Difference between revisions of "Making Beyond Social"

From Beyond Social
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{{Article
 +
|Image=website.jpg
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|Caption=first Beyond Social website front page
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|Summary=On the start of Beyond Social
 +
|Article=Author: André Castro
  
 +
When Iris Schutten and Roger Teeuwen approached WdKA's [http://publicationstation.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Publication Station] to co-develop a web-magazine for the Social Practices programme, my first thought was that a web-magazine was not very exciting. The image that formed in my head was of those 'web-magazines' that desperately try to resemble their physical counterparts, with clichés such as glossy looks, and turning pages, accompanied by the inevitable 'shhhs' sound.
  
−
[HOw did I became exited about Beyond-social.org]
+
Yet, when Roger and Iris began to describe their ideas for the publication it was clear that they had something quite different in mind. They wanted to create a space for documenting, reflecting, and building upon the work developed in the area of Social Practices, not only within WdKA, but also in collaboration with other institutions currently working in the same field. That got me excited! The vision of a collaborative online editorial space, where content is developed in a collaborative and shared manner, and ideas grow from interpretation, edits, conflicts, disagreements, felt exciting. It sounded much like the way content is developed within wikis, such as Wikipedia or [http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Uncyclopedia:the content-free encyclopedia]. Not quite knowing what was I getting myself into, I said yes and we quickly began working on making it happen.
  
−
When Iris X and Roger Y approach WdKA's Publication Station to co-develop a web-magazine, for the Social Practices program's, my first thought was that a web-magazine was something not very exiting. The image that formed in my head, was of those online ''magazines'' that try to resemble their physical counterparts in every detail possible, from the glossy look, to the turning of the pages' animations, accompained by the indissociable sound "shhhs". Beyond all those forced imitations, what tends to mark them the most is their fixity &ndash; from the imutability of the words, to the perfect and still arrangement of images, text and colorfull backgrounds. All seems to be still, permanent, untransformable. They seem to exist in contraction to the digital container that hosts them. <s>In the Web everything is fluid. Pages appeard and dissapear, content appears, changes, moves, or is removed, visual elements shift position and dimension as a result of the dimension of the screen where they are rendered into texts and images. Nothing is still, so why should a web-magazine be?</s>
 
  
−
How ever when Roger and Iris began to describe their ideas for this publication, it was cleary that they had in mind something entirely different, at least as to how it would be developed. Its intent would be to serve as space for documenting, reflecting, and building upon the work being developed within the Social Design programs, not only within WdKA, but also in collaboration with other invited institutions, currently developing similar work. That got me excited! The vision of a collaborative online working space, where content is developed in a collaborative and shared manner, and ideas grow from intrepretation, edits, conflicts, disagreements, sound familiar and yet exciting, at least in these parts of the woods. It sound much like the way content is developed insides [wikis-wikipedia article wikis], most proeminenly on Wikipedia. Not knowing yet, what was I myself into I said yes. It seemed like the perfect change to create an online publication, by having having fun experimenting with the possibility of the tools we would use and the methods we would adopt. Thankfully Iris and Roger were equality eager to begin working on the publication and didn't seem too worried about my bizarre ideas and incomprehensible terms.  
+
= Tools  =
 +
In order to start working we had to agree upon the set of tools and protocols, which would help us develop the publication. They had to allow the fast development of prototypes, while also permitting extensive experimentation and customisation, in both content creation and publishing processes.
  
−
=Tools and Protocols=
+
We organised the work in two spaces: a wiki and a website.
−
Before starting we had to agree on what were the tools that were going to help us develop the web-magazine, and start to sketch necessary to get things done.
+
The [http://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page wiki] was established as the editorial space, while the [http://beyond-social.org/ website] turned into an appealing and carefully crafted outlet for the content originated on the wiki (in great part thanks to [http://template01.info/ Template]).
 +
Connecting these two spaces is the wiki's API &ndash; a programming interface, which allows other applications to be built upon it &ndash; and a series of [https://gitlab.com/Castro0o/beyond-social scripts] pull content from the wiki and integrate it on the website.
  
−
* wiki - working space
+
[[File:wiki.jpg|600px|Beyond Social wiki front page]]
−
* Website - a more appealing and crafted outlet (front-end) for the content
 
−
* API - connection between wiki and Website that would import content from the former to the latter
 
−
* A series of protocol - would determine how content would be developed and published (team devised a system of cataegories that allowed content to move from a stage of being written to being published) but also the ways in which that content would be structured into the website.
 
