GitLab: Another evolution towards open source in iGEM
Since the iGEM team wiki was first introduced in 2006, the wiki has been one of the key deliverables for the competition. The wiki is where every iGEM team presents their work to the world in an open and accessible way. Because the wiki has no content length restriction, teams can provide a deep level of detail that goes beyond the presentation and promotion videos, including raw data, experiments, protocols, etc. It’s a valuable resource where future iGEM teams can go to gather information about previous projects, so they can benefit from the experience of earlier iGEM teams and build upon past work.
Initially, team wikis were created using MediaWiki – a ground-breaking (at the time), open source, collaborative platform. But there have been tremendous advances in software development since then, most notably the creation of Git – a software developer’s dream. Git offers teams the freedom to explore modern technologies, with far fewer limitations, so they can create wikis that are as excellent and diverse as the projects themselves. As the most widely used version control system, Git underpins the software behind GitLab – the platform we chose for iGEM team wikis starting this year.
Initially, team wikis were created using MediaWiki – a ground-breaking (at the time), open source, collaborative platform. Photo by Ilya Pavlov on Unsplash.
Why GitLab?
“GitLab is a collaboration tool for anyone managing projects. Work is more efficient and more inclusive, the more asynchronous it is. We built a tool that allows people to move projects forward without having to be online at the same time.”
GitLab is collaborative, open source, and widely used. The software skills teams learn with GitLab will be useful throughout their careers, such as building their own website, or working with data analysis. Photo by Pankaj Patel on Unsplash
GitLab offers a number of features that are useful to iGEMers:
Collaborative – multiple people can contribute to the same project at different times and from different locations, and future teams will be able to re-use and improve upon the wiki templates created by previous iGEM teams;
Open source – iGEM will host the team wikis on iGEM’s own servers, and archive them so the wikis remain available for future generations;
Well known – lots of online tutorials and templates are available to help teams learn the basics and nuances of using GitLab;
Project management – teams can use issues, milestones, code review, to-do lists, and merge requests to organize and distribute their tasks;
Widely used – the software skills teams learn with GitLab will be useful throughout their careers, such as building their own website, or working with data analysis.
Freedom to Design-Build-Test and Learn
The freedom that teams have to build their wikis with GitLab is nearly unlimited. The platform is adaptive to any level of knowledge – teams with little experience can use a template that iGEM provides, while teams with advanced skills can create whatever they wish.
With GitLab, teams can use whatever modern libraries and programming languages they wish to create their wikis. As an example, many teams are already using the frontend framework ‘React’ to build their team wikis. The knowledge these teams bring in building their wiki can now be passed on to improve the iGEM wiki experience for everyone.
As we enter this new phase of the iGEM wiki, our top priority is to ensure that teams have all the tools and support they need to create the best possible wiki to communicate their project to the world. We will learn together how to create, adapt, and improve the wiki experience so that future teams and people from all over the world will be able to access, explore, and use the knowledge available in every iGEM project.
iGEM will host the team wikis on iGEM’s own servers, and archive them so the wikis remain available for future generations. Photo by Luke Southern on Unsplash.
Open source for continuous evolution of iGEM wiki templates
This year, we are providing a simple starting wiki template for teams. We want the immense iGEM community to feel welcome to contribute through forking and pushing Merge Requests to the wiki templates to improve them. We will incorporate these suggestions so that the templates will continuously evolve and improve with each passing year. Most importantly, teams that have explored a new language or framework can submit their wiki to be one of the starting templates for next year’s teams.
Join Us!
Building the future iGEM - We’re Hiring
Migrating from MediaWiki to a modern platform such as GitLab was a very exciting project made possible by the iGEM’s new Creative Productions team. We are hiring developers and designers to build the future iGEM. Past participation in the iGEM Competition or other iGEM Programs is required. Good knowledge and great passion about iGEM … and a willingness to re-live the dreaded, wonderful, unforgettable Wiki Freeze from time to time … is key. Apply here to join our team!
We are hiring Developers!
For iGEM 2022 teams
Many of this year’s teams have already started to build their wikis using GitLab. We encourage you to check out the Team Wiki webpage for guidance and useful resources. There are a couple of important dates to keep in mind:
Testing Day
This is the first deadline where teams must demonstrate familiarity with GitLab by adding information, including abstract and project description, to their wiki. If you are using a separate program or software tool to create the wiki pages (i.e., Dreamweaver), this is the time to test out how you will import the code over to your team wiki - More information is coming soon!
October 12, 11:59 EDT (15:59 UTC) – Official iGEM Wiki Freeze
This is an extraordinary moment in the journey of every iGEMer when you and your teammates finish creating the wiki that will communicate your entire project to the world. Be sure to start building your wiki early (MUCH earlier than you might think!). Because we often experience a high volume of emails on Freeze day and the days prior to the Wiki Freeze, we ask that you please contact us through the iGEM Global Slack before September 28 for wiki help!
