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42 Comments
- kennyvader, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@akashra: oneNote is fine if you've always got your laptop or smartphone with you. The beauty of personal wikis is (if you publish them on some webspace somewhere) you've got access from anywhere, just with a web browser. So if you're at a friend's house, and suddenly think of something to add to your ToDo list, which is on your personal wiki, you can, just by borrowing their computer for a few seconds.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I've started using wiki to meet contract documentation deliverable.
A couple of people have commented on the lack of formatting and dearth of features compared to Word. Personally, I consider that to be a definite plus (but I usually keep that to myself). I then remind them that there's no particular reason that they can't incorporate their Word documents into the wiki. Given the simplicity, it usually wins by default over something like infopath or whatever crap Microsoft is trying to foist onto the masses these days.
WOS + wiki on a stick = documentation framework without all the distraction.
BTW, if your company has dumb-assed policies about unauthorized web servers and what not, the solution, again is simple: either hamachi everyone into the wiki or configure private IP VLAN (with a VPN gateway if you want) and secondary NICs for everyone who needs to contribute. The cool thing about wiki on a stick is that backups are simple as a pen drive and Sync Toy. - akashra, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5What's wrong with applications such as Microsoft OneNote for this kind of purpose? (Aside from the obvious anti-Microsoft/"I don't run Windows" argument?)
- kennyvader, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've got a whole pile of sites running Tiddlywiki using ccTiddly (http://cctiddly.sourceforge.net/ ) to give it a server-side backend (instead of storing everything in one portable file as per the original Tiddlywiki, posts are stored in a MySql database). This gives the ability to revert to previous versions of wiki items, and also means it can be accessed and edited from any web browser anywhere (there is basic user security built in to ccTiddly so I have editing priveledges restricted just to me). There is still an option to download a standalone "standard Tiddlywiki" single-file version with the latest version of all items if required.
Tried several other wiki apps before Tiddlywiki/ccTiddly and none have been quite as customisable or easy to install and use as Tiddly.
Out of the box, I don't think Tiddly is searchable by Google and other search engines due to all the javascript, but it's just a matter of creating a wiki item listing (in direct URLs) the wiki entries you want google to index, then linking to that item from your front page, and Google finds them all perfectly, and more importantly lists them using the direct-to-item URLs so that visitors coming across your wiki in Google do actually go to the wiki item relevant to their search. - kennyvader, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3But with pbwiki you're putting your content, notes, etc in the hands of some private corporation, who might start charging the earth one day, shut down altogether, change URL, or worse.
The other solutions in this article are preferable because they are apps you can painlessly install and run on your own server or web space, thus keeping the control entirely in your hands. - zeeneo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"The problem with most wikis, such as MediaWiki (the engine that powers Wikipedia) is that they take a lot of effort to set up and maintain."
Not really, I set MediaWiki up in 10 minutes and i find maintenance a doddle. Download, set up database access and change a few settings in the config file - that's all. - simd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dugg, but personally I use Writely. It's ready to go, it's backed up, and it's easy to collaborate on a to-do list (or whatever) with others in real time.
- altherac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Some other wikis are OK for personal use, such as yawiki.
You can find out which one fits your needs most on a comparison site like http://www.wikimatrix.org - VaamYob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'm personally a fan of dokuwiki
http://www.wikimatrix.org/show/DokuWiki - kalisphoenix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm working on a similar but far more powerful idea (VoodooPad just wasn't enough for me) on MyDreamApp: http://mydreamapp.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=111
My complaint is that MediaWiki has a lot of fantastic extensions and hacks, but many of these (like EasyTimeline, the Touchgraph extensions, various mind-mapping add-ons) are temperamental. I'm a backup nut, and I like to be able to restore something and start Wiki'ing in just a couple minutes. That's the entire reason that I use a Parallels VM running Gentoo to host my wiki -- so that I can just back it up, restore it, restart the VM, and I'm good to go. Of course, there are a couple gigs of space required for each OS backup and for the disk image that I mount on my /var/www/localhost directory. I back my MySQL database up in that directory using cron. Still, it's a pain in the ass. I'm comfortable with the N*x's, but I vastly prefer point-n-click interfaces and just being able to drag and drop a file to back it up.
I've messed with TiddlyWiki, but it doesn't work right with Safari (I see no reason to use Firefox) and it's fairly frail (templates? extensions? timelines? dream on!) and VoodooPad is better only so far as it doesn't require MySQL. So in short, I'm fairly sick of web-based wikis because of their annoyances and "personal wikis" because of their complete frailty.
I worked a bit to learn some C++ and Cocoa in order to program my dream application, which would be a combination of an SQLite-based WYSIWYG wiki, an iTunes-like interface, and a realtime zoomable mind map/charting/timeline app... but I'm not talented in the area of coding. I got frustrated and gave up until MDA came along :-) - kalisphoenix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1*nods* The only Wiki I've seen thusfar that's less complicated is TiddlyWiki. The problem to me is that I like timelines, dynamic page lists, and other things that have to be added to MediaWiki through extensions and external programs. Ploticus seems to me to be very temperamental software, especially when running it on a temperamental OS like Gentoo :)
Also (this hasn't been a problem for a few months, admittedly), I've found upgrading my wiki to be more than a little painful. Some extensions stop working, other extensions act fine, and some extensions are helpfully updated by the author to require the new version but break backward compatibility. LocalSettings syntax has changed on me more often than I'd like :-) And if you don't upgrade, you sometimes run the risk of getting pwned (I don't trust PHP all that much anymore).
