| Classification | |
|---|---|
| Type | Anti-Pattern |
| Focus | People |
An OverOrganizer constantly adjusts the structure of a wiki, often moving pages, changing page names, and removing links where s/he thinks they don't belong. The problem with this is it leaves others confused and deters them from participating since they can't find content they've added and may think it's been deleted. This causes them to lose a sense of ownership over their contributions.
If the site seems to be constantly changing and there isn't consensus from the community. If you're a wiki champion and people are coming to you confused or frustrated that they can't find their previous work, you might have an OverOrganizer who's being a little too “helpful.”
An OverOrganizer isn't too hard to find. Look in the page histories to see if someone is editing very often and making significant structural and organizational changes. Discuss with the person how to use the comment or discussion section of a page to propose major changes before actually making them. Also, encourage the person to practice WikiGnome behaviors by sticking to smaller changes that improve content without significantly moving or changing it.