Thread

I’ve been thinking about using a personal wiki, just to keep track of projects and daily stuff. I just want a free one with a clean design, or at least one that is easy to theme. I’ve looked at the big players like MediaWiki, TikiWiki, and DokuWiki, but I wonder if there isn’t something better. I’d prefer that it be PHP- or Perl-based so could hack it relatively comfortably.

I think I’m leaning toward TikiWiki, or maybe even just use a CMS like Drupal.

Any recommendations?

if your looking down the CMS route. Joomla, has good wiki and bug tracking functionality, which can all be extended simply. Have a look at the extensions.

Thanks for the rec, Tom, but I really dislike Joomla. After mulling over it and playing with some of the wikis out there, I’ve settled on Drupal. Should have been a no brainer, but I figured since Wikis have been around for nearly—or more than—a decade, their design would be more refined than that of a broader-scoped CMS. Not the case at all, unfortunately.

Does drupal support revision / version control and diffing as any of the other wikis you listed? Do you need those features?

My vote would go for DokuWiki:

Simple, lean and fast (you know, CI like).

No need for a database.

Syntax highlighting with GeSHI available by default.

Extendable via a simple plugin interface (no need to dowload manually and install anything, just copy the URL of the plugin, there are few exceptions though for some especial plugins)

Easely temable.

For all your wiki comparison needs check Wikimatrix (developed by the author of DokuWiki).

—EDIT—
I’ve checked Drupal features and it actually supports version control natively.

Does drupal support revision / version control and diffing as any of the other wikis you listed? Do you need those features?

My vote would go for DokuWiki:

Simple, lean and fast (you know, CI like).

No need for a database.

Syntax highlighting with GeSHI available by default.

Extendable via a simple plugin interface (no need to dowload manually and install anything, just copy the URL of the plugin, there are few exceptions though for some especial plugins)

Easely temable.

For all your wiki comparison needs check Wikimatrix (developed by the author of DokuWiki).

—EDIT—
I’ve checked Drupal features and it actually supports version control natively.

I second that. Every single letter.
And add this: dokuwiki comes with and XML-RPC interface, which means you can integrate it with whatever application you use on your desktop. For example with your note taking application or your text processor, if they support plugins off course.
ALso it comes with open serach support so you can add a search to your browsers quick search with a simples click.

I have a personal wiki and I use it like crazy, i edit like 10 times a day.

Already rolling with Drupal. Drupal does have revision / version control. Actually, Drupal far out-weighs all the wiki software I looked at (has the simplest installation, too). My hunch was that the wiki software designers would have taken a more focused approach whereas Drupal is left very loose/open by design. I thought something with more focus would ultimately be better, but such is not the case. I was really surprised, actually. Anyone out there wanting to release the next best thing, there certainly is an opportunity in the Wikiwiki world.

Thanks for the insight on DokuWiki though. It did seem to have the lowest threshold to customization.

Well.. then you could point some aspects you personaly value in drupal, I myself am curious.

It’s the most mature. It supports virtually infinite workflow styles (including wiki-style, with it’s revision system). It’s theming system is more advanced and flexible than anything else out there. It has a hell of a lot of modules. And, I’m really familiar with it.

I personally think that Drupal will be best in this case.
Its reallly efficient to work upon.

ThanX

Thanks for the input, bhavik_thegame. I got something running on Drupal and it’s working out for me.