So it's not that it's particularly hard. A minor version increment will generally require at the absolute most an hour of Googling and tinkering from me. But that's an hour I could spend actually working. I'd much rather have a local app (or a local app with sharing, like SubEthaEdit) with a Wiki featureset [plus the added capabilities that come with a local app and have to be fudged on with external apps/scripts/Java/whatever for a web-based wiki] that I can start up and shut down with the click of an icon and backup *everything* by dragging and dropping. - piratemonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I forgot to mention that TiddlyWiki is getting exponentially better every release, is extensible via plugins to do nearly everything you are likely to need and has a great community of users and developers here:
http://groups.google.com/group/TiddlyWiki
http://groups.google.com/group/TiddlyWikiDev - cuposmuck, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3all these need a web browers to use
if your after a stand alone with some power try
http://www.jhorman.org/wikidPad/ - motionblur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was recently looking for a Wiki that would run on ASP.NET for a group of developers. I found Perspective. It's a good little Wiki and has the added bonus of being licensed under the GPL.
http://www.high-beyond.com - piratemonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The article is not very well written. TiddlyWiki is much cooler than they make it sound. Especially this: "Unlike Wiki on a Stick, though, you can't change the look and feel of TiddlyWiki from the interface. You either have to edit the TiddlyWiki code, or create some sort of custom theme." This is 100% false. In TiddlyWiki you can customise all your CSS and the layout of your entire wiki and your "pages" (known as tiddlers) just by editing special tiddlers. And "Wiki on a stick" is about 3 generations behind TiddlyWiki in capability and maturity.
- zadatak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ConnectedText (http://www.connectedtext.com/) looks awesome, but unfortunately, it's not free.
- ammoniaslip, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3TiddlySpot is a great idea! www.tiddlyspot.com
- macjonesnz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My choice has always been http://jotterpad.com, free text, i store all my to-do's, recipes, phone number, birthdays etc, and I can get to them from any browseror mobile phone.
- gusto, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I use a plain text file that's saved onto my desktop.
- mdweezer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Don't forget VoodooPad on OSX. One of the best personal Wiki suites out there with no need for a webserver or any type of setup procedures; fire it up and start wiki'ing!
http://www.flyingmeat.com/voodoopad/ - piratemonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Link:
http://www.tiddlywiki.com/ - Bishoco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Instiki which runs on Ruby on Rails is pretty good and ridiculously simple to set up. I set it up here at work,
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For one of the better sports wikis, try:
http://ncaawiki.com - dbk927, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11) Why is this in the linux category?
2) I just don't see any point in this, pen and paper for the win! - duality, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Silly me. There was nothing wrong with Wiki on a Stick. The reason I thought it didn't work in Portable Firefox is because MR Tech Link Wrapper (a Firefox exension to wrap long links across lines) doesn't parse it properly. I have the extension installed in Portable Firefox, but not on the installation of Firefox on my hard drive.
I should mention this on the extension page for MR Tech Link Wrapper. - goldthroat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I use 30 boxes which has all my To Do Notes, my calendar, etc & I can access from any web browser.
- mbrutsch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree with the comment about PBwiki. They have a full zip backup of your wiki, so you don't have to worry about losing your data if they go ***** up. And I don't have to run a server (that sh*t costs money) or worry about installing and maintaining software. I've been using it for almost a year, and I have three paid premium wikis, and at least 4 free ones. You even get a cute little subdomain for your wiki! (full disclosure: I do not work for them; they don't even like me.)
- marioluigi123, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've been using TiddlyWiki for a bit and I love it. It may not be full-featured, but it has what I need and some more. I also just discovered (through one of the comments here) about http://www.tiddlyspot.com and I plan to upload my TiddlyWiki there. I think this is the perfect solution for a simple, personal wiki.
- raoulsland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree. I use mediawiki as a note-taking, documentation and code snippet storage system. Maintenance, upgrades etc are a matter of 10 minutes.
- schumi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Voodoo Pad is great I use it in school to take all of my notes. You can have a page one each specific subject and have it automatically link back to it any where that word or series of words is used. Great for studying.
- jkeogh, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1tiddlers in action: http://governmentterror.com
- duality, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I started out using TiddlyWiki, but I discovered that things get complicated with it if you can't break your information into nice small chunks to put into individual tiddlers.
Wiki on a Stick I hadn't heard of until I read this article in the queue, so I tried it out. It has all the features I want: a simple interface, it can be saved to and run from a flash drive, it is a genuine wiki, and it runs well in Firefox....
...well, not Portable Firefox. I also run a portable copy of Firefox (from http://www.portableapps.com ) on my flash drive, because I spend plenty of time in front of computers that don't have Firefox on them. For some reason, Wiki on a Stick runs flawlessly on an ordinary installation of Firefox, but it inserts the ugliest random markup dispersed throughout a portable version of Firefox. I cannot truly imagine what would be so different about the portable version as to cause this, but it kind of defeats the other portability goals I was going for.
If the Wiki on a Stick developers figure this little gem out, they'll have me completely sold. - webcrumb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1New Text Document.txt FTW!
- Eiki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow, thanks was looking for something like this.
Good for writing down homework and stuff since you have the search capability - macatak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah but that's a good thing if you are the kind of person who doesn't have a server with mirrored drives and a regular backup system.
- narel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0http://www.wikidot.com/
- section31, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1would like to see some demos.
- razei, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I use Google Notebook. It's small and works.
- CaughtThinking, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1notepad 4 lyfe!
- kozmo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1How about Google Notes?
- 3monkeys, on 10/12/2007, -10/+9http://digg.com/linux_unix/Personal_wikis_Three_small_simple_alternatives
- forgueam, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I'm surprised they did not mention PBWiki (http://www.pbwiki.com). I've been using PBWiki for about two months now and love it. I use if for all of my to do lists, notes, brain dumps, ideas, etc.
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