Personal wiki
Encyclopedia
A personal wiki is a wiki
maintained primarily for personal use. Personal wikis allow people to organize information on their desktop
or mobile computing devices
in a manner similar to community wikis, but without the need for collaboration
by multiple users.
Personal wiki software can be broadly divided into multi-user wiki software with personal editions, and those wiki applications that are designed only for single users, not depending on a database engine and a web server. The first class includes wiki applications such as MoinMoin
or TWiki
, as these can be installed for standalone use as well. This may require installing additional software, for example a web server
, a database management system
, or a WAMP
/LAMP
software bundle. Nevertheless, this does not mean the wiki must be accessible to outside users.
Some personal wikis are public but password-protected, running either on their own webservers or hosted
by third parties. This has the advantage that the personal space can be accessed and edited from any computer or PDA
with a web browser
.
There are also wiki applications specifically designed for personal use.
Their feature set often differs from traditional wikis; examples are:
The following are personal wiki systems released under free software licence
s:
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
maintained primarily for personal use. Personal wikis allow people to organize information on their desktop
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
or mobile computing devices
Mobile computing
Mobile computing is a form of human–computer interaction by which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage. Mobile computing has three aspects: mobile communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software...
in a manner similar to community wikis, but without the need for collaboration
Collaborative software
Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...
by multiple users.
Personal wiki software can be broadly divided into multi-user wiki software with personal editions, and those wiki applications that are designed only for single users, not depending on a database engine and a web server. The first class includes wiki applications such as MoinMoin
MoinMoin
MoinMoin is a wiki engine implemented in Python, initially based on the PikiPiki wiki engine. The MoinMoin code is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2, or any later version .A number of organizations use MoinMoin to run public wikis,...
or TWiki
TWiki
TWiki is a Perl-based structured wiki application, typically used to run a collaboration platform, knowledge or document management system, a knowledge base, or team portal...
, as these can be installed for standalone use as well. This may require installing additional software, for example a web server
Web server
Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....
, a database management system
Database management system
A database management system is a software package with computer programs that control the creation, maintenance, and use of a database. It allows organizations to conveniently develop databases for various applications by database administrators and other specialists. A database is an integrated...
, or a WAMP
WAMP
WAMPs are packages of independently-created programs installed on computers that use a Microsoft Windows operating system.WAMP is an acronym formed from the initials of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the principal components of the package: Apache, MySQL and one of PHP, Perl or Python....
/LAMP
LAMP (software bundle)
LAMP is an acronym for a solution stack of free, open source software, referring to the first letters of Linux , Apache HTTP Server, MySQL and PHP , principal components to build a viable general purpose web server.The GNU project is advocating people to use the term "GLAMP" since what is known as...
software bundle. Nevertheless, this does not mean the wiki must be accessible to outside users.
Some personal wikis are public but password-protected, running either on their own webservers or hosted
Web hosting service
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet...
by third parties. This has the advantage that the personal space can be accessed and edited from any computer or PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
with a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
.
Multi-user wiki software
Multi-user wiki applications with personal editions:- MoinMoinMoinMoinMoinMoin is a wiki engine implemented in Python, initially based on the PikiPiki wiki engine. The MoinMoin code is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2, or any later version .A number of organizations use MoinMoin to run public wikis,...
(written in PythonPython (programming language)Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
) has a desktop edition. - TWikiTWikiTWiki is a Perl-based structured wiki application, typically used to run a collaboration platform, knowledge or document management system, a knowledge base, or team portal...
(written in PerlPerlPerl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
) has TWiki for Windows Personal and Certified TWiki. - ScrewTurn WikiScrewTurn WikiScrewTurn Wiki is open source Wiki software that runs on the Windows ASP.NET platform. It is written in C# and by default does not require a database, though SQL Server and MySQL are supported by the use of plugins....
(written in C#) has a Desktop Edition. It is intended only for Windows users. - DokuWikiDokuWikiDokuWiki is a wiki application aimed at small companies’ documentation needs. DokuWiki is licensed under GPL 2 and written in the programming language PHP. It works on plain text files and thus needs no database. Its syntax is similar to the one used by MediaWiki.-History:DokuWiki was created by...
(written in PHPPHPPHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
) has Dokuwiki on a Stick and DesktopWiki – it works on plain text files and thus needs no database. Its syntax is similar to the one used by MediaWikiMediaWikiMediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
and makes sure the data files remain readable outside the wiki.
Single-user wiki software
Their feature set often differs from traditional wikis; examples are:
- Dynamic tree views of the wiki (These are useful because wikis built for personal usage are often small.)
