DokuWiki – A versatile Wiki with a boat load of features

A Wiki is a webpage that anyone can edit. One of the most popular wiki that comes to my mind is Wikipedia – the encyclopedia that is maintained by volunteers from around the world. Wikipedia is powered by  Mediawiki which is a wiki software.

But Mediawiki is not the only wiki software that is around. There are scores of wiki software which are equally open source and Free. One jewel among such wikis is Dokuwiki.  What sets Dokuwiki apart from most other wikis is that you do not need a database to set it up. Dokuwiki saves all the data you enter into flat files. Which means, the only requirement to host your own  Dokuwiki is a web server, apart from the Dokuwiki software itself.

Main Features of Dokuwiki

• Simple syntax – Dokuwiki uses more or less the same syntax that is used in many other wikis.
• Unlimited page revisions – also called versioning.
• Interwiki links support – Interwiki is a simple way to link from one wiki to another by having some simple syntax to do so.
• Categories – Similar to the categories you find on this blog.
• Section editing – Allows you to edit only a section of a page instead of opening the whole page.
• Integrated text editor – A simple but very functional text editor similar to but not as rich as the Tinymce editor.
• Fine grained user permissions can be set for each page, group of pages or the whole site via access control lists.
• Support for over 30 languages.
• Dokuwiki functionality can be further extended via plugins, with over 300 of them already available.
• No database required as it uses plain text files to store data.

Personal Opinion about Dokuwiki

After downloading the Dokuwiki package from its website, I found it very easy to install as I did not have to twiddle with any database. All I needed was a web server. Once installed, it is very easy to edit and start writing on the Dokuwiki.

The following are a couple of screenshots of the Dokuwiki in action on my personal machine.

Dokuwiki Interface

Dokuwiki Editor

All in all, I found the Dokuwiki a superior wiki than most other competition out there. It is well designed, rich in features and also do not need a database to run which makes it an exciting proposition for all wiki lovers. You can download Dokuwiki from its website.

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