# Wiki Software



## Venusian Broon (Jan 12, 2021)

Ahoy more experienced users of obscure software. 

Does anyone have a recommendation or actively uses software for setting up a personal, private wiki ? i.e. one that I can only see on my Windows PC. Free preferrably.

I understand the basics for setting up a WAMP server (I think I've already got one somewhere, but it's hiding from me) so not afraid of technicalities. 

I've found a few on 'best of' lists, so things like DokuWiki, but if someone has an opinion on something else, etc. I am all ears. 

Cheers.


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## M. Robert Gibson (Jan 12, 2021)

I did a bit of research for myself fairly recently, and since, I too, am a fan of 'free' I found the following to be best of bunch





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						Zim - a desktop wiki
					

Zim is a notepad like desktop application that is inspired by the way people use wikis.




					zim-wiki.org
				








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						cherrytree – giuspen
					





					www.giuspen.com
				




I found Zim the one to suit my needs, but of course it all depends on what you want.  Some reviewers prefer CherryTree





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						StackPath
					





					www.maketecheasier.com


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## Venusian Broon (Jan 12, 2021)

I came across Zim - it looks relatively simple. Is it 'plug and play'? 

I might just download a batch and see how they feel.


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## M. Robert Gibson (Jan 12, 2021)

Venusian Broon said:


> I came across Zim - it looks relatively simple. Is it 'plug and play'?


I'm on Linux, and both were 'plug and play'.  Looking at the download pages, I reckon they should be on Windows as well



Venusian Broon said:


> I might just download a batch and see how they feel.


That's the beauty of free stuff, no need to 'try before you buy', just try them all


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## Lenny (Jan 12, 2021)

VB, are you entirely set on a self-hosted, local solution?


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## Venusian Broon (Jan 12, 2021)

Lenny said:


> VB, are you entirely set on a self-hosted, local solution?


It's really just for notes and thoughts for various projects, nothing special - been collecting loads of stuff using M$ Word and liked the idea of having something a bit more wiki-like and organised. I have no desire to connect to it when I'm not on my PC (nor do I want to sign up and pay a monthly fee to the various worldbuilding sites that have wiki solutions, for them to hold onto potential work!  )


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## autodidact (Jan 12, 2021)

Venusian Broon said:


> It's really just for notes and thoughts for various projects, nothing special - been collecting loads of stuff using M$ Word and liked the idea of having something a bit more wiki-like and organised. I have no desire to connect to it when I'm not on my PC (nor do I want to sign up and pay a monthly fee to the various worldbuilding sites that have wiki solutions, for them to hold onto potential work!  )


And you can safely manage your own backups, too.


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## tinkerdan (Jan 13, 2021)

Here's a list.




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						List of wiki software - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				



I tried setting up the Tiki 








						Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				



along with a linux server and ran into some problems.
I think I ran out of time and patience to sort them all out, if I remember correctly.
This was on a windows platform for linux server and tiki.


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## .matthew. (Jan 13, 2021)

I'd plug the free Quoll Writer again. Unfortunately, the website appears to be offline right now but as I saw an update post on the new version just a couple of days ago I'm sure it's a temporary thing and not a discontinuation.

It has a Wiki built into the software that will auto-link on names and stuff. This means you could have a character profile mentioning where that character was born with it automatically creating a link to that location's information if it exists in another entry. 

It would show you how often and in what chapters these things are mentioned if you happen to be using it to write in as well - which you don't have to.

It also has some other storyboarding features you'd find in the paid-for worldbuilding and writing programs - though I don't have much use for them personally. 

Overall it's a pretty simple and powerful free bit of kit that handles a ton of stuff and which I like more than Scrivener. Plus it has a brand new version coming out soon(ish) which looks to be a lot more polished.

Look it up and if you can't find a working download link I'd be happy to send it to you direct.


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## M. Robert Gibson (Jan 13, 2021)

Found another standalone note-taking app that gets a lot of favourable mentions: Joplin




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						Joplin website
					

Joplin, the open source note-taking application




					joplinapp.org
				




I like the sound of this feature:
"The notes can be synchronised with various cloud services including Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV or the file system (for example with a network directory). When synchronising the notes, notebooks, tags and other metadata are saved to plain text files which can be easily inspected, backed up and moved around."

Which I assume means you could use the desktop and mobile versions and keep everything in synch


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## M. Robert Gibson (Jan 13, 2021)

Venusian Broon said:


> It's really just for notes and thoughts for various projects, nothing special - been collecting loads of stuff using M$ Word and liked the idea of having something a bit more wiki-like and organised.


Have you thought about mind-mapping software?





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						Top 5 Best Free Mind Mapping Software for Windows
					

Mind mapping means diagrammatical representation of ideas or words. For mind mapping representation a keyword is placed in center and associated words or tasks are linked around it in a colorful tree branch format. Mind maps can also be related to graphical notes where one can use images...




					www.top5freeware.com


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