Now wiki provider Wetpaint has announced the launch of news feeds. This option allows owners of Wetpaint-authored wikis to embed feeds from any source online. From the Wetpaint blog (backing up what I said above), “Feeds can display content from all over the web around anything really, so now you don’t have to worry about having enough new and relevant content to keep people coming back to your site right from the get go!”

Wetpaint authors only need to grab a RSS feed link, or can use a search result to create a new section of content in their wiki. The embedded items display links to the original source and part of the content (similar to SocialMedian). Most popular stories are displayed on the wiki’s front page. Naturally they allow commenting which is similar to Friendfeed and if you read CN regularly you know how I feel about comment stealing. I am quite certain this new aggregation option will be heavily used by Wetpaint authors.

Here’s a video on how the external feed option works:

Today wiki provider Wetpaint has launched the Geocities Bailout.  From their announcement, “To solve this problem, we announced yesterday our effort to help those in need of new hosting services, in the form of a G.A.R.P., a Geocities Asset Recovery Plan.  The plan is a bailout for all the Geocities users who are seeing their properties being foreclosed by the fierce Yahoo! landlord and need a new place to keep their valuable content.”

Wetpaint has setup a dedicated site for the Geocities Bailout. They will be providing live chat all day to help users convert their sites and they are offering free domains as a bonus.

As I noted in the Jimdo post last week, these offerings are smart. It’s a bit shocking that all of the other webpage creation tools haven’t done the same thing. While it’s never cool to try to poach users, Geocities is closing so it makes sense to offer a replacement service.

Video galleries – Wetpaint offers photo galleries currently and Devin notes that the video galleries will work in a similar fashion. I’ve posted a screenshot below of what the gallery page looks like.

More droplets – droplets are basically widgets that you can share anywhere. The idea is if you spend time creating a Wetpaint wiki, you will want to show it off on the social networks and on blogs/websites. It looks like the new droplet is called "Site at a Glance" and combines a variety of the current droplets to make one super droplet.

New organizational tools – looks like a variety of usability upgrades for users and content creators.

Discussion Forums 2.0 – Devin teases that the big upgrades for the forums will come in a future release. But for now they are upgrading the ability to make forum posts sticky and keep them on top.

Wetpaint has raised $40 million in venture capital funding to-date.

Wetpaint also released the following stats:

• 8 million pages of content in the network
• users from 177 countries have created wikis on the Wetpaint platform

They are also announcing the launch of the "Golden Paint Can Awards" which will give prizes to 70 Wetpaint sites in 15 categories. Winners will be selected by a celebrity panel of judges, stats and a public vote. I always like to see companies show off their customers, it helps with goodwill with the current customer base and also helps potential customers see what’s possible with the application or service. Zlio does a good job of this – they feature one shop every day on their blog.

Wetpaint picked up $25 million in venture capital funding back in May and also released 10 tips on Web 2.0′ing your office.

I spoke with Wetpaint CEO Ben Elowitz who shares some statistics about the current usage of Wetpaint. There are 925,000 sites in the Wetpaint network, mostly in the entertainment, music, tv, and gaming categories. They have "lots" of large corporate partners and over 2,000 new sites are created every day. Over 500,000,000 (1/2 billion) words are housed inside of the wikis on Wetpaint. Check out my interview with Elowitz from late 2007.

The other announcement is the launch of "Wetpaint Injected". This is the service that was tipped to Techcrunch under the name Project Balco last month. Initial launch partners are Flixster, IGN and NewWire.

Here’s the easy description of Wetpaint Injected: it’s a way to add a wiki to any site in minutes that allows your site visitors to add content to a site instantly. The content is search engine friendly (i.e. it’s not a basic script code) and uses a full editor to make it very easy for users to add, edit and update content within the wiki area.

I’ve included a screenshot below of the implementation on Flixster, one of the initial launch partners. The tool is easy-to-use and will certainly be popular on Web sites that are content-based. It’s a great way to pump up available content and available search engine friendly content.

With all of the talk about data portability these days, I asked Elowitz about the topic regarding Wetpaint Injected. He noted that the content is the site owners and can be "taken" at any time if the owner so chooses.

The design of the wiki area is completely customizable using CSS and there is a RESTful API for expansion. The basic code requires a script code in the page header and a basic include within the page.

I’ve embedded the pricing model below. For basic sites, Wetpaint Injected is free, then the standard revshare/buyout model is available. Wetpaint is also offering a variety of addons as listed in the diagram below.

