Wikis For Dummies®

Chapter 11. Getting Your Wiki Engine Up and Running

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Getting your own wiki engine running

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Finding an Internet mechanic

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The basic requirements for getting started

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Getting help during installation

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Configuring the TWiki engine

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Wikis are run by programs called wiki engines. For most of the history of wikis, getting a wiki engine running was much harder than most people could handle. That’s why engineers had all the fun with wikis. They had the servers and advanced technical skills, allowing them to set up their own wiki engines in a snap. Today, hosted wikis (also known as wiki farms) allow many more people to get in the game. At a hosted wiki, a generic wiki engine is already set up and running on the farm. To get a hosted wiki up and running now takes only five or ten minutes and very little technical expertise.

Although hosted wikis have their place, many organizations and situations require their own wiki engine that is under their control and not shared in any way. The market has responded in a variety of ways to this demand. No longer do you need access to your own server to get your own wiki engine going. There are many ways to have a wiki that you can call your own.

Chapter 10 shows you how to select a wiki engine. This chapter helps you get your chosen wiki engine up and running. To give you an idea of what exactly ...