  
−
As the blueprint for this publication became more clear, the team behind it became larger, with students, designers, and tutors starting to take part in it. All became actively involved in the development to the publication, and didn't shy away from proposing changes, finding problems, fine-tune small but meaningfull elements.
+
[[File:website.jpg|600px|Beyond Social website front page]]
  
−
* code repository
+
The choice of a wiki might not seem obvious when more user-friendly approaches, such as content management systems and blogs, abound. However wikis are interesting platforms that can be shaped for very distinct uses, allowing different types of work dynamics, and making possible the publication of content under a variety of forms. It provides the essential infrastructure in which to cast one's own content creation and publishing strategies in a digital online context.
−
* how does an article become published on Beyond Social:
 
−
An article from Beyond Social, such as this one, becomes published through a series of stages it undergoes on the wiki. ...
 
  
−
* image browsing story
+
The very first wiki was created in 1995 by Ward Cunningham, and got the name of Wiki Wiki Web.
 +
Wiki Wiki Web ("wiki" in Hawaiian means quick) offered a fast and easy way to write and publish on the Web, a principle which remains true for today's wikis.
  
−
=How does an online publication becomes physical?=
+
<youtube>XqxwwuUdsp4</youtube>
  
−
How would this magazine would become a physical entity, was a difficult questions. None of us knew exactly how. It was certain that he had to exist in paper, but how?
+
[[File:WikiWikiWeb.png|600px| Wiki Wiki Web]]
  
−
It's not straight forward/usual to translate online content to physical form.
+
By their very nature, wikis foster collaboration. If a user is logged onto a wiki, he or she cannot only create content, but also edit the content that others have written.
 +
Problematic as that might sound, a history log registers all changes which take place within the wiki, making it possible to revert changes to its previous state.
 +
Wikis, at least an "open" wiki such as [http://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Beyond Social's wiki], make the content and its development process visible to anyone who cares to visit, and allows "outsiders" to become collaborators.  
  
−
* the discussion had about the physical publication:
+
It is also worth mentioning that the wiki installation &ndash Mediawiki &ndash; used on Beyond Social is the same software that powers Wikipedia. The fact that a tool which runs one of the most popular sites on the Web is available to a group of students and tutors with no computer engineering degrees, to install, study, and modify, is rather empowering. In addition, the existence of numerous extensions and an API significantly widen the possibilities for creating, structuring and disseminating content.
−
** epub or pdf: "why do you want to have it in another digital format when you can read it online"
 
−
** ...
 
−
** template's proposal
 
  
 +
[http://toneelstof.be/ Toneelstof], a project dedicated to the history of Flemish performing arts, became an essential reference to the development of Beyond Social. Similarly to what happens in Beyond Social, developers and designers [http://automatist.org/kiss/ Michael Murtaugh] and [Femke Snelting] use a [http://toneelstof.be/w/Main_Page wiki] as an editorial space, and the website as the publishing outlet. Within this dynamic, it is striking to see that what appears as fragmented and dissociated information on the wiki, becomes connected and integrated on the website. The branching visual structures unravel and bind fragments of information together.
 +
 +
[[File:toneelstof.jpg|600px|Toneelstof]]
 +
 +
 +
=Workflows=
 +
As the blueprint for Beyond Social became clearer, the team behind it grew. Students, tutors and [http://template01.info/ Template] design studio became actively involved in its development.
 +
 +
[[File:team.jpg|600px|Beyond Social editors and Template]]
 +
 +
At this point the whole team had to make decisions. The essential challenge concerned the way in which content would get published. As important as tools are, they are useless by themselves. They require strategies that make them function together as a system. The whole Beyond Social team had to establish a series of protocols that could turn the adopted infrastructure into a digital publishing workflow, and a resulting publication.
 +
 +
We had to decide "when articles are ready to move to the front-end website?"; "how can editors intervene on an article without disrupting the work of authors?"; "according to what parameters are the articles organised?"; "what visual structure will be adopted for the website? Will it be based on a table of contents or adopt forms like a time-line, a tree-like structure, or an image gallery?"
 +
 +
[[File:website-images.jpg|600px|Beyond Social's image navigation]]
 +
 +
Most answers to these questions are apparent upon visiting both the [http://beyond-social.org/wiki wiki] and the [http://beyond-social.org/ website] and it's pointless to enumerate them. It seems more relevant to mention that the project's current form and methods were only achieved through a process of constant open dialogue. Experiences, criticism, suggestions, opposing points of view were essential! Without them I doubt Beyond Social would have gotten to this stage, and I am thankful for all of those on the project that kept on pushing it further.
 +
 +
[[File:open.jpg]]
 
   
 
   
−
=Future=
 
−
It is yet to be seen if this strategy is viable on the long term. If new editions of Beyond Social can under this platform of multiple parts and outputs without the need of changes and fixes to the structures and protocols that sustain it. It is also unclear it is inviting to some that comes for th e first time to the project and is in another physical spaces, with a different set of ideas for how he or she would like to develop contents on social design. And it is even more questionable if the same infrastructure, the same set of tools and protocols can be useful outside the specific scope of this publication.
 