I think the idea is very strong overall. I have a few concerns:

1. there’s no branding for Wetpaint – I get that it’s based on the business model above but in the free version shouldn’t we see some branding?
2. the name is a huge mistake – when I think of injected, I think of spam, viruses and web server attacks. They need a friendly name to go with their friendly product and "injected" certainly isn’t that.
3. it’s perfect for content Web sites, but for blogs – what’s the reason to use this? It is post based, not site based and isn’t it really just a comment replacement? Since it’s post based, it loses it’s power on a blog. If a blog has two posts about Google, it’d be great to share the injected wiki across both.
4. spam – the spammers will absolutely LOVE this – Elowitz did say they are working on some spam prevention tools and I also asked him to check on whether links inside the injected wiki use the nofollow attribute.

At the end of the day, this tool should help Wetpaint continue to grow and could prove beneficial to get Wetpaint on sites it normally would have no chance of getting into. It’s a smart move, both on the marketing/branding side and the business side.

We’ve covered wiki-creator

Once you’ve made your masterpiece, you save it and then your friends can "modify" it and so it becomes a tag team to create a super awesome masterpiece. Once you are satisfied with it, others can rate it and help you move up the leaderboard.

While you might be a winner in the ratings, the real winner here is Wetpaint. The application will draws huge pageviews with the rating system, you could spend hours just rating photos and each one is another view. And don’t forget you need your friends to install the app to really make it fun and effective. There aren’t any ads on the pages yet but you can bet your paint can that they will be there soon.

Here is a sample masterpiece:

Tip #1 – Disassemble the cubes

Sure, you don’t need any privacy! Calling mom to check on when she’s picking you up? You best head into the one conference room with walls and a door!

Tip #2 – Pillage the fallen for cheap furniture

I remember my first day at CKS in the mid-90s. They had 2 Aeron chairs for me at my desk area (it was very long with 2 work stations). I actually hate that chair – it was never comfortable to me and always made me feel like i was going to be thrown 40 feet in the air at any point. But it sure did say, "we know how to spend money!"

Tip #3 – Blacket the walls with whiteboards

Yea, nothing says Web 2.0 like whiteboards. When the press comes in, write up some code or some marketing lingo and draw some arrows. And put words like "acquisition" and so forth on the board. Then look at it in horror and erase it quickly. Would throw off those press types. If you do plan to use a whiteboard, USE AN ERASER. See Scoble sessions for why.

Tip #4 – Your company logo in the entryway

They are right – spend tons on the sign in the front – will make you appear 2 legit 2 quit. Though no name on the door can mean stealth startup and make employees feel more like a CIA agent. Add a secret number keypad for bonus points. Biometrics are so Web 1.0.

Tip #5 – Nerf balls

Let the boss win once in a while. Cuz when the funding is lower than expected, you know the person who dunked over the boss while everyone was watching is first to go.

Tip #6 – Project away

If you plan to use a projector – get one that can do more than 800×600 – that makes you look like a marketer. Anyone in the tech world should be using at least 1920×2500 on a projector!

Tip #7 – Circus Cookies & Diet Dr. Pepper

"Keep ‘em eating sugar and they will work 20 hrs a day" said a CEO to me at a conference. Why not add on some B5 vitamins hourly?

Tip #8 – Miles of disorganized wires

The true Web 2.0 shop has 14.2 miles of wires. Yes, I have done the research.

Tip #9 – Turbo coffee machine with never ending bean supply

Jason Calacanis believes this is his tool to keep his Mahaloployees happy. I won’t name the agency but one of the larger agencies in NYC has an actual coffee bar with barista inside the office for its employees. I’d prefer a lemonade bar.

Tip #10 – Lots of Headphones

I’ve been doing this for years. It’s the best conversation deflector there is! Even if there’s no sound, keep them on and the office gossip will stay away and so will your boss. If the boss breaks in, it is safe to worry that there’s something bad coming. Just keep the sound on loud and they too will go away.

There’s my thoughts on Web 2.0′ing your office, what are yours?

“We are dedicated to helping brands employ the social computing aspects of Wetpaint to directly collaborate and communicate with their customers,” says Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint. “We know that consumers are ready to participate actively with brands in an organic, unscripted fashion, so we are excited to work together with HP to continue to define a new set of standards for customer interaction and care.”

This is an excellent social advertising option as it gets HP customers engaged with each other around a topic (printing projects) while keeping the HP brand relative to fostering the conversation. Brands are looking for ways to engage consumers and we will see more of these “communities” sprout up as social media becomes more mainstream.

Here are my suggestions from a marketing standpoint. First, the HP logo should replace the Wetpaint logo in the top left position. This campaign is about HP first, Wetpaint second. Next, does this really need to be called a “Wiki”? For the casual HP customer, I doubt they understand (nor care) what the term means. Why not just allow people to edit without classifying the site?

And if you want a little humor in your day, here is one of the Wetpaint vs. Wiki videos currently running on YouTube:

This could be a hot app (if they can overcome my frustrations below) as it’s using Facebook friends as the authentication instead of having to create yet another group of friends. And it could be a great addition for groups who already are part of Facebook. What I don’t know is if you can add a Wiki on top of an already created Facebook group or if you have to exit the group to enter the Wiki.

