Help wanted from techie types.

[ewt]

I think we need a wiki for techipcom. I don't think it's going to be sensible to keep using a livejournal community for things like keeping track of online and meatspace resources. For example, I'd like to be able to compile a database of skills in order to see how practical this is going to be. I'd like to compile a list of books that various people have, so we don't end up with duplicates or triplicates (when funds could be better spent elsewhere). I'd like to keep a good links list with sub-categories and the like, without having to be the only person who has access to edit it.

I would still like some of the more thought-provoking, responsiveness stuff to show up on LJ, because it is a good discussion forum and because most people who are involved with this so far actually do read LJ. It would be really neat if people could be notified by e-mail or LJ when resource lists on the wiki are updated. Is this possible with an RSS feed of some sort, or a special LJ account and a button to press on the wiki?

How hard is it going to be for me to set up a wiki? I have some webspace on anarres.org but I don't really know what is available to me there (my stuff is all done with html in my public_html directory, also it is YEARS out of date and I need to have a go at fixing that). Alternately, are any of you techies bored enough to setup/host one on my behalf? What do I need to know about wikis? What do I need to know about security? What do I need to decide before deciding on a wiki? How hard is it to change to another sort of wiki or change aspects of a wiki once I have started?

(Cross-posted to techipcom, of course.)

Comments

[kake]

I can walk you through setting up a CGI::Wiki::Kwiki like http://london-crafts.org/ runs. Advantage of choosing that over any other is that if you want any extra features I can write them for you as I have CVS and upload access. You'll have to install some Perl modules but I can walk you through that too. If you want a drop-in single script that Just Works then UseMod is probably the next best, though it does have limitations, and is almost impossible to amend sensibly. We ran http:/;/london.openguides.org/ on UseMod for ages before our requirements outgrew it.

[reddragdiva]

http://www.wikicities.com/ offers free wiki hosting, though it requires an Open Content (GFDL or Creative Commons) license on the content - it's really intended for public collaborative enterprises, not in-house wikis.

It runs on MediaWiki, which reputedly installs very easily if MySQL, Apache and PHP are already in place.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

This would be extremely helpful. Can I e-mail you to discuss this further when I have finished my assignments? We're coming up to the end of semester here and I have stupid numbers of things due on 21st January, then exams after that so I'm very busy at the moment.

[kake]

Can I e-mail you to discuss this further when I have finished my assignments?

Yes, of course. kake@earth.li if you don't have it handy.