  
−
I, for certain do not the answers, but I begin to glimpse possibilities for opening up them to other uses and goals. One, like to happen in the near future, which will take place in the Graphic Design (ACTUAL NAME) department, will be the use of the front-end website as a learnign tool. Students will use it as a sandbox where they can learn about essential Web technologies such as HTML markup lange and CSS style formating language, by creating alternative '''visual intrepretations/visual renderings''' for the content of Beyond Social.
+
[[Category:Projects]]
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Aesthetics]]
 +
[[Category:Bottom-up]]
 +
[[Category:Failures]]
 +
[[Category:Participation]]
 +
[[Category:Strategies]]
 +
[[Category:Technology]]
 +
[[Category:Transformation]]
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Aesthetics
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Bottom-up
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Graphic Design
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Failures
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Participation
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Strategies
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Technology
 +
}}
 +
{{Category selector
 +
|Category=Transformation
 +
}}
 +
{{Articles more}}
 +
Author: André Castro
  
−
<s>Let's wait and see.</s>
+
When Iris Schutten and Roger Teeuwen approached WdKA's [http://publicationstation.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Publication Station] to co-develop a web-magazine for the Social Practices programme, my first thought was that a web-magazine was not very exciting. The image that formed in my head was of those 'web-magazines' that desperately try to resemble their physical counterparts, with clichés such as glossy looks, and turning pages, accompanied by the inevitable 'shhhs' sound.
 +
 
 +
Yet, when Roger and Iris began to describe their ideas for the publication it was clear that they had something quite different in mind. They wanted to create a space for documenting, reflecting, and building upon the work developed in the area of Social Practices, not only within WdKA, but also in collaboration with other institutions currently working in the same field. That got me excited! The vision of a collaborative online editorial space, where content is developed in a collaborative and shared manner, and ideas grow from interpretation, edits, conflicts, disagreements, felt exciting. It sounded much like the way content is developed within wikis, such as Wikipedia or [http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Uncyclopedia:the content-free encyclopedia]. Not quite knowing what was I getting myself into, I said yes and we quickly began working on making it happen.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
= Tools  =
 +
In order to start working we had to agree upon the set of tools and protocols, which would help us develop the publication.  They had to allow the fast development of prototypes, while also permitting extensive experimentation and customisation, in both content creation and publishing processes.
 +
 
 +
We organised the work in two spaces: a wiki and a website.
 +
The [http://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page wiki] was established as the editorial space, while the [http://beyond-social.org/ website] turned into an appealing and carefully crafted outlet for the content originated on the wiki (in great part thanks to [http://template01.info/ Template]).
 +
Connecting these two spaces is the wiki's API &ndash; a programming interface, which allows other applications to be built upon it &ndash; and a series of [https://gitlab.com/Castro0o/beyond-social scripts] pull content from the wiki and integrate it on the website.
 +
 
 +
[[File:wiki.jpg|600px|Beyond Social wiki front page]]
 +
 
 +
[[File:website.jpg|600px|Beyond Social website front page]]
 +
 
 +
The choice of a wiki might not seem obvious when more user-friendly approaches, such as content management systems and blogs, abound. However wikis are interesting platforms that can be shaped for very distinct uses, allowing different types of work dynamics, and making possible the publication of content under a variety of forms. It provides the essential infrastructure in which to cast one's own content creation and publishing strategies in a digital online context.
 +
 
 +
The very first wiki was created in 1995 by Ward Cunningham, and got the name of Wiki Wiki Web.
 +
Wiki Wiki Web ("wiki" in Hawaiian means quick) offered a fast and easy way to write and publish on the Web, a principle which remains true for today's wikis.
 +
 