After you create the desired Wiki name, you are presented with a site wizard that can prefill pages in the following categories:

• Class Notes
• Party Planner
• Spring Break Planner
• Dorm Hall Wiki
• Video Collection
• Group Project
• Fraternity and Sorority

From tomorrow’s release, “Close to 40 million people have turned to Facebook to connect with others, whether to keep in touch with friends, upload photos, and share videos or just to learn more abut the people they’ve met,” said Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint. “With Wiki Whiteboard by Wetpaint, Facebook users now can connect in deeper ways through collaborative content creation around favorite topics or events without leaving Facebook and without needing to be an expert in wiki syntax or HTML.”

The newly-created Wiki is jammed into a small space which also includes a Google ad for monetization making the space relatively small and vertical and horizontal scrollbars appeared for me. Also, the popup windows for editing also have to remain in the small width of Facebook’s overall width.

This app moves the war between pbWiki and Wetpaint one notch further. Let’s see what pbWiki counters with!

Here is a sample screenshot of the Wiki Whiteboard I setup:

"In five years' time, every group initiative will have its own Website where members can share ideas, collaborate, and coordinate in ways that we're just starting to realize and appreciate today," said Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint. "Our mission is to be the Wiki platform of choice for these groups and to make it extremely easy for anyone to create a collaborative Website or a community around any purpose or passion."

From the release: Uniquely developed to help consumers immediately incorporate the best aspects of blogs, social networks, and message boards into their own personal Website or online community, the new site templates include options for parent-teacher groups, classrooms, team projects, weddings, book clubs, gaming clans, groups of friends, and sports teams. Included in these options are preformatted content pages, site navigation structures, Wiki tips, and other inspiring suggestions that new site creators can adopt or adapt as soon as they arrive at their newly created Wetpaint site.

What I like about Wetpaint is that its easy to get up-and-running and manage a Web site where you can distribute the editing rights across a group. Reminds me of the old days and Geocities, just 100x better. It's important that they continue to add new and interesting design templates otherwise the Wikis will get boring fast. Check out our other Wetpaint coverage along with my interview with CEO Ben Elowitz and Marketing Director Kevin Flaherty.

Wetpaint

“Fundamentally, Wikis are about openness, dialogue, and interaction.  However, there are any number of situations where those things need to happen privately,” said Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint.  “Now anyone can build a private Wetpaint Wiki Website as an online meeting place for their closest family, friends, and associates while also enjoying the benefits of the extended public Wetpaint community.”

Wetpaint is also launching a new search feature which uses YouTube for video search and Yahoo for image search to help you find the content you are looking for.

Check our previous Wetpaint coverage »

The features include:

• Spreadsheets
• Voice chat
• Event-planning
• Calendars
• Video upload

The hosted Wiki space is heating up. The days of Mediawiki and it's hard to use WikiTML are over for the average user. Last week Wetpaint launched WikiPaint (officially named Wetpaint Please Touch) and now PBwiki adds more business and organizational tools. I called 2007 the "year of the wiki" and I continue to stand by that statement. Are there other players in this hosted Wiki space that I should be reporting on? Let me know in the comments.

And don't forget to check out the startup tips from PBwiki CEO, David Weekly.

Check out my video review below. One of the things I can see happening is someone uploads a picture of the side of a subway/tube car and then we can all paint graffiti on it like it was 1980!

If you create a piece of art using the tool, post a link in the comments so we can view your masterpiece and then edit it away!

“We continually aim to give consumers the personalization options and features they need to build a Wiki that enables them to collaborate with other like-minded people and tailor their sites to meet their community’s expectations,” said Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint. “Customizable navigation further advances our consumers' ability to build a Wiki that truly reflects their most passionate interests.”

I believe that companies such as Wetpaint who are innovating the wiki space will force Wikipedia to make their site more user-friendly. For example, I really don't want to have to learn a new language just to edit the Transformers Wikipedia page.

Check out our other Wetpaint coverage.

“When people collaborate, good things happen, whether that collaboration is taking place for the world to see or between two people wishing to have a private dialogue. By empowering users to send private messages, Wetpaint furthers its commitment to providing the easiest and most convenient means for consumers to collaborate online.”

"Publishing on the Web at the speed of thought and collaborating with mass audiences is now in the hands of every consumer."

To send a message to another member, all users have to do is simply click on the member's username and then select “send message.” Additionally, moderators and site creators can send "broadcast-style" messages to every user on their site by simply typing “All Registered Users” in the “To:” line.

Check out my interview with Ben and Kevin Flaherty (head of marketing) from January where we discuss WetPaint and where the Wiki format is moving. My belief is that the Wikipedia look and usability is only just scratching the surface of where Wiki will be going in 2007.