The Digital Initiatives and IT (DIIT) department at the UCLA Library 
transformed the way we work over the last 6 years after implementing 
Confluence.  We've got two teams of developers (3 focused on the Digital 
Library, 6 on everything else), a team of 4 Digital Library project 
managers, and an operations staff of 18,; we all rely on the wiki. It 
has proved essential after a couple of recent staff departures.

Confluence supports the basic wiki model of linked and tagged documents, 
but allows people who like to hierarchy to organize content in a tree. 
We make heavy use of the /metadata-list/ macro to format the structure, 
and generate views or lists of content (e.g., lists of serves, vendors, 
projects, etc) controlled by labels (i.e., tags) using the 
/metadata-report/ macro. We use tagging to indicate project status 
(definition, planning, execution), type of content (server-logs, 
specifications), or technology (voyager, drupal).

We're running our own service; Atlassian on-demand was not an option 
when we started. If we weren't using local LDAP authentication, we might 
consider migrating to a hosted service. I suspect that we will 
eventually move to hosted Confluence, but it's not currently a priority.

The wiki became so integral to the way we work that we decided to 
replace our old ticketing system (FootPrints) with Jira to take 
advantage of the integration.

Our DIIT implementation was so successful that other Library departments 
and locations are starting to use it, some in very sophisticated ways. 
For example, a cross-department digitization team uses it to accept 
requests, prioritize the work, and track progress.

I would be happy to show anyone who is interested how we use it. A 
colleague and I considered writing a Code4Lib Journal article on our 
project management methodology, but that article didn't get focus. This 
question -- and my answer -- may motivate me to get it done.

Cheers,

/-- 
-- Gary Thompson
-- Head of Software Development & Project Management
-- Digital Initiatives & Information Technology
-- UCLA Library
-- 390 Powell
-- voice: 310.206.5652
--/



On 4/9/2015 11:40 AM, Scott Williams wrote:
> Apologizes for cross-posting
> ###
>
> Hi all --
>
> We are investigating several software platforms for creating and managing
> internal documentation and wanted to see what experiences others have had
> with these packages.
>
> We are evaluating
> * MadCap Flare
> * Adobe RoboHelp
> * Confluence
>
> Our initial goals for these systems are to replace or augment our existing
> documentation strategy, which is a mix of private Google sites, SharePoint
> and Word docs. We are starting with our IT department but hope to include
> other user groups over time.
>
> Things we like:
> * SVN control with MapCap and RoboHelp. However, we have run into problems
> with both of their implementations
> * Write once publish everywhere functionality
> * HTML5 support with WebHelp Plus
> * Context aware searching
> * Easily export and share documentation externally (PDF)
> * Consistent theming and styling across all the documentation
> * User/group security management for hiding more sysadmin documentation
>
> Things we don't like
> * Windows only (MadCap and RoboHelp)
> * WebHelp requires IIS (?)
> * Limited functionality with the hosted version of Confluence
>
>
> What are people using to manage their internal
> systems/architecture/application documentation? Are there other products we
> should be considering?
>
> Many thanks,
> Scott
>
> ----
> Scott Williams
> Data & Database Administrator
> Yale University Art Gallery