We are interested in setting up an engineering knowledge base on our intranet. We are considering using a wiki for this, to simplify entering information, editing, and versioning. Has anyone used a wiki for something like this? Could you recommend one (preferably free) that may work for us? Thanks in advance.

Sean posted about using a Wiki for this purpose a while back, and it also got me thinking about setting something up here. I forget if this was his link or one I searched for later, but it has quite a comprehensive comparison of many Wiki programs.

HTH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software

I haven't used any of them yet, so I can't give any recommendations. The idea is pretty neat, though.

Here's the original topic.

http://www.mcadforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7293&highlight=wiki

Thanks for the reply. I also found this site: http://www.wikimatrix.org/. They have a very comprehensive comparison of tons of wiki software. So much that it's almost counterproductive unless you know very specifically what you want. Our needs are fairly basic, so many different tools will work for us.

I found out from IT that we have the latest version of Windows Sharepoint Server, which is already used in house for...something. Regardless, it has a wiki structure as a page option built into it. We are going to start trying with that, since it fits in to the intranet structure already in place. Other options that seemed good were Twiki and Docuwiki. Anyone else with experience like this, I would love to hear it.

I tried TikiWiki a while back but want not pleased. I do not recall why however.

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Can't recommend one, but...

I am transferring all of our controlled ISO9001 documents, internal audits, and other scheduled events to a Wiki. It's actually working-- the wiki is helping to make things "certifiably" more efficient without bogging us down in paperwork.

I think an engineering knowlege base would be great to go along with that (either way-- subset or independent wiki), but I haven't yet found anything "prefab" that fits the need.

For what I have, I started with just the basic mediawiki. I am adding/writing mods as needed to fill in the gaps. It's all PHP and MySQL, so customization is wide open if you have the time and skills to do it.

If you don't have Wiki experience, start with the base. Install it; get acquainted with WikiCode, Wiki config files, and the database tools. It seems stupidly simple at first, but there is a steep learning curve if you want to use everything "right." That's the main problem I've had in the past with my half-baked wiki deployments. It's attractive at first, but not a viable solution for everybody in every situation.

Well-written mods, addins, and templates are usually pretty easy to apply to a working Wiki, so don't be afraid to begin adding data while you wait to find the right ones.

I don't know if the same is true for Sharepoint, but if the software is made by Microsoft, I'd guess that it's not.

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George Radcliffe

>I found out from IT that we have the latest version of Windows Sharepoint Server

if you have Sharepoint, I would use it. We also use Sharepoint (with a very good IT dept setting it up and maintaining) and it is wonderful. Many information silos have been knocked down and information is available across many depts. There are some limitations, but you should be able to set up a Document Library as a knowledge base fairly easily.