Comparison of wiki farms

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A wiki farm is a server or an array of servers that provides hosting for multiple wikis. Wiki farms are also known as "hosted wiki service providers."

Before wiki farms were available, users who wanted to share information on-line through a Wiki devoted to their own subject, had to install a Wiki server of their own, configure it, connect it to the Internet and maintain it. With wiki farms this process is greatly simplified. In order to operate a wiki on a wiki farm nowadays, there is no need to get a private web server and to install Wiki software.

Non-commercial and commercial Wiki farms are available for users and online communities. While most of the wiki farms allow anyone to open their own Wiki, some impose restrictions.

Many wiki farm companies generate revenue through the insertion of advertisements, but often allow payment of a monthly fee as an alternative to accepting ads.

The Wikis on the wiki farms are normally provided with a standard layout, or a choice of layouts, usually known as skins. Some wiki farms allow the layout to be customised using cascading style sheets (css).

Contents

[edit] General

The following tables compare general information for several wiki farms; however, more than 100 wiki farms have been created.[1] Further information can be found at the websites themselves, or in the linked article for some of the more notable ones. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up to date. It does not review or endorse any wiki farm, nor does it include any advertising hyperbole. See the external links at the end for more info, reviews, forums, etc.

Wiki farm URL Alexa[2] Cost? Ad? Content license
@wiki [1] &0000000000150000.000000150,000 free yes
BluWiki [2] &0000000000185000.000000185,000 free no GFDL
BrainKeeper [3] &0000000001000000.0000001,000,000 nonfree  ?
Central Desktop [4] &0000000000030000.00000030,000  ?  ?
ClearWiki [5] &0000000000350000.000000350,000 Free/Paid  ?
Confluence Hosted [6] &0000000000020000.00000020,000 Paid[3]  ?
CustomerVision BizWiki [7] &0000000001600000.0000001,600,000 Paid  ?
EditMe [8] &0000000000100000.000000100,000 Paid  ?
EditThis.info [9] &0000000000080000.00000080,000 free text
eTouch SamePage [10] &0000000000550000.000000550,000 Paid  ?
Gratis-Wiki [11] &0000000000173000.000000173,000 Free yes[4]
GROU.PS [12] &0000000000190000.000000190,000 free no
HelpingStudents.org [13] &0000000005300000.0000005,300,000 Free/paid  ? License
Hive Wiki [14] &0000000002500000.0000002,500,000 free  ?
HOAwiki [15] &0000000002500000.0000002,500,000 paid no GPL (TikiWiki), customized site
JotSpot Wiki [16] &0000000000037000.00000037,000 free  ?
LittleWiki [17] &0000000000630000.000000630,000 free AS
Metadot Wiki [18] &0000000007100000.0000007,100,000 free[5]  ?
MojWiki [19] &0000000004300000.0000004,300,000 Free AS
MonkeeBiz [20] &0000000004600000.0000004,600,000 Free  ?
