I do have a paid account there and have skimmed through the book. (subscribing to Safari is not a bad deal, since for the price of one hardcopy book a month, you get access to thousands and always the latest editions and new titles)
The Missing Manual is nicely organized and well-written. I'm sure John is an excellent writer, but having have professional editors go through and polish the text helps alot. There are plenty of people out there who don't understand all the innerworkings of Wikipedia, how to create an article, and how to get started. I have recently stumbled upon the "Wikipedia" section of Yahoo! Answers and see people asking types of questions that the Missing Manual does a good job of answering. The book helps "demystify" about how Wikipedia works, how to get involved, warns about pitfalls, and advice on how to deal with problems or disputes. The section about creating an account is very good, why create an account (e.g. lack of privacy when editing from an IP), and cautioning new users on choosing a username (real name? or pseudonym). The book also covers behavior issues and how to deal with incivility.
John has also done impressive work to put together the "Editor's Index to Wikipedia" which is more useful for those of us experienced with Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:John_Broughton/Editor%27s_Index_to_Wikiped...
Like any technical subject (e.g. programming, software, ...), things do change or get outdated. When that happens, O'Reilly often publishes updated editions.
-Aude
On 1/24/08, Guettarda guettarda@gmail.com wrote:
Be careful with that one - after 50 page views or 10 days they automatically upgrade you to a paying account unless you cancel.
On Jan 24, 2008 11:53 AM, AGK agkwiki@googlemail.com wrote:
There's also a 14-day free trial available at < https://ssl.safaribooksonline.com/promo%3E.
Anthony
User:AGK en.wikipedia.org