 One of the most popular sites on the Web is undoubtedly Wikipedia . Thanks to the phenomenal popularity of this site, countless Web users have become aware of, and are taking advantage of, the sheer power and flexibility of wikis. Although wikis are primarily known as a tool of the techies, just about anyone can use them.
 People use wikis for all sorts of tasks. Businesses and software development shops use them to keep notes, brainstorm, and to track projects. Writers use them as mobile authoring environments. Some people use them for personal information management, as a repository for notes and ideas, online photo albums and portfolios, and even as easy-to-maintain Web sites. There's no reason why you can't join in.
What's a wiki?
A wiki is simply a web site to which you can add, edit, or  delete content from within a Web browser. The first wiki was created by a programmer named Ward Cunningham. Cunningham derived the name of his brainchild from the Hawaiian word wikiwiki, which means quickly. A wiki is a lot like a Web site on steroids. It displays information, which you and other users can edit. The wiki tracks all of the changes and enables you to roll back to a previous version of a page or the site as a whole. And, like a Web site, the various pages of a wiki can be easily linked together.
Many wikis allow you to make changes without the need to log in with a user name and password; others require an account. While you can make any changes that you want, the wiki keeps track of the revisions. The person who administers the wiki can roll back any changes.
Formatting Text
Formatting text on a wiki is different from, say, building a Web page using HTML. Wikis understand a simple markup language that uses common keyboard symbols. For example, an exclamation point (!) before a word converts it into a headline. An asterisk (*) before a word or sentence builds a bulleted list. Like HTML, wiki markup is quite flexible: You can specify different levels of headings, make words bold or italic, build tables, and insert images into a page.
Here’s what some basic wiki markup looks like:
! Hello!
This is my wiki page It's a ’’’bold’’’ move on my part, and I want ’’italics’’ to reign.
* List item one
* List item two
Wiki markup can vary from wiki to wiki. However, there are a lot of common elements. This guide is a good primer on editing a
wiki page.
Getting Going
If you're a digital do-it-yourself type, then you'll probably enjoy setting up your own wiki. The process invariably involves installing the actual wiki software -- like MediaWiki (the engine that powers Wikipedia), Twiki, PhpWiki, SocialText, or TikiWiki -- along with a database (often the Open  Source database MySQL ) and a Web server, usually Apache. If you've got the skills to get all of that software running, then things should smoothly. But getting a wiki going isn't always that easy when you install it by hand.
A number of Web hosting companies, on the other hand, offer wiki installations using Web-based tools like CPanel and Fantastico. They literally install a wiki on your Web site in a few clicks. While writing this TechTip, I installed TikiWiki in my personal domain and it was up and running within
two minutes!
But setting up and maintaining your own wiki -- even with the help of CPanel or Fantastico -- can become a chore. In the end, a wiki could become more work than it's worth.
Farming it Out
If setting up your own wiki is too much of a hassle, then consider using a wiki farm. Also called hosted wikis, wiki farms are Web-based applications that you can access from anywhere. They’re easy to use and free (or at least don't cost much to use). Wiki farms are a great way for anyone -- no matter how strong or weak their technical skills -- to take advantage of the power of the wiki.
The biggest advantage of a wiki farm is that someone else takes care of all the maintenance. You don't have to worry about software upgrades, having to maintain software, or anything like that. And many wiki farms offer some nice features -- like templates, custom themes for pages, and even a word processor-like interface for entering text and formatting.
 I've tried out a number of wiki farms over the years, and the one that I liked most is PBWiki. It's features are indicative of many of the better wiki farms out there. The folks behind PBWiki say that setting up a wiki with them is as easy as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (hence the PB in the name). And they're right. With PBWiki, you start off with a main page that is your wiki's home page. You can add links from the front page to other pages in your wiki. It doesn't take much effort to build a new page. Simply click the New Page button, and PBWiki offers you several templates. PBwiki is quite easy to use it and it can scale to meet your needs. You can start off with a free account, and then move up to a paid one, which cost between $5 to $20 a month. With a paid account, you can (among other things) host your wiki on your own Web site.
Taking It with You
Portability, especially when it comes to computing, is all the rage. Just about any gadget or application can now be so compact that it comfortably fits in your pocket or the palm of your hand. And wikis aren't any different. You can actually get wikis that don't rely on a Web server or a database. Everything is contained in an HTML file that you load into a Web browser. These wikis are so small that you can use them on on your desktop computer or carry them on a
USB flash drive.
 One of these little wikis is Wiki on a Stick. It's simple, with an uncluttered (some would say boring) interface that consists of a heading, a navigation menu, an area for text, and a set of icons. Just click one of the icons to create a new page or enter text. Wiki on a Stick uses a variation of the usual wiki markup -- for example, you enter a + instead of a * to create a bullet. When a new version of Wiki on a Stick comes out, you can quickly import the contents of your current wiki to the new version.
 While it follows the same principles behind Wiki on a Stick, TiddlyWiki is quite a bit flashier. It has some flashy Javascript transitions that kick in when you move from one page to another. And it has a built-in search engine which is simple, but which does the job. TiddlyWiki divides content into two types: Tiddlers and Journals. Tiddlers are ideas, notes, todo lists, or whatever else you want them to be. Journals are notes that are specific to a day. You can also configure several options in TiddlyWiki. You can set it up to do automatic saves and to create backups, or generate an RSS feed. The RSS feed is useful if you plan to post your TiddlyWiki on the Web.
Conclusion
Wikis can be fantastic tools for capturing and sharing information, publishing Web content, and more. Your choices are as wide ranging as the applications that you can come up with for a wiki. Whether you want to get your hands dirty and set up your wiki, or let someone do the heavy lifting for you, there's a wiki for you.
|
