Wiki software on my computer?

Is it reasonable to install wiki software onto my computer for personal use? I would probably want MediaWiki, since it's what Wikipedia is and I'm used to it. Are downloading, installing, and maintaining it unreasonably big tasks? And would it take up a lot of space? Is there something other than MediaWiki which is specifically for use on PCs?

Alternatively, are there any wiki farms anyone knows of which use MediaWiki and allow free, private wikis with unlimited (or at least ample) storage?

 

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It's probably pretty easy. I know it doesn't take up much space. You may have to setup a mySQL server, and you may have to set up an Apache server, even if you don't want to open it to the public.

I guess it really depends on your level of knowlege. You could always try it and see what happens.

 

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Just out of curiosity, what application would you use a personal Wiki for?

 

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That doesn't sound easy.

I probably don't have the knowledge to set up servers. But if it's easy to learn, I might attempt it.

If you mean how would I use it, I've been wanting a place where I could organize and keep random bits of information, such as quotes I like, things I've heard about and want to investigate further, etc. I also had the idea of having an archive of notes, lecture guides, and assignments from school.

 

Cool. I've basically the same issue and that was the reason I asked. If you find a solution that works for you, let me know

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In addition to random thoughts and notes, I have 100's of PDF files of journal articles and the like; my own articles (most are on my blog) and I've been thinking of indexing my book and magazine collection in such a way that I can attach quotes or scanned images or at least index key words of various topics of interest. Kind of like "labels" on a blog, where if you search for "archaeology" and "skull" it'll return all archaeological references to skulls in my library/hard drive.

The closest thing I've found so far is Citation 8.2, which I use regularly to create citations in any standard format for papers, but I haven't quite taken advantage of its full potential. You can include quotes, notes, comments, abstracts and the like. I also installed Zotero as a Firefox extension, but I haven't had the time to play with it either. You might want to click that link and see if it provides a useful tool for you.

 

So I'm not weird or crazy!

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How much space does your typical PDF doc take up? And do you have Adobe Acrobat, or do you make PDFs some other way?

Let me know if you do that.

I'll check that out.

That really does seem useful, especially now that I'm in college and doing academic writing.

 

Ha! Not at all. I'm a frickin' pack rat when it comes to collecting articles/books and the like. Both digital and print. Drives my wife nuts

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On average, about 1 mb but I have some that are as large as 15 mb and many that are 5-9 mb. I use Acrobat Professional, but most of my PDFs are direct downloads from journals. I do occasionally create pdfs from html files or word documents though. Acrobat Pro has a document manager, but I found it a bit cumbersome. Much easier to simply sort them and name them smartly in descriptive folders.

Heh.. I'm sure it'll be a long, drawn out process that will take months. I'll probably just do it in little chunks here and there. I thought I might develop a habit of making notes while I'm in the book or magazine for the first time or using it as a part of the research process. Citation allows for this and, as I've just discovered, so does Zotero.

The more I play with Zotero (I just did for the last hour or so), the more I'm beginning to like it. I just cataloged a dozen or so books simply by searching for key words in Amazon then clicking the icon in the address bar. Citation costs about $80 (if memory serves correct) so Zotero might be the low-cost solution for the new college student. I haven't used it to generate a bibliography as yet, so I can't comment on how it does there. Citation has always done very well for me in creating MLA or APA bibliographies.

But the more I look at Zotero, the more I think its along the lines of what you want from a Wiki without the hassle of installing Apache and MySQL. I recommend installing it, trying it, and if you don't like it you can easily uninstall it. Assuming, of course, you're using FireFox. It also has a Word plugin for writing and a Wordpress plugin for blogging.

 

I really have that same problem.

Well, I think I have ways of getting Citation, if you know what I mean.

It might work well for online stuff. But I wonder about stuff on my computer already. Also, my reasoning behind getting the wiki in the first place is that I would make articles about some of this stuff, which would help me organize this information.

Me? Not have Firefox? What kind of person do you think I am?

 

Hello, old thread.

I'd like to tell people that since I made this thread, I found Wiki on a Stick. It works pretty well for my needs, and it's very small and easy to use. It's even self-contained, so I can move it anywhere, no problem. But I wish I could more easily put pictures and stuff in my articles. I also don't like it when the sidebar grows longer than the screen, because it won't scroll. Oh well.

I have Zotero too, but I haven't really used it. I really gotta get around to doing that.

 

On Zotero: I spent a couple of hours inputing ISBNs for my book collection and entering data for the many scientific articles I have on PDF relating to anthropology, geology and archaeology. Then I went to search the Zotero database about a month later and none of my data could be found. Not a single entry. I haven't had the opportunity to really look closer at the issue, maybe an update via Firefox caused the datafile to delete or no longer be linked.

Instead, I've entered most of my PDFs and Ebooks in Citation 8.2 and It's been pretty handy to use in searching for individual records based on keywords and creating bibliographies. Once I'm finished, I plan to print an index by keyword, which will include abstracts and summaries. Then I'll move my PDF library to a DVD (it won't fit on CD).

 

compared to plain text acrobat files are an absolute waste of space and resources.
it isn't at all unusual for a 500KB (kilobyte) plaintext file to generate a 20 or 25MB (megabyte) PDF file. an absolute pig.

 

Keynote (now defunct, sadly, but old versions are still available) is great for most note-taking purposes. It's not suitable for something as complex as PDF files but, if all you want is a means for keeping notes, links together with the odd picture, it's ideal. Everyone should have a copy (it is, of course, free).