By tanguillo on

As you know, of the three most popular types of web contents (blogs, forums and wikis). Drupal have great support for two of them, but it lacks support for one: wikis. Despite some critics that this format has received, there is no doubt: is here to stay for long. And that is not a bad thing, cause is a great and easy way to share information, in social and not social sites. Even more, wiki and drupal philosophy match perfectly.
This last days, I was searching for nice way to add a wiki to a Drupal site, and I only find this to options:
The Liquid Wiki Engine Project or this: "diff.module + wiki.module + freelinking.module + node_privacy_by_role.module". The Liquid Module developing seems to be dead, and the second solution will not work in Drupal 4.7 or 5.
Of course, I always can use one of the numerous wiki software around there, but even if it is possibly to share the register users between drupal and the wiki, I think it would be good to share contents between them too.
So, my question are:
It's possibly to have a wiki in a Drupal site in any way?
Drupal needs a wiki module or not?

There are some guys (well, currently arjunrn and I) who will work in a solution, but we need some orientation (Im a php programmer, but new in Drupal) so, if someone came up with some idea, We will try to accomplished and give feedback to the community.
Sorenp (the creator of the wiki module) if are you there, please give us some information about your work, and if are you planning to continue it. Your module is very promising, and surely is an option but if it is dead, we will have to make a new module or try someting else.
Well, that is. Please share your opinions!

PD.This post dont want to be an ask for support, but a discussion about the need of a wiki, that's why it is posting under general discussions.
PD. Sorry for my poor english :(

Comments

pwolanin’s picture

pwolanin commented

The book module can already provide some wiki-like functionality. However, one potential problem is that Drupal enables content filters (e.g. filtered HTML, wiki, textile) on a per-role basis without simple provision for doing it on a per-content-type basis.

---
Work: BioRAFT

designcrs’s picture

designcrs commented

setting content filters on a per-content-type basis can be done easily using this module:

http://drupal.org/project/filterbynodetype

styro’s picture

styro commented

I seem to vaguely remember some brief discussion on the developers mailing list from one or two people who were keen restart the initial work on the wiki modules and update/improve them.

If you look through the list archives and make contact, you should be able to join or help kick start that work. There seem to be other people interested in Drupal wikis, it's just a matter of joining forces to make it happen. I'm sure they'd welcome any help.

Good luck!

--
Anton
New to Drupal? | Forum posting tips | Troubleshooting FAQ

tanguillo’s picture

tanguillo commented

I will look for that... Thanks...

Southpaw’s picture

Southpaw commented

I think this is great and there definitely is a need for a wiki solution in Drupal. IMO this is what a lot of other CMS's offer that Drupal doesn't. The addition of a functional wiki would be welcome to many users.

I don't think the Liquid wiki has had any updates since March and it looks dead to me.

I currently have books set up in my site in a way that every user can edit the articles much like a wiki with revisions created after every edit, but the set structure of the books make it so that I can't have the flexibility I originally intended.

I hope you seriously consider making this project a reality for Drupal!

enky’s picture

enky commented

I strongly support wiki functionality for drupal...

styro’s picture

styro commented

what actual form is that strong support going to take? :)

--
Anton
New to Drupal? | Forum posting tips | Troubleshooting FAQ

tanguillo’s picture

tanguillo commented

I think Drupal is definetly loosing users with his lack of wiki support. It's a tough CMS world out there!

orick’s picture

orick commented

The last dev snapshot is from Nov 13, 2006. Why not join them to help?

http://drupal.org/project/liquid

styro’s picture

styro commented

that Nov 13 was when the project module got upgraded and the new releases were built.

The last (non translation) Liquid CVS commits were the initial ones back in March.

--
Anton
New to Drupal? | Forum posting tips | Troubleshooting FAQ

Southpaw’s picture

Southpaw commented

If you check the CVS changes, the last change made by sorenp was in march.

The later changes were all translations which had nothing to do with the actual module.

[edit] beaten to it

robert castelo’s picture

robert castelo commented

What wiki features does Drupal currently lack? Does anyone have a list of features they expect in a wiki?

I think people are disapointed when they look for a module clearly labeled 'wiki', but the actual features of a wiki may already be available by using a mix of existing Drupal modules.

