Set up a DokuWiki

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This guide will show you how to set up a basic wiki using DokuWiki in your public_html directory (http://ssh.shellium.org/~username/). DokuWiki is a standards compliant, simple to use Wiki, mainly aimed at creating documentation of any kind. All data is stored in plain text files – no database is required.

Requirements: Basic knowledge of the shell, a web browser.

Why would I want a wiki?

There are several reasons you might want to start your own wiki - maybe you have a group of people who are interested in a niche subject (mascot costume making?) and want a place to collaborate, or maybe you're planning an event and want to make sure everything's written down and planned so nobody forgets.

In addition, DokuWiki can be used as a personal content management system - maybe as a showcase for your own projects and/or essays, or it's even possible to use it as a blog.

OK, I'm convinced. Now how do I set one up?

First, log in to your server, and change to the public_html directory. From there, you can create a new sub-directory to put the wiki in - or else you can just put the wiki directly in the public_html directory, in which case it will be accessible directly from your base URL (http://ssh.shellium.org/~username/). There are benefits to each - in the case of putting it in public_html, you will have a shorter URL to share, but maybe you don't want your wiki to be the main part of your site. In the case of putting it in a sub-directory, you will have a slightly longer URL to share, but you can easily integrate it as part of a larger site, or you can set up multiple independent sites without issue.

Download the latest stable version of DokuWiki from here into the directory you wish to install DokuWiki in (the directory you created above, or public_html, using wget on your shell:

cd ~/public_html OR cd ~/public_html/dokuwiki
wget http://www.splitbrain.org/_media/projects/dokuwiki/dokuwiki-2009-12-25c.tgz
# The following command strips out the first directory while untarring the archive, so that all the relevant files get placed directly in the current directory
tar xzv --strip-components 1 -f dokuwiki-2009-12-25c.tgz

Now you must make sure that all the files have the necessary permissions for the web server to find them - the easiest way to do this is to run a few simple commands:

# Make sure the current directory is readable and executable
chmod 755 .
# Make sure all sub-directories are readable and executable
find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \; -print
# Make sure all files are readable and executable
find . -type f -exec chmod 755 {} \; -print

TODO!!! The above permissions may not be correct, or may be too lax. Please check that they are working and secure.

Now you can open a web browser, and run through the web-based install process. Open install.php using your web browser in the directory you downloaded your DokuWiki in to (http://ssh.shellium.org/~username/install.php or http://ssh.shellium.org/~username/dokuwiki/install.php for example).

It is suggested that you enable the ACL, as this will give you control over who can see what parts of your wiki, make sure users have to log in before editing (if that's what you want), etc.

Now you have a working wiki! Seed it with some initial content - a statement of what the wiki's purpose is, possibly a few relevant pages - and share it with the world! The link will be the same as the install page, except without the install.php part - so for our examples above, http://ssh.shellium.org/~username/ or http://ssh.shellium.org/~username/dokuwiki/.

FAQ

This guide didn't work for me, can you help?

You could check DokuWiki's wiki, or ask in SHellium's IRC channel, or in DokuWiki's IRC channel if necessary.

This wiki is a bit bland, can I theme it or add additional functionality?

Yes you can! The DokuWiki Manual has a guide to using, administrating and adapting DokuWiki to suit your purposes.