- Drag and drop support for images, text and video, mathematics
- Use of OLEObject Linking and EmbeddingObject Linking and Embedding is a technology developed by Microsoft that allows embedding and linking to documents and other objects. For developers, it brought OLE Control eXtension , a way to develop and use custom user interface elements...
or Linkback to allow wikis to act as relational superstructures for multiple desktop type documents - Multimedia embedding, in particular wikis one can link to internal aspects of movies and sound tracks and store notes / comments
- Macros and macros constructors. Also often support for alien macros so the wiki can act as a multi scripting macro system
Free software
Free software licence
A free software licence is a software licence which grants recipients rights to modify and redistribute the software, which would otherwise be prohibited by copyright law. A free software licence grants, to the recipients, freedoms in the form of permissions to modify or distribute copyrighted work...
s:
- GnoteGnoteGnote is a free and open-source desktop notetaking application written for Linux, cloned from Tomboy by Hubert Figuiere. It uses a Wiki-like linking system to connect notes together. Gnote is part of the GNOME desktop environment, often filling the need for personal information management. The main...
is a port of TomboyTomboy (software)Tomboy is a free and open-source desktop notetaking application written for Unix-like and Microsoft Windows operating systems, written in C# using Gtk#. Tomboy is part of the GNOME desktop environment, often for personal information management. Its interface is a notepad with a wiki-like linking...
to C++, not all plug-ins ported - EmacsEmacsEmacs is a class of text editors, usually characterized by their extensibility. GNU Emacs has over 1,000 commands. It also allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work.Development began in the mid-1970s and continues actively...
is a text editor that, when used in the editing mode org-modeOrg-modeOrg-mode is an editing mode in the text editor Emacs which supports the editing of plain text hierarchical documents. It has specific support for a number of different use cases, such as writing to-do lists, project planning, and writing web pages...
, can create documents that are interlinked, converted to HTML, and automatically uploaded to a web server. - PimkiPimkiPimki is a personal information manager , written and maintained by Assaph Mehr, that was under development from 2004 to 2008. It is derived from the Ruby-based wiki software Instiki...
is a derivative of InstikiInstikiInstiki is wiki software that runs on Ruby on Rails.- Features :* Regular expression search* Revisions* Export to HTML in a zip* RSS feeds* Multiple webs* Password-protected site* Reference tracker* Textile and Markdown formatting...
designed as a personal information managerPersonal information managerA personal information manager is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. The acronym PIM is now, more commonly, used in reference to Personal information management as a field of study...
. - TiddlyWikiTiddlyWikiTiddlyWiki is an open source single page application wiki. A single HTML file contains CSS, JavaScript, and the content. The content is divided into a series of sections, or Tiddlers. A user is encouraged to read a TiddlyWiki by following links rather than sequentially scrolling down the...
is BSD licenseBSD licensesBSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named....
, single file, self-modifying HTML + JavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
based personal wiki - TomboyTomboy (software)Tomboy is a free and open-source desktop notetaking application written for Unix-like and Microsoft Windows operating systems, written in C# using Gtk#. Tomboy is part of the GNOME desktop environment, often for personal information management. Its interface is a notepad with a wiki-like linking...
is a (LGPL) free softwareFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
program for note-taking in a wiki-like manner. Simple editing and retrieval methods are provided. The program allows for easy organisation of any hierarchical data. The Tomboy project is hosted on GNOMEGNOMEGNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
CVSConcurrent Versions SystemThe Concurrent Versions System , also known as the Concurrent Versioning System, is a client-server free software revision control system in the field of software development. Version control system software keeps track of all work and all changes in a set of files, and allows several developers ...
. - VimVim (text editor)Vim is a text editor written by Bram Moolenaar and first released publicly in 1991. Based on the vi editor common to Unix-like systems, Vim is designed for use both from a command line interface and as a standalone application in a graphical user interface...
can be used as a personal wiki via plugins. - WikidPadWikidPadWikidPad is an open source, Python-based wiki-like outliner for storing thoughts, ideas, to-do lists, contacts, and other notes with wiki-like linking between pages....
is a free, open-sourceFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
standalone wiki notebook/outliner with many features, such as dynamic tree generation, topic tagging, auto-completion, full text searches, visual link tree, customizable interface, image and file control etc.
Proprietary software
- ConnectedTextConnectedTextConnectedText is a commercial editing application with wiki-like syntax for Windows. It was designed by Eduardo Mauro. It stores topics in a SQL database, maintaining a complete revision history. It is possible to open several workspaces at the same time...
is a commercial Windows-based personal wiki system with many advanced features, including: full text searches, visual link tree, customizable interface, image and file control, CSS-based page display, exports to HTML and HTML Help, and plug-ins. - NotePubNotePubNotePub is an online notepad that allows for private, public, and shared notes. NotePub is also an open purpose wiki without a markup language. Notes can include files and images, and can be linked to other notes within NotePub, or to external websites. Content is organized chronologically and with...
is an online notepad with wiki functionality and privacy settings on a note by note basis. - Ppcsoft iknow is a Windows based information manager and personal wiki system. Features WYSIWYG editing and a unique automatic linking between notes. 30 days trial and free edition available.
- VoodooPad is a Mac based information manager and personal wiki system.
See also
- Commonplace book
- Comparison of wiki softwareComparison of wiki softwareThe following tables compare general and technical information for a number of wiki software packages.-General information:-Target audience:-Features 1:-Features 2:-Installation:-See also:* List of wiki software* List of wikis* Wiki farm...
- List of wiki software
- OutlinerOutlinerAn outliner is a computer program that allows text to be organized into discrete sections that are related in a tree structure or hierarchy. Text may be collapsed into a node, or expanded and edited....
- Personal knowledge managementPersonal knowledge managementPersonal knowledge management refers to a collection of processes that an individual carries out to gather, classify, store, search, retrieve, and share knowledge in his/her daily activities and how these processes support work activities...