In which case we could provide a wiki recipe page.

Cortext Communications
Drupal Themes & Modules

------------------------------------------
Drupal Specialists: Consulting, Development & Training

Robert Castelo, CTO
Code Positive
London, United Kingdom
----

Southpaw’s picture

Southpaw commented

I think the feature I'm looking for most is CamelCase linking or [[wiki]] links - automatically linking to the page of the same name in the Wiki but not any of the other pages that arn't in the wiki.

Ex. If you have a page called "Pudding" in your wiki and "Pudding" in a book page. [[Pudding]] will link automatically to the wiki and not to the book.

Neil Adair’s picture

Neil Adair commented

The above comment is correct you can do all the wiki you want with Drupal. For CamelCase and [[wiki]] links use the feelinking module (it's an input filter) works well and quite configurable. Drupal 5.0 has better node permissions so users can edit all nodes not just their own, like book. There's a patch for page 4.7 to add "edit any page" permission. Table of contents (toc)using h2 tags is in JSTools. Bryght have a good How to make a wiki with Drupal recipe on their website at http://wiki.bryght.com/wiki/wiki-recipe-for-freelinking-module

Southpaw’s picture

Southpaw commented

I still don't understand. If your site uses books for some content and require a wiki using your method. If you have 3 pages called "About" (1 page for say 3 different books), and you add a interlink called [[About]] what page will that link to?

Matt Simpson’s picture

Matt Simpson commented

the above comment was over 2 months ago... without reply... let it be known far and wide that freelinks do not a wiki make. I'm looking for a wiki in a CMS and am seeing some mambo/joomla instegration directly with mediawiki... wow, wouldn't it be great if drupal had direct integration with pmwiki - http://pmwiki.org - one of the best wiki engines out there. I think I'll suggest it there.

robert castelo’s picture

robert castelo commented

So what else do you expect from a wiki?

Cortext Communications
Drupal Themes & Modules

------------------------------------------
Drupal Specialists: Consulting, Development & Training

Robert Castelo, CTO
Code Positive
London, United Kingdom
----

kvarnelis’s picture

kvarnelis commented

I think that a recipe is the way to go. We don't need to isolate the wikiness, but rather allow it to spread in Drupal.

The single biggest flaw as far as using Dru as a wiki is that it doesn't have a robust revision comparison system. This is ESSENTIAL for a wiki. I've installed the patches for the diff module to bring it up to 4.7, but it still doesn't really work correctly. I'd like something as sturdy as the mediawiki revisioning system. Otherwise, collaborative writing is really hard to keep track of. I'd also love to see freelinking up to 5.0, but since diff is still in the dark ages, well, first things first.

The next thing is minor, but it'd be lovely to be able to double click on a text (as in mediawiki) and drop into the editor. There is a module that allows you to double click LINKS to edit them, but I can't fathom the utility of that and the maintainer didn't like my suggestion that the text be editable.

tanguillo’s picture

tanguillo commented

I think kvarnelis es right: a robust revision comparison system is a must have for a wiki. And the think is, yes, you probably can add some modules to have the behavior of a wiki, but I think there is a need for a simple module to alow not advanced users to put a wiki in their drupal sites.

WebWeasel’s picture

WebWeasel commented

I think that some wiki functionality would be great. The way I see it there are 2 issues:

  • Robust diff functionality (as was mentioned earlier).
  • Wiki markup as an input format. This would be nice even for non wiki setups since wiki markup is a bit easier then HTML markup.

    • The only issue with wikis (wikies, wikium?) is that there is no standard syntax for wiki markup. The TikiWiki project tried to submit a RFC for wiki markup but it didn't go anywhere. At this point I would say that Mediawiki is probably the closest thing to a standard out there.

pamphile’s picture

pamphile commented

i sure am interested...

harriska2’s picture

harriska2 commented

Would be awesome. I especially need revisions, wiki like linking, and maybe a option for shortcuts (~~~, etc).

