Organize Your Life With A Wiki

Posted 10/05/2007 at 10:13am | by Gina Trapani

2

Comments

Print

Everyone with a hyperactive brain needs a simple tool to organize lists and notes, and a special type of website, a wiki, could be just the ticket. (The name comes from the word wikiwiki, which is Hawaiian for “quick.”) A wiki is an editable website, like the one that powers the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Anyone can add, update, and remove pages on a wiki site using just a web browser and easy-to-use, free software—no text editor or special knowledge is required.

While Wikipedia proves that wiki software enables large groups to collaborate, wikis have a lot to offer individual users, too. You’ll realize this when we show you how to build your own knowledge base and organization center with a wiki installed on your local PC.

Install Instiki

Instiki—free, simple wiki software—is easy to set up and use. It’s written in a programming language called Ruby, so you’ll need to start by installing the Ruby engine. Here’s how to get Instiki running on Windows:

1. Set up Ruby. Download Ruby from www.ruby-lang.org. Look for the Ruby on Windows section and download the One-click Installer. Run the installer using the default settings.
2. Set up Instiki. Download the Instiki.zip file from www.rubyforge.org. Extract the package to a folder on your computer. Rename that folder instiki and move it to the root of your C: drive.
3. Run Instiki. From Windows’s Start menu, choose Run. Type cmd in the Open text box and click OK to launch the Windows command line. Switch to the Instiki directory using the cd \instiki\ command.
4. Start the Instiki server by typing instiki.cmd and pressing Enter.

Start Instiki for the first time in the Command Prompt window.

Configure Instiki

Once Instiki’s installed and running, it’s time to visit your new wiki. Switch to a web browser and type your Instiki installation’s address into the location bar. It will be available at http://localhost:2500/.

There you’ll see Instiki’s initial setup page, where you can set your wiki’s name (you can use My Stuff) and an optional password to require administer privileges to change Instiki settings. When you’re done, click the Setup button. Congratulations! You’ve got your own personal wiki running.

Keep in mind that your wiki will be available only when instiki.cmd has been executed—otherwise, your web browser will give you a “page not available” error. Check out the heading below for more information on starting Instiki automatically as a Windows service.

Set your wiki's title and password and click the Setup button.

Run Instiki As A Service

Instead of using the command prompt, you can run Instiki as a Windows service. The Instiki service can start automatically with Windows every time you reboot (so you don’t have to do it manually), and it eliminates the unsightly Command Prompt window from your taskbar. There are several methods available; get instructions on how to run Instiki as a Windows service at rubyforge or google's cache of instiki.org's page.

Windows Firewall may pop up and ask if you want to block the Ruby interpreter. Choose Unblock to access your Instiki server.

Next: Edit and Create Wiki Pages!