Comments on: TikiWiki http://www.opensourcewcms.com/tikiwiki/   Open Source Content Management System Reviews Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:47:29 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Daniel Peterson http://www.opensourcewcms.com/tikiwiki/comment-page-1/#comment-78 Daniel Peterson Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:11:04 +0000 http://www.opensourcewcms.com/?p=157#comment-78 This was a waste of a perfectly good Saturday afternoon! I experienced one problem after another to the point where I gave up. I am new to this so take my problems with a grain of salt. I’m sure someone more seasoned will probably have a better experience. I’m going to have to rate TikiWiki pretty low. This was a waste of a perfectly good Saturday afternoon! I experienced one problem after another to the point where I gave up. I am new to this so take my problems with a grain of salt. I’m sure someone more seasoned will probably have a better experience. I’m going to have to rate TikiWiki pretty low.

]]> By: Rahul http://www.opensourcewcms.com/tikiwiki/comment-page-1/#comment-67 Rahul Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:01:18 +0000 http://www.opensourcewcms.com/?p=157#comment-67 TikiWiki is open source software — it is written in PHP, uses phpAdmin for mySQL database administration, and uses the Smarty Template Engine. Installation - Since our host installed the TikiWiki, I cannot comment on ease of installation. While TikiWiki has many features, only the features used on the Spotlight on Lake website will be reviewed. Administration - It is hard to determine what some features are and do, such as the Ephemerides feature. Documentation is sadly lacking! The most complete documentation is for Version 1.6, and Version 1.9 is the current release — so many of the newer features do not have any documentation. While there are Forums and a documentation website, the "Search" feature does not work for either site! Many Forum questions are not answered in a timely manner or incorrect information is supplied. Asking a question with IRC chat may also be an exercise in futility or frustration. On the plus side, it is a simple process to turn features on and off by unchecking or checking a box. User Rights — It is easy to set user rights to groups or individuals. General Preferences - While you can add the site's title in this section, you cannot add metatag keywords or description. In order to add this information, you will need to modify the "header.tpl" file. Theme — If you want to create a custom design or to modify an existing CSS theme, be sure to select the "moreneat" theme. After basing my design on a different style, I was later informed, "The others are buggy at best, use 'moreneat' as it's the most stable CSS template". Home Page — Do not select the "custom home" option. I originally selected this option, and was told "It doesn't work correctly - don't use that feature". The Wiki — This section was easy to set up and use. If you have never used a Wiki before there are several items of note: (1) to create a link to a new Wiki page, do not use any spaces in the link text and add double parentheses before and after the link text; (2) use the question mark ("?") link, to add content to the new Wiki page; (3) with spellchecking, there are times when the Wiki will place a question mark after a business name or word. To avoid this, use double parentheses around the word. TikiWiki is open source software — it is written in PHP, uses phpAdmin for mySQL database administration, and uses the Smarty Template Engine.

Installation – Since our host installed the TikiWiki, I cannot comment on ease of installation.

While TikiWiki has many features, only the features used on the Spotlight on Lake website will be reviewed.

Administration – It is hard to determine what some features are and do, such as the Ephemerides feature. Documentation is sadly lacking! The most complete documentation is for Version 1.6, and Version 1.9 is the current release — so many of the newer features do not have any documentation. While there are Forums and a documentation website, the “Search” feature does not work for either site! Many Forum questions are not answered in a timely manner or incorrect information is supplied. Asking a question with IRC chat may also be an exercise in futility or frustration. On the plus side, it is a simple process to turn features on and off by unchecking or checking a box.

User Rights — It is easy to set user rights to groups or individuals.

General Preferences – While you can add the site’s title in this section, you cannot add metatag keywords or description. In order to add this information, you will need to modify the “header.tpl” file.

Theme — If you want to create a custom design or to modify an existing CSS theme, be sure to select the “moreneat” theme. After basing my design on a different style, I was later informed, “The others are buggy at best, use ‘moreneat’ as it’s the most stable CSS template”.

Home Page — Do not select the “custom home” option. I originally selected this option, and was told “It doesn’t work correctly – don’t use that feature”.

The Wiki — This section was easy to set up and use. If you have never used a Wiki before there are several items of note: (1) to create a link to a new Wiki page, do not use any spaces in the link text and add double parentheses before and after the link text; (2) use the question mark (”?”) link, to add content to the new Wiki page; (3) with spellchecking, there are times when the Wiki will place a question mark after a business name or word. To avoid this, use double parentheses around the word.

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