Degrees's Journal: MediaWiki alternative

Today, I am going to be checking out TikiWiki, as an alternative to MediaWiki. I got a directive from my boss that he wants this system I am working on to become the central repository for all our network documentation. MediaWiki is good, but it doesn't do databases. And when you are talking about IP addresses on an installation with 2000+ hosts and 100+ networks, a database is the way to go. (We've been using a spreadsheet, but this is sub-optimal.)

Some people have gotten TikiWiki to use DaDaBik as a PHP database front-end. ("Integrate" doesn't really apply, but being able to call it at all is better than what I've got now.)

The other option is TWiki, except that it is written in Perl, and uses no database at all - it just writes and reads html into a folder structure that is the wiki. Funny thing is, TWiki does have integrated database operations (even if they are implemented in Perl.) I think it does spreadsheet calcs, too.

I really do not want to use Perl. I used to be an RPG II programmer. "Arcane as hell? Been there. Done that. Learned the lesson, am not going back."

Perl is arcane, but PHP is acceptable??

[merlyn]

You have an odd sense of "arcane". PHP is basically watered down Perl, becoming more and more like Perl every day, except without the amazingly consistent gentle hand of Larry Wall to guide it.

Re:Perl is arcane, but PHP is acceptable??

[Degrees]

If I could easily read Perl, I would probably like it. I bought the camel book, version 3, and have tried to go through it a couple times. Oooofffff! It starts out easy, then quickly devolves into a deciphering exercise, with folds as deep and rampant as the cracks in my cerebrum.

I'm too old for this.

The PHP code I've had to deal with is laid out nice and easy. I can just read it, and it makes enough sense to me that I'm happy to keep exploring further.

Nizo points out that I might not ever have to deal w

Re:Perl is arcane, but PHP is acceptable??

[elmegil]

I bought the camel book, version 3, and have tried to go through it a couple times. Oooofffff!

There's your problem. The Camel book tries to be all things to all people, and explains TONS of crap that your average programmer NEVER NEEDS TO KNOW.

Go get Learning Perl and try again :-) Oh, and Mastering Regular Expressions would probably be good too, to get a good explanation without all the folds and wrinkles.

Re:Perl is arcane, but PHP is acceptable??

[Degrees]

O.K., I got Learning Perl - the wife wanted to go for a walk, and Borders is only about twelve minutes away. :-)

They had Mastering Regular Expressions there too - but I couldn't swing almost $80 in books for a single trip. My wife will feel better about me spending the money on M.R.E. if she sees me finish L.P. first. ;-)

two cents on TWiki

[nizo]

We have been using it internally (w/o databases) for several years now. It works great and is easy to admin. I haven't had to touch the perl beyond the initial install, but if you want db support your mileage may vary.

Re:two cents on TWiki

[Degrees]

Good to know. I might still try to implement it. The TikiWiki is installed, but is doesn't seem to have as elegant 'dynamic includes' (read "templates") as MediaWiki has.

TWiki and database

[slicedot]

TWiki has a DatabasePlugin[1] to connect to external databases. It also has its internal database called TWikiForms[2] where you can build wiki applications with workflows and reports.

There is very little maintenance to do on the server after you install TWiki and some of the 150 available Plugins[3]. Most of the application programming can be done in the wiki, e.g. you do not need to know Perl or web server administration.

TWiki currently has a flat file backend. The TWiki presentation[4] lists a site tha

Re:TWiki and database

[Degrees]

Thank you for the links. The site looks impressive - I assume they are eating their own dogfood?

Looks quite good - I will install it for testing when I can.

TikiWiki had some innovative things that MediaWiki does not; but, I spent the whole day on that research. Tomorrow, I will need to do more 'content creation' work within MediaWiki. I can (and do) easily export its contents. Massaging its data to import elsewhere won't be too hard.

Import content into TWiki

[slicedot]

> Massaging its data to import elsewhere won't be too hard.

TWiki offers several converters[1]; it shouldn't be too difficult to create a MediaWikiToTWikiAddOn.

[1] http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/WebSearch?sc ope=topic&search=ToTWikiAddOn [twiki.org]

how do you spell database?

[elmegil]

We've been using a spreadsheet, but this is sub-optimal.

If only more people recognized that obvious fact. :-)

Re:how do you spell database?

[Degrees]

Boy that's the truth. Is it possible to wince and smile at the same time?

Perl Bigot here :-)

[elmegil]

I really do not want to use Perl. I used to be an RPG II programmer. "Arcane as hell? Been there. Done that. Learned the lesson, am not going back."

Perl's really NOT THAT BAD. It's all in how you write it. I can write obfuscated C too, but that's not a reason not to use it. Unless you expect to be massivly modifying the Wiki code itself (something I would not recommend), TWiki is a pretty decent Wiki solution; it's the only one I've ever actually used, and I didn't muck with the Perl bits myself :-)

Re:Perl Bigot here :-)

[Degrees]

Nizo said much the same thing, and slicedot gave me some nice links to check out.

As far as TikiWiki goes, I've struck out again trying to search on IP address. Didn't work on MediaWiki, doesn't work on TikiWiki (yet it does on a phpBB on the same machine). Might work on TikiWiki version 1.9, but one has to do the CVS thing to get it, and I'm already a little over my head here....