Productivity Tools on PC (4)

10 Nov 2013   Category: Productivity

DokuWiki, more specific, DokuWikiStick is the final choice of me for wiki software.

Why I need a wiki?

To avoid infobesity and manage personal knowledgement.

Why I chose DokuWiki?

• Opensource and free;
• Simple, clean, easy to maintain and backup;
• Works on plain text file. No need for database;
• Continuous release/update and active community;
• Lots of available plugins;
• Normal wiki functionalities like version control, search etc;
• Cross different platforms (Windows/Linux).

Why DokuWikiStick?

Easy to integrate with Dropbox. I could view my personal wiki pages on any computers. Because it is running on plain text files, I could even read it on my phone.

Plugins in use

1. fontcolor for different font colors;
2. markdownextra for markdown syntax;
3. mathjax for math formula.

After installing vector template, it really looks like Wikipedia/MediaWiki.

How I use it?

I install it in my Dropbox folder and sync it between Windows 7 laptop in my office and Archlinux netbook at home (my cell phone is able to access to it as well). Localhost running gets rid of the access control problem and security issues.

Overall structure of my personal wiki lists as below:

• Work
  • Company 1 [tips and summary during working]
• Learning
  • English
  • Wireless
  • Computer
• Life
  • GTD [weekly and monthly retrospective]
  • Account [not in use anymore]
  • Websites [not in use anymore]
• Reading [reading notes]
  • Chinese
  • English

Cons

• Not support Markdown syntax natively. Though there is markdown plugin, it’s not convinient;
• No rich editor to WYSIWYG. Actually it’s not a disadvantage for me;
• Apache is a must to running it. But it’s inevitable. Isn’t it?