Wiki Builder
Build team wikis that people actually use and contribute to.
Usage
- Define the wiki's scope and primary use cases
- Design the information architecture (top-level categories, navigation structure)
- Create templates for common page types (meeting notes, decision records, runbooks)
- Establish contribution norms (who can edit, review process, style guide)
- Seed with essential content, then grow organically
Examples
- Engineering wiki structure: Home → Getting Started (onboarding, dev setup, architecture overview). Home → Systems (one page per service: purpose, tech stack, runbook, contacts). Home → Processes (code review, deployment, incident response). Home → Decisions (ADRs: Architecture Decision Records). Home → Team (who does what, meeting schedules, OKRs)
- Decision record template (ADR): Title: "ADR-001: Use PostgreSQL for primary database." Status: Accepted. Date: 2026-01-15. Context: "We need a relational database that supports JSONB for flexible schema fields." Decision: "We chose PostgreSQL over MySQL because of JSONB support, better indexing, and team familiarity." Consequences: "Need to learn PostgreSQL-specific features. Must set up automated backups. Migration from SQLite required."
- Runbook template: Service name + owner. What it does (1 paragraph). How to check if it's healthy. Common failure modes and fixes. How to restart/redeploy. Escalation contacts. Last tested date. This page saves 30 minutes during every incident
Guidelines
- Structure matters more than content volume: 50 well-organized pages beat 500 pages with no navigation
- Use a flat-ish hierarchy: 2-3 levels deep maximum. Deep nesting means nobody finds anything
- Every page needs a clear owner — pages without owners become outdated within months
- Make contributing easy: low friction > perfect formatting. A rough draft in the wiki is infinitely better than perfect notes in someone's personal Notion
- Search is critical: use a wiki tool with good full-text search. Tag pages consistently for discoverability
- Seed the wiki with 20-30 essential pages before launch. An empty wiki gets no contributors — a useful wiki attracts them