Wikicpa:About

From Wikicpa

About WikiCPA

A Wiki is a type of online collaboration that allows anyone (including you) to edit most pages on this website. The open nature of the wiki format allows diverse, decentralized participation, and has shown itself able to develop surprisingly effective and sophisticated products, such as wikipedia.org and wikitravel.org.

1 Common questions

Common questions

Where is the discussion forum?

Cool site, is there a forum where I can post a quick question?

We're glad you like the site. We have intentionally not included many of the typical features you might find in a forum or bulletin board. If you have a quick question, there are numerous web sites where you could do this. Our personal favorite is TaxAlmanac.org . The discussion boards on this site are excellent and you should receive a swift response to your question.

Our vision for WikiCPA is to develop a free resource where comprehensive topical articles are available and compiled following the Wikipedia.org model. In this model, users can post "open" articles which other users can critique and suggest improvements in words or single sentences or authors may post already completed articles permanently protected as copyrighted articles. Each article page does have a "discussion & comments" tab where you could submit a question or comment to either the article page monitor or the original author (if posted to a copyrighted page). Rather than a place to get a quick response to a direct accounting question, we intend for WikiCPA to be a place where participants collaboratively develop ideas and share their thoughts and opinions. Michael S 13:34, 1 September 2006 (EDT)

What is your longevity?

Are you going to be around for a long time, or is the project funding limited based on its success?

The longevity of WikiCPA is up to you! This project is funded entirely out of the pocket of the founders . The costs to keep this site up and running are currently minimal. About half of the site hosting fees are donated and the remaining are borne by the founders. If at sometime in the future the traffic on this site requires a server upgrade, as an option we could possibility ask for public donations to cover those costs. As long as individuals such as your self are willing to contribute to this knowledge base, this site will grow and mature. If you find this site useful. If you read something here that was helpful. Please by all means share your expertise with the community. You can improve this Wiki, write an article, make an edit; that by itself will guarantee its future existence Michael 17:53, 4 August 2006 (EDT)

Quality of the information?

I'm simply not sure about the quality of the information offered on the site, mostly because of its open source nature.

All the articles on WikiCPA are both posted and edited by users (anonymously if you choose not to post information about yourself on your talk page), which means we don't know the credentials of the person who originally posted or subsequently edited the article. If that's the case, then how can we rely upon the information in any of the articles? Some contributors have chosen to place their personal credentials on their WikiCPA talk page, which any reader can review; some just place their name and/or link on their article pages. Our feeling (and hope) is that anonymously posted articles will get “peer reviewed” by other users thereby getting corrected or expanded as necessary. Here again the future of this Wiki is in your hands. If you read an article that is factually in error or outdated in nature…go ahead and click the “edit” button because you can make the correction yourself.Michael 18:37, 4 August 2006 (EDT)

Why contribute for free?

Why would I want to help WikiCPA build its site content for free?

"Give a Penny, Take a Penny"

Have you ever noticed that little plastic dish near the cash register at your local convenience store? That dish is a type of public works project ; if your purchase is $5.02 and you don't have the 2 cents, you are free to take it from the dish along with the understanding that at some point when you have a few extra cents in your pocket, you'll replace the pennies.

The draw to contribute in the Wiki concept is similar to appeal for any public works project: altruism, reputation, even fun. This could be working at the local food bank, volunteering with the Boy Scouts, or adding your "two cents" to an open source project.

Few surveys have developed reliable answers as to why people contribute to open source works like Wikipedia.org. Often, the motive includes public interest or community spirit. Open-source projects offer an opportunity to become a member of a collaborative community; to contribute to something that has lasting value and that will continue to grow. Open-source publishing allows writers to share their knowledge outside of a strictly business environment. Casual writers and editors sometimes participate as a hobby or as a learning experience. Volunteering is also one of the few ways new writers can gain experience and exposure. Michael 14:54, 11 August 2006 (EDT)

A brief outline of potential benefits in contributing to this Wiki

Being published online with optional name, email and website links to you as the author.
Having your article available to a greater audience - the next reader may be a future client.
Demonstrate your expertise on the subject.
Having your article available to your peers for review and analysis.
Retain your copyright: Learn how to: Wikicpa:RetainCopyrights