Southpaw’s picture

Southpaw commented

Redirecting from pages would be useful too. Ex. Redirecting Hematology -> Haematology

pcwick’s picture

pcwick commented

There is a preliminary list of features that are essential to a Drupal wiki here:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/1537

Zach Rosen created a video some time back showing how he created a Wiki-like interface with Drupal Organic Groups:
http://www.zacker.org/magic-groups-screencast?page=1

The recipe for Magic Groups calls for 13 modules, and some hacks that Zach provides. The video suggests an elegant and stylish tool. I'm interested to know how many have found this recipe to be tasty.

tanguillo’s picture

tanguillo commented

Sure sound interesting. I will test it and see how it goes. I will give you my opinion after that...

pcwick’s picture

pcwick commented

Use the FreelinkingModule to implement wiki-style functionality...
http://wiki.bryght.com/wiki/wiki-recipe-for-freelinking-module

styro’s picture

styro commented

Anyone keen to help out with improving the wiki situation should subscribe to the wiki group, and make yourself known...

http://groups.drupal.org/wiki

--
Anton
New to Drupal? | Forum posting tips | Troubleshooting FAQ

pamphile’s picture

pamphile commented

Whatever wiki powers Drupal 5 has, I plan to test them...
Anyone has advice on that ?

01Motors.com

JStarcher’s picture

JStarcher commented

What about if I ported media wiki to work in Drupal? It's about the best wiki out there (well most known) and it's free/open source. I wouldn't mind spending some time porting it once I finish my Drupal vB project up.

pamphile’s picture

pamphile commented

I would be interested...

acballantine’s picture

acballantine commented

Hi,

Now that would be really interesting. A quality wiki within Drupal that had a significant support group.

Kind regards,

Andrew Ballantine.
Remember; The only stupid question is the question that is not asked.

keathmilligan’s picture

keathmilligan commented

I've tried the pear-wiki module and it isn't cutting it. What I really want is a real MediaWiki integrated with Drupal's authentication, search and other features. I realize that may be asking for a lot, but right now, Drupal is beginning to look like a non-starter for lack of any viable solution for migrating Wiki content.

Matt Simpson’s picture

Matt Simpson commented

it's really good

kvarnelis’s picture

kvarnelis commented

I don't think we need mediawiki in Drupal. I've had plenty of experience with it and it's an immensely frustrating system to work with. It's precisely the opposite of Drupal: it's anti-modular and opaque rather than transparent. Can you name one non-wikipedia site of major consequence that works with it?

Instead we need some very minor modifications to existing tools, to refine pearwiki (for example so it plays nice with WYSIWYG editors), diff (to make the output just a little better), and to freelinking (so that everything didn't have to go into a freelinking ghetto directory). That's about it.

Porting mediawiki would create yet another drupal wiki solution that, I'm afraid, wouldn't have the legs in the long term.

http://www.varnelis.net

ablivio’s picture

ablivio commented

Has any reflection been conducted on how an 'ideal' wiki support would look like in Drupal?

Maybe would it be a good start, before we consider possible solutions.

At this stage of my reflection, I would like:
- Real and flawless support of a wiki syntax for content creation (current wiki filters are good, but with some issues and incompatibilities with some modules).
- No brainer 'edit in place' functionality, so that any visitor with the right credentials can add or edit content in the wiki. Support for sections would be great as well.
- Convenient and reliable linking: between wiki nodes of course, but also between wiki and non-wiki nodes.
- And probably other things I haven't thought of so far...

ablivio’s picture

ablivio commented

As usual, you find your answer only after you clicked on Submit to send your post. ;-)

See http://groups.drupal.org/node/7072#comment-20616

mgmirkin’s picture

mgmirkin commented

It would be nice if wiki implementations could also be made "private," so that only authorized users could view / edit either single pages, entire namespaces or the entire site. So, if you wanted to create a private wiki knowledgebase that people could log into for access / updates, but it would otherwise be invisible... Something that I recall Wikimedia wasn't really designed for. Their philosophy was either ALL public or ALL private without ease of protecting specific pages (from editing or from viewing) individually.

I think the easy markup and linking between namespaces within only the specific wiki is a major feature of wikis. For inter-wiki links on the same site, one could use an external URL link to the other wiki rather than an internal wiki shortcut?

Regards,
~Michael