## Resources

- [Stewart Mader's blog](http://www.ikiw.org/)
- [Wikipatterns](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470223626?ie=UTF8&tag=bloonwikpat-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0470223626) (Stewart's book on wikis)
- [The Wiki Matrix](https://wikimatrix.org/)
- [Atlassian Confluence wikis](http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/) (enterprise wiki software)
- [21 Days of Wiki Adoption](http://www.ikiw.org/21days/)

Stewart's PowerPoint on his Grow Your Wiki session is below.

[![SlideShare](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/logo_embd.png)](http://www.slideshare.net/?src=embed) | [View](http://www.slideshare.net/slmader/grow-your-wiki) | [Upload your own](http://www.slideshare.net/upload)

![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/)