peanut butter and jelly wiki

PB wiki is simply an easier version of a wiki (www.pbwiki.com), however, it is not self explanatory to set up and at times it would be more ideal to be dealing with actual code!  An example of this is my recent foray into establishing a site map in order to register the wiki on google, make sure that web crawlers were finding it, and hopefully generate some statistics.  I was unable to retrieve certain data in order to set up the site map and after an hour and a half of reading Google FAQs and PBwiki FAQs I wrote directly to the PBwiki folks through an e-mail form:

 

Hi,

 

I’m trying to index my wiki on Google and have followed the instructions to the point of verification, but adding the site map is a problem because the following error message appears. 

Error

My Sitemap URL is:
http://www.coronercasefile.pbwiki.com/
Example: http://www.coronercasefile.pbwiki.com/sitemap.xml
The Sitemap must be located at http://www.coronercasefile.pbwiki.com/. To add a Sitemap at http://www.coronercasefile.pbwiki.com/http://coronercasefile.pbwiki.com/, first add that site to your account and then click the Add a Sitemap link beside it.

How do I do this? Any other suggestions about making the site more accessible and being able to track visitors/comments?  I’m  having a really difficult time setting this up:

Many thanks,

Kate

 

I frankly do not recall how I managed to receive verification from Google on the site but somehow messed around and did so before receiving this message from PBwiki:

 

Hi Kate,

I had the same trouble the first time. Just type in “sitemap.xml” instead of the entire address. You really have to pay close attention to what Google is asking you to type in at this point.

Thanks for using pbwiki,
“PBwiki hosts more pages than the English edition of Wikipedia”

Clif
pbwiki support

 

While I appreciated Clif’s friendly response that identified with my irksome sitemap challenge, it didn’t really answer my question.  Nor did it lead me to believe that Clif could pin down why this was so hard to perform even though he had encountered it.  This reminded me of Lessig in that without the opportunity to “see” the real code I had to rely upon answering the questions Google requests by simply guessing.  I suppose most people using or setting up wiki’s have some technical knowledge (as do I) but in some cases the language is so hidden to “protect us and make it easier” when it actually has the opposite effect.

 

I don’t want to get hung up on this issue because dumbing down the technology may enable some citizens to take advantage of this free communication vehicle.  PBwiki even attempts to show social consciousness by advertising:

 

PBwiki free premium accounts for victims of Southern California wildfires

 

On the one hand this could be a lovely example of digital citizenship, and on the other perhaps a ploy for more content.  The questions this brings to my mind is authenticity-how can I know whether this site is playing on my conscience or marketing/bragging “PBwiki hosts more pages than the English edition of Wikipedia”