 +
<youtube>XqxwwuUdsp4</youtube>
 +
 
 +
[[File:WikiWikiWeb.png|600px| Wiki Wiki Web]]
 +
 
 +
By their very nature, wikis foster collaboration. If a user is logged onto a wiki, he or she cannot only create content, but also edit the content that others have written.
 +
Problematic as that might sound, a history log registers all changes which take place within the wiki, making it possible to revert changes to its previous state.
 +
Wikis, at least an "open" wiki such as [http://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Beyond Social's wiki], make the content and its development process visible to anyone who cares to visit, and allows "outsiders" to become collaborators.
 +
 
 +
It is also worth mentioning that the wiki installation &ndash Mediawiki &ndash; used on Beyond Social is the same software that powers Wikipedia. The fact that a tool which runs one of the most popular sites on the Web is available to a group of students and tutors with no computer engineering degrees, to install, study, and modify, is rather empowering. In addition, the existence of numerous extensions and an API significantly widen the possibilities for creating, structuring and disseminating content.
 +
 
 +
[http://toneelstof.be/ Toneelstof], a project dedicated to the history of Flemish performing arts, became an essential reference to the development of Beyond Social. Similarly to what happens in Beyond Social, developers and designers [http://automatist.org/kiss/ Michael Murtaugh] and [Femke Snelting] use a [http://toneelstof.be/w/Main_Page wiki] as an editorial space, and the website as the publishing outlet. Within this dynamic, it is striking to see that what appears as fragmented and dissociated information on the wiki, becomes connected and integrated on the website. The branching visual structures unravel and bind fragments of information together.
 +
 
 +
[[File:toneelstof.jpg|600px|Toneelstof]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=Workflows=
 +
As the blueprint for Beyond Social became clearer, the team behind it grew. Students, tutors and [http://template01.info/ Template] design studio became actively involved in its development.
 +
 
 +
[[File:team.jpg|600px|Beyond Social editors and Template]]
 +
 
 +
At this point the whole team had to make decisions. The essential challenge concerned the way in which content would get published. As important as tools are, they are useless by themselves. They require strategies that make them function together as a system. The whole Beyond Social team had to establish a series of protocols that could turn the adopted infrastructure into a digital publishing workflow, and a resulting publication.
 +
 
 +
We had to decide "when articles are ready to move to the front-end website?"; "how can editors intervene on an article without disrupting the work of authors?"; "according to what parameters are the articles organised?"; "what visual structure will be adopted for the website? Will it be based on a table of contents or adopt forms like a time-line, a tree-like structure, or an image gallery?"
 +
 
 +
[[File:website-images.jpg|600px|Beyond Social's image navigation]]
 +
 
 +
Most answers to these questions are apparent upon visiting both the [http://beyond-social.org/wiki wiki] and the [http://beyond-social.org/ website] and it's pointless to enumerate them. It seems more relevant to mention that the project's current form and methods were only achieved through a process of constant open dialogue. Experiences, criticism, suggestions, opposing points of view were essential! Without them I doubt Beyond Social would have gotten to this stage, and I am thankful for all of those on the project that kept on pushing it further.
 +
 
 +
[[File:open.jpg]]
 +
  
−
[[Category:Issue_1]]
 
 
[[Category:Projects]]
 
[[Category:Projects]]
−
[[Category:01_Write_Me]]
+
 
 
[[Category:Aesthetics]]
 
[[Category:Aesthetics]]
 
[[Category:Bottom-up]]
 
[[Category:Bottom-up]]

Latest revision as of 16:07, 21 November 2017


first Beyond Social website front page
On the start of Beyond Social

Author: André Castro

When Iris Schutten and Roger Teeuwen approached WdKA's Publication Station to co-develop a web-magazine for the Social Practices programme, my first thought was that a web-magazine was not very exciting. The image that formed in my head was of those 'web-magazines' that desperately try to resemble their physical counterparts, with clichés such as glossy looks, and turning pages, accompanied by the inevitable 'shhhs' sound.

Yet, when Roger and Iris began to describe their ideas for the publication it was clear that they had something quite different in mind. They wanted to create a space for documenting, reflecting, and building upon the work developed in the area of Social Practices, not only within WdKA, but also in collaboration with other institutions currently working in the same field. That got me excited! The vision of a collaborative online editorial space, where content is developed in a collaborative and shared manner, and ideas grow from interpretation, edits, conflicts, disagreements, felt exciting. It sounded much like the way content is developed within wikis, such as Wikipedia or Uncyclopedia:the content-free encyclopedia. Not quite knowing what was I getting myself into, I said yes and we quickly began working on making it happen.


