Constructing a Local Wiki

[Kohan]

Ordinarily, I try my best to provide help to others in this forum; this time, I'm asking for aid.

Is anyone aware of a good tutorial site or self-contained package (e.g., something with the script and instructions) about constructing a local Wiki? The idea is creating something that is locally accessible -- such as being contained within one machine on a local HDD, not as an intranet hosted on a server -- that can eventually be modified and uploaded as a complete Wiki.

The only thing I have ever found is TiddlyWiki - a reusable non-linear personal web notebook, which doesn't help me as that's not a real Wiki. I don't want all of the content contained within a single file which it can't be exported from.

It doesn't have to be a "Local Wiki for Dummies"-level type thing, as I have edited and created Wikipedia pages and have a rudimentary grasp on things. I am also capable of coding in HTML, and my significant other knows a multitude of languages (XML, CSS, Java, et cetera). However, I still need something to help me get started, and resources for coders who already know what they're doing are unfortunately useless to me.

Can anyone provide any guidance? Thank you in advance.

[Shuemue]

I don't know the specifics, but it'd probably be easiest to run Apache locally and host the wiki on 127.0.0.1, then you could use any wiki software you like.

[Arkanna]

MediaWiki

MediaWiki may be a bit much for your needs, I'm not sure. But if you're capable of setting up and running Apache, PHP, and MySQL on your machine, MediaWiki should cover your needs.

[Kohan]

I'll research MediaWiki and see about setting up an Apache server on my machine. Thank you.

To anyone else who reads this thread: any other bits of advice?

[Senoska]

Go with the apache on your machine. I suggest downloading Xampp very easy to download and install, and open and run.

[Zosi]

Software: MoWeS Portable - CH Software

Instructions: Manual:Installing on WOS Portable (Windows - MediaWiki)

You can install on your main drive rather than a USB flash drive, it doesn't matter.

There's not really much in between TiddlyWiki (which is fucking awesome <3) and a full-fledged Apache/MySQP/PHP system, so if you want "real wiki", you'll get "real wiki" complete with all the complexity. There's not a substantial difference between MoWeS and a basic setup with the packages mentioned, it's just all packaged together and configured with some scripts to make the installation as simple as possible.

Edit: I should add, just for clarification, that anything hosted on XAMPP or MoWeS will be 100% portable to a real hosted server. Once your wiki's installed and running, it's all contained in your database system, which makes it pretty simple (relatively speaking) to dump and import into another MediaWiki install.

[Kohan]

Complexity isn't an issue, as I'm willing to learn whatever it takes. I do intend to host the Wiki on the internet one day, so I'll need to be familiar with the nuances of such a task.

Thanks for your advice everyone, I should be able to work with things from here.

[Senoska]

It's not even a matter of complexity. This seriously takes like two minutes, if that.

Download Xampp and start it.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5853/easy1mk2.jpg
Drag the wiki files into the correct folder
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4883/easy2qg2.jpg
Navigate a browser to 127.0.0.1 or type localhost in the address bar
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4414/easy3tt3.jpg
configure wiki

Done.

[Zeith]

FWIW I think MediaWiki is a little overfeatured for local use. I'd recommend checking out Oddmuse personally. Also, remember that most every wiki out there is going to require a db backend in addition to your web server, and most of them will require PHP or Perl as well.