Free Wiki

Thanks for dropping in. We're glad you're here.

Free Wiki exists to provide new and experienced wiki-interested people with a good resource for existing free software wikis, complete with screenshots, links to pertinent information such as downloads and docs, links for quick customized searches (e.g., to find a wiki written in php using a mysql database and released under a GPL license).

We encourage wiki software developers who are interested in having an account with us to maintain their own wiki software page to contact us. We would be most honored to have you take part in this site.

Also included on this site are feeds from the main Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikiquotes, Wikisource, Wikinews, Wikibooks and Wikispecies.

We have chosen to add Google AdSense text ads to help with the cost of hosting. We hope they are not too much of a bother for you. Indeed, they might actually help some people find exactly what they need.

Enjoy!

Wiki software is a type of collaborative software that runs a Wiki system. It is usually implemented as a server-side script that runs on one or more web servers, with the content generally stored in a relational database management system, although some implementations use the server's file system instead.

The first such software was created by Ward Cunningham in 1995, but given the relative simplicity of the wiki concept, a large number of implementations now exist, ranging from very simple "hacks" implementing only core functionality to highly sophisticated content management systems. The primary difference between wikis and more complex types of content management systems is that wiki software tends to focus on the content, at the expense of the more powerful control over layout seen in CMS's like Drupal and WebGUI.

"Wiki software" could be interpreted as comprising all of the software required to run a wiki, which might include a web server such as Apache, in addition to the "Wiki engine" itself, which implements the wiki technology. In some cases, such as ProjectForum, or some WikiServers, the web server and wiki engine are bundled together as one self-contained system, which can often make them easier to install.

The majority of wiki engines are open source, often available under the GNU General Public License (GPL); large projects such as TWiki and the Wikipedia engine, MediaWiki, are developed collaboratively. Many wikis are highly modular, providing APIs which allow programmers to develop new features without requiring them to be familiar with the entire codebase.

It is hard to determine which wiki engines are the most popular, although a list of leading candidates might include UseMod, TWiki, MoinMoin, PmWiki and MediaWiki. Click here for a comprehensive list of wiki softwares.

Some wiki software is not intended for collaborative work, but for either content management or for personal information organising.

This info was taken from Wikipedia and is freely distributable according to the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL).

A wiki (pronounced [wɪkiː], [wiːkiː] or [viːkiː] is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. The term Wiki also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website.

Wiki (with an upper case W) and WikiWikiWeb are both used to refer specifically to the Portland Pattern Repository, the first wiki ever created. Wiki proponents often spell 'wiki' with a lower case "w". The name is based on the Hawaiian term wiki wiki, meaning "quick" or "informal". Sometimes wikiwiki (or Wikiwiki) is used instead of wiki.

A wiki enables documents to be written collectively (co-authoring) in a simple markup language using a web browser. A single page in a wiki is referred to as a "wiki page", while the entire body of pages, which are usually highly interconnected via hyperlinks, is called "the wiki"; in effect, a very simple database. Wikis can be used with podcasting.

A defining characteristic of wiki technology is the ease with which pages can be created and updated. Generally, there is no review before modifications are accepted. Most wikis are open to the general public without the need to register any user account. Sometimes session log-in is requested to acquire a "wiki-signature" cookie for autosigning edits. More private wiki servers require user authentication when required.

This info was taken from Wikipedia and is freely distributable according to the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL).

Today I added XWiki to our growing list of Free Wiki Softwares! You can also visit the XWiki Website for more info on this free wiki.

From XWiki Site:

"XWiki is a WikiWiki clone written in Java which supports many popular features of other Wikis like:

* Wiki syntax (uses Radeox engine)
* Content management (view/edit/preview/save)
* Version Control
* Attachments
* Rights Management
* Full-text Search

XWiki also has many advanced features that many other wiki engines lack:

* Document Templates to ease creation of common documents.
* Relational Database storage using Hibernate.
* Design Engine for Meta-Data and Forms.
* In-place (inline) editing of form information in pages.
* Powerful programming API in documents (Velocity or Groovy)
* Search API for more detailed searching in the Meta-Data.
* Plugin System in Java.
* Scalability and Performance using J2EE.
* Complete Design Skin System (templates content as well as CSS) have a look to nice websites powered by XWiki
* RSS output and display of external RSS feeds
* Multi-Lingual capabilities
* XML/RPC Remote API
* Portlet Integration
* Integrated Statistics
* PDF Export
* WYSIWYG HTML Editing"

XWiki Features:

XWiki Features Page

XWiki User Screenshot:

XWiki Edit Page Screenshot:

XWiki Demo Link:

XWiki Demo Pages

XWiki Documentation:

XWiki Docs

XWiki Frequently Asked Questions:

XWiki FAQs

XWiki System Requirements:

XWiki System Requirements

XWiki Download Info:

Download Area for XWiki

XWiki Installation:

XWiki Installation Help Guide

XWiki Guides:

XWiki Developer's Guide
XWiki Administrators Guide
XWiki Users Guide

Helpful Resources on the XWiki Site:

XWiki Homepage
XWiki Blog
XWiki Tutorial
The Best of XWiki (skins and more...)
XWiki Mailing Lists
XWiki Contacts
The XWiki Syntax
List of Wikis Comparable to XWiki

Other XWiki Resources:

XWiki Freshmeat Listing
XWiki Sourceforge Page

XWiki License:

GNU General Public License (GPL)

I added GoWiki to the line-up and took care of a few administrative things regarding AdSense and the like.