Tools

In order to start working we had to agree upon the set of tools and protocols, which would help us develop the publication. They had to allow the fast development of prototypes, while also permitting extensive experimentation and customisation, in both content creation and publishing processes.

We organised the work in two spaces: a wiki and a website. The wiki was established as the editorial space, while the website turned into an appealing and carefully crafted outlet for the content originated on the wiki (in great part thanks to Template). Connecting these two spaces is the wiki's API – a programming interface, which allows other applications to be built upon it – and a series of scripts pull content from the wiki and integrate it on the website.

Beyond Social wiki front page

Beyond Social website front page

The choice of a wiki might not seem obvious when more user-friendly approaches, such as content management systems and blogs, abound. However wikis are interesting platforms that can be shaped for very distinct uses, allowing different types of work dynamics, and making possible the publication of content under a variety of forms. It provides the essential infrastructure in which to cast one's own content creation and publishing strategies in a digital online context.

The very first wiki was created in 1995 by Ward Cunningham, and got the name of Wiki Wiki Web. Wiki Wiki Web ("wiki" in Hawaiian means quick) offered a fast and easy way to write and publish on the Web, a principle which remains true for today's wikis.

Wiki Wiki Web

By their very nature, wikis foster collaboration. If a user is logged onto a wiki, he or she cannot only create content, but also edit the content that others have written. Problematic as that might sound, a history log registers all changes which take place within the wiki, making it possible to revert changes to its previous state. Wikis, at least an "open" wiki such as Beyond Social's wiki, make the content and its development process visible to anyone who cares to visit, and allows "outsiders" to become collaborators.

It is also worth mentioning that the wiki installation &ndash Mediawiki – used on Beyond Social is the same software that powers Wikipedia. The fact that a tool which runs one of the most popular sites on the Web is available to a group of students and tutors with no computer engineering degrees, to install, study, and modify, is rather empowering. In addition, the existence of numerous extensions and an API significantly widen the possibilities for creating, structuring and disseminating content.

Toneelstof, a project dedicated to the history of Flemish performing arts, became an essential reference to the development of Beyond Social. Similarly to what happens in Beyond Social, developers and designers Michael Murtaugh and [Femke Snelting] use a wiki as an editorial space, and the website as the publishing outlet. Within this dynamic, it is striking to see that what appears as fragmented and dissociated information on the wiki, becomes connected and integrated on the website. The branching visual structures unravel and bind fragments of information together.

Toneelstof


Workflows

As the blueprint for Beyond Social became clearer, the team behind it grew. Students, tutors and Template design studio became actively involved in its development.

Beyond Social editors and Template

At this point the whole team had to make decisions. The essential challenge concerned the way in which content would get published. As important as tools are, they are useless by themselves. They require strategies that make them function together as a system. The whole Beyond Social team had to establish a series of protocols that could turn the adopted infrastructure into a digital publishing workflow, and a resulting publication.

We had to decide "when articles are ready to move to the front-end website?"; "how can editors intervene on an article without disrupting the work of authors?"; "according to what parameters are the articles organised?"; "what visual structure will be adopted for the website? Will it be based on a table of contents or adopt forms like a time-line, a tree-like structure, or an image gallery?"

Beyond Social's image navigation

Most answers to these questions are apparent upon visiting both the wiki and the website and it's pointless to enumerate them. It seems more relevant to mention that the project's current form and methods were only achieved through a process of constant open dialogue. Experiences, criticism, suggestions, opposing points of view were essential! Without them I doubt Beyond Social would have gotten to this stage, and I am thankful for all of those on the project that kept on pushing it further.

Open.jpg

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CONTRIBUTE

Feel free to contribute to Beyond Social.

 

There are four ways to contribute:

Create a new article. Beyond Social is written and edited by its community. Contribute to this online publishing platform with an article (text, photo-essay, video, audio and so on) about your project, theory, event or initiative in the field of Social Art & Design.
Edit this page, or any of the other ones. If there is any missing information or spelling mistakes in this article, please don't hesitate to change it. Other complementing work, such as including media files (images/video's/audio) is also very much appreciated.
Talk with the contributers and others by taking part in one of the discussions on the TALK-page of an article. These pages are the semi-hidden backside of articles, hence ideal for discussions about an article without changing the initial text.
PROPOSE a new editorial. Beyond Social invites guest editor(s) to emphasize a certain issue, topic or theme. Guest editors write an editorial, invite others to create articles by an open call and/or add existing articles.

