This afternoon, while chatting with Joyce Davis about the agenda for our August 2009 Lotus Technical Information and Education Community Meeting, we had the following exchange:

Chris Toohey I worked on an article last night. Sure, might not be everyone's cup of tea but it's showcasing a development technique that will be the basis for future-proofing applications - regardless of the technology platform used. Readership so far is luke warm.

Joyce A Davis you posted it in the wiki?

Chris Toohey no, not too sure if it fits in there.

Chris Toohey it's stuff that, well, out of context would be confusing to say the least - it might be too niche.

Joyce A Davis Chris, nothing is too niche for the wikis. People won't read it if it's not interesting/important to them.

Chris Toohey ok, you've convinced me.

Admittedly, it wasn't a hard sell. I absolutely believe that the Domino Designer Wiki is an excellent resource for the greater Lotus Development community... but I was hesitant nonetheless.

I'll explain.

On my site, I can post whatever nonsense I want. I can post about some off-the-wall concept that's crawled into my brain that hour or bang out a few quick examples of the playground-level thing that I'm working on at the moment.

The idea of cross-posting my Now() + n series to the Domino Designer Wiki just never occurred to me, more because I felt that the Wiki is a location for more best practices approaches while (especially in this series) my work is often intended for non-RAD developers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that I'm some uber-l33t coder or something like that - I just don't that most of the things I discuss here will really find their way into the day-to-day development practices for the occasional reader of this site.

Back to the point: Joyce is absolutely correct. The Domino Designer Wiki is the perfect place to put such an article. It's not only a concept that I believe it, but it's something that - if properly adopted - can save a developer countless hours of hack-work to achieve the ever-changing functionality that your customers demand.

So I plan to cross-post each of my Now() + n articles to the Domino Designer Wiki, and have started with my first: Leveraging MVC-style design techniques in Domino Application Development.

This way, my article not only has the potential to reach more readers, but I can work with the Domino Wiki Leads - as I mentioned the other day - and get developerWorks Author Achievement Recognition Program points... for something as simple as copy/pasting my own content.

And I'm not the only one doing this. Another member of our community - who has recently been producing some truly amazing content - is in talks with the program leads to ensure that the cross-posting of his content is recognized.

So whether you run your own website or not, just keep in mind that no content is too niche, too simple, or too "well everybody knows that!" for the IBM Domino Designer Wiki.

The other day (shows you how behind I am when I'm just getting to this now...) I received the following email:

Welcome to the IBM developerWorks Author Achievement Recognition Program!

At the core of developerWorks is a library of unparalleled technical content that provides information and education on current and emerging technologies, and on the full spectrum of industry-leading IBM software.  Millions of readers have drawn upon the unique mix of content presented on developerWorks, finding unsurpassed value in the collective experience of more than 3,000 subject matter experts who have shared their knowledge, demonstrated best practices, and showcased new ideas over the years.

As a developerWorks author, you have an impact on the success of your colleagues, and on making developerWorks an information and community resource like no other.  By participating in this program, you can also have an impact your own professional success by leveraging your body of published work for the significant achievement that it is.

Included with this note is information to help you begin working toward achieving an IBM developerWorks author designation, including your customized tracking tool and instructions to follow after you have completed all the requirements for a specific achievement level.  Expand the sections below to learn more.

If you have questions about using the tracking tool or about the program in general, check the program Web site for details and frequently asked questions, or contact the program administrator at dwaarp@us.ibm.com.

Attached is your customized tracking tool and program instructions.  If you have published on developerWorks before, your tracking tool is pre-filled with your eligible developerWorks contributions from the past 5 years, based on our records.  The program instructions explain how to use and interpret the tool, and what to do when you have fulfilled the requirements for an achievement level.

If you have fulfilled the requirements for an achievement level entirely with past contributions, you will be awarded the corresponding author designation provided you have published on developerWorks within the past 12 months.  If this is the case, you will receive a separate notice formally confirming your achievement.  See the program instructions for details.

The good news here is that my RedWiki contributions (specifically those to Lotus Domino Web Application Development Wiki count for this!

So sign up if you haven't already, and you can immediately start collecting points through contributions to any of the developerWorks Wikis!

... now I just have to complete the paperwork, add a few things up, and get over to the wikis to inflate my content contribution!