MyFreeWiki [21] &0000000002000000.0000002,000,000 free no User Choice
[Netcipia [22] &0000000001100000.0000001,100,000 Free[6] no
nexdo(formerly Partnertext) [23] &0000000007100000.0000007,100,000 Free/paid  ?
Oddwiki [24] &0000000000810000.000000810,000 Free  ?
On-wiki [25] &0000000000022000.00000022,000 Free yes
OpenTeams [26] &0000000001300000.0000001,300,000 Paid[7]  ?
Ourproject.org [27] &0000000000210000.000000210,000 free no Copyleft (choice of Creative Commons, GNU FDL, other licenses)
PAUX [28] &0000000008500000.0000008,500,000 Free/paid  ? Copyleft license
PBwiki [29] &0000000000005100.0000005,100 Free/paid no
PicoWiki [30] &Expression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operatorExpression error: Unexpected > operator.Expression error: Unexpected > operator>100,000 Free/donationware - for personal wikis optimized for iPhone and smartphones no user choice
ProjectForum [31] &0000000000600000.000000600,000 Paid  ?
ProjectLocker [32] &0000000001900000.0000001,900,000 Paid  ?
Richdex [33] &Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?".Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "?"? Free text GFDL
Riters.com [34] &0000000006300000.0000006,300,000 Free  ?
ScribbleWiki [35] &0000000000180000.000000180,000 Free text User Choice
Schtuff.com [36] &0000000000600000.000000600,000 Free AS Doesn't require a particular license for contributed material
SeedWiki [37] &0000000000140000.000000140,000 Free/paid no
SnoutHold Cospire [38] &0000000001500000.0000001,500,000 Free  ?
SpiveyWorks Wiki [39] &0000000010000000.00000010,000,000 Free  ? Custom
StikiPad [40] &0000000000090000.00000090,000 Free/paid yes
Uwiki.com [41] &0000000007600000.0000007,600,000 Free  ?
ViaWiki [42] &0000000005300000.0000005,300,000 Free/paid  ?
Wetpaint [43] &0000000000004400.0000004,400 Free AS Creative Commons
Wik.is [44] &0000000000150000.000000150,000 Free/paid  ?
Wikia [45] &0000000000000400.000000400 Free yes GFDL
Wikidot [46] &0000000000011000.00000011,000 Free no By default Creative Commons, GNU FDL, other licenses as requested
Wikihost.org [47] &0000000000220000.000000220,000 Free yes By default Creative Commons, others as needed
WikiLot [48] &0000000000240000.000000240,000 Free yes GNU FDL
WikiNote [49] &0000000004200000.0000004,200,000 Free  ? No enforced license
Wiki-site.com [50] &0000000000120000.000000120,000 Free, text ads/paid  ? Wiki creators can set their own
Wikispaces [51] &0000000000005000.0000005,000 Free/paid Yes-No Choice of Creative Commons, GNU FDL, other licenses
Wiki Spot [52] &0000000000690000.000000690,000 Free[8] no User choice, default Creative Commons Attribution
WikyBlog.com [53] &0000000000760000.000000760,000 Free  ? Any, integrated Creative Commons licenses
XWiki [54] &0000000000200000.000000200,000 Free/paid no Any
Babylon.wiki [55] &0000000002200000.0000002,200,000 Free yes BSD-like
Russian wiki community [56] &0000000002200000.0000002,200,000 negotiatable  ? negotiatable
Wiki farm URL Alexa[9] Cost? Ad? Content license