Author: André Castro

When Iris Schutten and Roger Teeuwen approached WdKA's Publication Station to co-develop a web-magazine for the Social Practices programme, my first thought was that a web-magazine was not very exciting. The image that formed in my head was of those 'web-magazines' that desperately try to resemble their physical counterparts, with clichés such as glossy looks, and turning pages, accompanied by the inevitable 'shhhs' sound.

Yet, when Roger and Iris began to describe their ideas for the publication it was clear that they had something quite different in mind. They wanted to create a space for documenting, reflecting, and building upon the work developed in the area of Social Practices, not only within WdKA, but also in collaboration with other institutions currently working in the same field. That got me excited! The vision of a collaborative online editorial space, where content is developed in a collaborative and shared manner, and ideas grow from interpretation, edits, conflicts, disagreements, felt exciting. It sounded much like the way content is developed within wikis, such as Wikipedia or Uncyclopedia:the content-free encyclopedia. Not quite knowing what was I getting myself into, I said yes and we quickly began working on making it happen.


Tools

In order to start working we had to agree upon the set of tools and protocols, which would help us develop the publication. They had to allow the fast development of prototypes, while also permitting extensive experimentation and customisation, in both content creation and publishing processes.

We organised the work in two spaces: a wiki and a website. The wiki was established as the editorial space, while the website turned into an appealing and carefully crafted outlet for the content originated on the wiki (in great part thanks to Template). Connecting these two spaces is the wiki's API – a programming interface, which allows other applications to be built upon it – and a series of scripts pull content from the wiki and integrate it on the website.

Beyond Social wiki front page

Beyond Social website front page

The choice of a wiki might not seem obvious when more user-friendly approaches, such as content management systems and blogs, abound. However wikis are interesting platforms that can be shaped for very distinct uses, allowing different types of work dynamics, and making possible the publication of content under a variety of forms. It provides the essential infrastructure in which to cast one's own content creation and publishing strategies in a digital online context.

The very first wiki was created in 1995 by Ward Cunningham, and got the name of Wiki Wiki Web. Wiki Wiki Web ("wiki" in Hawaiian means quick) offered a fast and easy way to write and publish on the Web, a principle which remains true for today's wikis.

Wiki Wiki Web

By their very nature, wikis foster collaboration. If a user is logged onto a wiki, he or she cannot only create content, but also edit the content that others have written. Problematic as that might sound, a history log registers all changes which take place within the wiki, making it possible to revert changes to its previous state. Wikis, at least an "open" wiki such as Beyond Social's wiki, make the content and its development process visible to anyone who cares to visit, and allows "outsiders" to become collaborators.

It is also worth mentioning that the wiki installation &ndash Mediawiki – used on Beyond Social is the same software that powers Wikipedia. The fact that a tool which runs one of the most popular sites on the Web is available to a group of students and tutors with no computer engineering degrees, to install, study, and modify, is rather empowering. In addition, the existence of numerous extensions and an API significantly widen the possibilities for creating, structuring and disseminating content.

Toneelstof, a project dedicated to the history of Flemish performing arts, became an essential reference to the development of Beyond Social. Similarly to what happens in Beyond Social, developers and designers Michael Murtaugh and [Femke Snelting] use a wiki as an editorial space, and the website as the publishing outlet. Within this dynamic, it is striking to see that what appears as fragmented and dissociated information on the wiki, becomes connected and integrated on the website. The branching visual structures unravel and bind fragments of information together.

Toneelstof


Workflows

As the blueprint for Beyond Social became clearer, the team behind it grew. Students, tutors and Template design studio became actively involved in its development.

Beyond Social editors and Template

At this point the whole team had to make decisions. The essential challenge concerned the way in which content would get published. As important as tools are, they are useless by themselves. They require strategies that make them function together as a system. The whole Beyond Social team had to establish a series of protocols that could turn the adopted infrastructure into a digital publishing workflow, and a resulting publication.

We had to decide "when articles are ready to move to the front-end website?"; "how can editors intervene on an article without disrupting the work of authors?"; "according to what parameters are the articles organised?"; "what visual structure will be adopted for the website? Will it be based on a table of contents or adopt forms like a time-line, a tree-like structure, or an image gallery?"

Beyond Social's image navigation

Most answers to these questions are apparent upon visiting both the wiki and the website and it's pointless to enumerate them. It seems more relevant to mention that the project's current form and methods were only achieved through a process of constant open dialogue. Experiences, criticism, suggestions, opposing points of view were essential! Without them I doubt Beyond Social would have gotten to this stage, and I am thankful for all of those on the project that kept on pushing it further.

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