I am planning to add SubWiki very soon.

From GoWiki Site:

"GoWiki is the 'engine' underlying Sensei's Library which presents the pages and diagrams based on a pure text version stored in a database.

GoWiki is a collection of [ext] PHP scripts which interface with a [ext] mySQL database, custom made for Sensei's Library.

GoWiki is based on [ext] PhpWiki which can be found at Sourceforge."

Features:

No features page available.

User Screenshot:

Edit Page Screenshot:

Demo Link:

GoWiki Demo

Documentation:

GoWiki Docs

Frequently Asked Questions:

No FAQ's Available

System Requirements:

No system requirements listed. PHP and mySQL are necessary.

Helpful Resources:

GoWiki Homepage

GoWiki :

Download GoWiki

Installation:

No installation instructions available.

License:

GNU General Public License (GPL)

Here is a useful and growing comparison chart of wiki softwares on Wikipedia.

From TiddlyWiki Site:

"Welcome to TiddlyWiki, an experimental MicroContent WikiWikiWeb built by JeremyRuston. It's written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript to run on any modern browser without needing any ServerSide logic. It allows anyone to create personal SelfContained hypertext documents that can be posted to any WebServer, sent by email or kept on a USB thumb drive to make a WikiOnAStick."

Features:

TiddlyWiki has a very interesting way of displaying information which is incredibly cool, but does not leave the linking to of certain parts of the site as easy as more standard sites. This is neither good not bad, just unique and different. Thus, this posting will be unlike the others in that it will simply link to the TiddlyWiki Site where you can find all the info usually linked directly to in a Free Wiki posting.

User Screenshot:

Edit Page Screenshot:

Demo Link:

TiddlyWiki Demo

Documentation:

TiddlyWiki Documentation

Frequently Asked Questions:

TiddlyWiki FAQ's

System Requirements:

TiddlyWiki System Requirements

Helpful Resources:

TiddlyWiki Developer Site
TiddlyWiki User Google Group
TiddlyWiki Developer Google Group

Download:

Download TiddlyWiki

Installation:

TiddlyWiki Installation Instructions

License:

BSD License (GPL)

The TWiki project really caught my attention. It is solid and very pretty as well - nice CSS.

There is lots of documentation and plenty of serious companies out there that use it (not that that means much as such, but you get the point).

Have a look!

From TWiki Site:

"Welcome to TWiki, a flexible, powerful, and easy to use enterprise collaboration platform. It is a Structured Wiki, typically used to run a project development space, a document management system, a knowledge base, or any other groupware tool, on an intranet or on the internet. Web content can be created collaboratively by using just a browser. Users without programming skills can create web applications. Developers can extend the functionality of TWiki with Plugins."

Features:

Partial TWiki Feature List (Scroll half-way down the page.)

User Screenshot:

Edit Page Screenshot:

Demo Link:

TWiki Demo

Documentation:

TWiki Documentation

Frequently Asked Questions:

TWiki FAQs

System Requirements:

TWiki System Requirements

Helpful Resources:

TWiki Developer Site
TWiki User Guide, Reference Manual and Site Tools
TWiki Sourceforge Page
TWiki Freshmeat Listing

Download:

Download TWiki

Installation:

TWiki Installation Instructions

License:

GNU General Public License (GPL)

I added UseMod, a wiki software written in Perl.

More for the line up!

I added more categories to allow for sorting of wiki softwares by programming language, database type, if a database is required, and license.

Also added blocks to allow for quick navigation of these categories.

Decided to go with two block columns instead of just one in order to allow for better ease of navigation, so now there are left and right blocks instead of just right.

Will be adding more softwares tomorrow. Link section to come soon. As well as a screenshot gallery.

I added MoinMoin to the line-up.

This is a very powerful wiki software powered by Python.

When time permits, we will be adding the following softwares to this site:

usemod
tracwiki
subwiki
twiki
instiki
gowiki
tiddlywiki
xwiki

In addition, further down the line we will be adding information about Content Management Systems (CMS) that incorporate wiki capability. One example would be Drupal, which powers this very site.

These updates will come in a timely manner.