[edit] Technical

Wiki farm WYSIWYG editing Features Wiki engine Multilingual support Syntax support
@wiki Yes Selectable edit-mode (WikiText or WYSIWYG or text), access control, file uploads, importing, full-text search, and RSS abilities. Custom English, Chinese, Korean and others Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
Math formulas
BluWiki  ? No subscription needed, users can make new wiki articles. Subdomains are supported. [57] MediaWiki 1.6.7 Supports English, German, Spanish, French, and most other languages. Incorrect support of Russian. MediaWiki,
Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
Math formulas
BrainKeeper Yes Access control, full-text search, calendaring, single sign-on to multiple projects, project templates, RSS enabled. Custom Some HTML,[1]
no script
No formulas
Central Desktop Yes Access control, full-text search, calendaring, single sign-on to multiple projects, project templates, RSS enabled. Custom Some HTML,[1]
CSS/templating
No formulas
ClearWiki Yes Private secure wikis (with sub-domains) - each wiki has own physical database. File storage, version control, full text search (incl docs/files), to-do lists, RSS enabled, blogs, discussions, image galleries (with thumbnailing), meta-tagging (labelling), content starring, teams/groups. Custom English only Some HTML,[1]
WYSIWYG edit
Confluence Hosted Yes Wiki markup language, plugins, SSL, file storage, permissioning, WebDAV. HTML plugin
script plugin
No formulas
CustomerVision BizWiki Yes Access control, page templates, domain mapping, solution templates include Sales Support, and Learning Support. Custom
EditMe Subscription-based, SSL Encryption, and Custom Domain Support. Custom, Java-based All HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
No formulas
EditThis.info  ? Unlimited pages and users, wiki spam protection, 25MB of disk space, and RSS feeds. MediaWiki 1.5.5 Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
No formulas
eTouch SamePage Yes Project management, permissioning, administration and support for multiple domains. Custom, powered by eTouch CMS
Gratis-Wiki  ? The only skin available is Monobook; 100MB of disk space. MediaWiki 1.5.6
GROU.PS Yes Permissioning, unlimited disk space, extra modules (Blogs, Photos, Links, Calendar etc) Custom English, French, Turkish Some HTML, WYSIWYG Edit
HelpingStudents.org Yes Java server pages, scripts and plugin wiki options for school administrators and teachers that provide parental information resources WikiText and HTML editing, metasearch, factoring, permissioning, SSL Encryption, Private Intranet implementation with public integration administration and support. JSPWiki
Hive Wiki  ? WikiText and HTML editing, metasearch, factoring, permissioning, administration and support for multiple domains and publicly creatable subdomains Custom, .NET-based
HOAwiki.com Not yet CMS, layered permissions, dynamic content, online forms, articles, file galleries, image galleries w/slideshow, full-text search, RSS/Atom feeds, articles, blogs, surveys, chat, link directory, classifieds, mail-in posting, mobile, Newsletters, more ... TikiWiki 1.9.9 (last stable) Multilingual to 17 languages (so far) HTML, Smarty code
JotSpot Wiki Yes Build wiki applications, search MS attachments, email integration. Free version limited to 20 pages and 5 users. Recently purchased by Google (as of 1 Nov 06) and integrated into Google Sites. Custom
LittleWiki Yes Plaintext editors available Custom, Java-based
Metadot Wiki  ? 7th-generation portal server product adding full wiki functionality; user experience minimizes shelfware-effect; hosted and on-premise options, on-premise version includes unlimited wiki creation (wiki-on-demand); user/group-assignable password system provides complete access control (visibility, editing, changing passwords) over pages and gizmos (rss mgr, news mgr, blurb editor, FAQ mgr, etc.) on each page; all gizmo placement and configuration done "on-page"; template-driven allows for complete customization - check out www.ifno.tv Custom (Metadot Open) All HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
No formulas
MojWiki  ? In Slovenian language. MoinMoin Slovenian
MonkeeBiz  ? Integrated photo gallery, blog, to do list, forum, and access control. Custom, Ruby on Rails
MyFreeWiki Yes Easy and Fast, plaintext editors available. Integrated photo gallery. Custom, Enzym English and French All HTML, Javascript
Netcipia Yes Blog, public and private wiki, 2GB per wiki created, no time limit, right management XWiki English only All HTML,
JavaScript,
No math
nexdo (formerly Partnertext) Yes WYSIWYG HTML editing Custom All HTML,[1]
unknown script
No formulas
Oddwiki  ? Oddmuse
On-wiki Yes Attachments, multimedia, writing formulaes, plotting graphs, raw HTML MoinMoin
OpenTeams Yes 3-pane drag-and-drop Ajax-based interface similar to email and newsfeed readers, private secure wiki spaces (including invitation-only and a domain security option based on validated email domains, i.e. "Everybody with email@domain.com"), tags, blog, bliki, "What's New" views, draft autosaving, discussion, attachments with version history, SSL, unlimited spaces, pages, edits, versions, storage, and bandwidth. Custom
Ourproject.org Yes Offers a wide collection of services for multi-purpose free/libre projects (not only free software: free knowledge), including wikis, mailing lists, forums, FTP, subdomains, hosting, ddbb... MoinMoin Supports English, Spanish, French, and many other languages.
PAUX Password-protected wikis on .dreusicke-verlag.de. No page limits, SSL, picture gallery included. Custom Some HTML,[1]
unknown script
Math formulas
PBwiki Password-protected wikis on .pbwiki.com subdomain (higher-level paid plans allow use of a custom URL). No page limits, SSL, RSS & Atom, ZIP backups, diffs, six wiki "skins", file uploads, page hiding, page locking. Over 490,000 wikis hosted. One level of folders used to organize pages. Folder- and page-level access controls available to paying customers and business users. Free accounts limited to 10 MB, paying accounts get up to 10 GB. Custom All HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
LaTeX formulas
ProjectForum Custom Optional HTML,
unknown script
No formulas[1]
ProjectLocker Focused on providing software development tools as a service. Wiki features include Unlimited document storage, Custom access profiles for partners, customers, and managers, Support for attachments on documents, Privacy Commitment - Your Data is Yours Alone, Secure access via SSL, RAID 1 redundant storage of all data, Nightly backups, 24/7 Server Monitoring Custom
Richdex Creation of a wiki is subject to approval; it must have a large potential audience and be likely to attract enough editors/administrators. Projects which overlap existing Richdex Wikis are not accepted. There is no means to close an inactive wiki. Domains, names and identifiers are owned by Richdex, not by the respective communities. MediaWiki 1.10.0
Riters.com Line document collaboration service and Wiki farm MoinMoin
ScribbleWiki MediaWiki 1.10.0
Schtuff.com Supports tags & permissions. Backups, but no automatic recovery, if data is lost from server. Registered users can also leave comments on pages. Supports totally open pages, as well. Picture Gallery included w/ new wikis. As of April 2007, Schtuff.com migrated to PBwiki. Custom
SeedWiki Yes cross-platform WYSIWYG editing, stylesheets, subdomains.seedwiki.com, wiki-mode, subscriptions; paid option for having one's own domain that the wiki-owner can tag on to his wiki Custom All HTML,[1]
JavaScript and Seedwiki widgets
Plugin formulas
SnoutHold Cospire Yes Permissions, public/private security models, ratings, feedback mechanisms, search engine, category organizer, profiles Custom
SpiveyWorks Wiki Simple and straight-forward interface for creating and editing private or public wikis. Create wikis using HTML markup instead of a special wiki language. Custom
StikiPad In free version support access restriction, RSS feeds, tags & tag search, personalized subdomain, skins, file attachments, draft autosaving. Do not fully support history. Only last changes will be highlighted. No page hierarchies. No page permission settings. Custom Optional HTML,
unknown script
No formulas[1]
Uwiki.com In Chinese DokuWiki Chinese
ViaWiki Yes Free version is ad-supported, paid version has option of using own domain, attach files, no limit on number of pages and backups, max 5GB (pain version)[10] Deki Wiki
Wetpaint Yes WYSIWYG editing only, custom page hierarchies, Comment and Reply forums with comment ratings, access control, keyword search, tags, tag filtering, skins, RSS, page locking, profiles, site activity report, page and comment watching. No page permission settings. No changes preview. Supported browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox. Custom, Java-based No HTML,[1]
Unknown script
No formulas
Wik.is Yes Access control, full-text search (including file attachments), document management, light project management, database, project templates, RSS enabled, stores in XML, Deki Wiki a full featured engine (a MediaWiki fork). Free account 1 GB. Paid account ($60/yr) 10 GB. Deki Wiki
Wikia No Wiki hosting service created in 2004, formerly known as Wikicities. All wikis have common login and preferences. Single sign-on to multiple projects. Database download available. Creation of a wiki is subject to approval; must have a large potential audience and be likely to attract enough editors. Projects which overlap existing Wikia or Wikimedia are not accepted. No means to close an inactive wiki, even if the community has moved elsewhere. Wikia domains, names and identifiers owned by Wikia Inc, not the respective communities. There is also a "Scratchpad" wiki subdivided into categories, which welcomes all content. MediaWiki 1.12alpha All languages Wikipedia exists for (and some more); Community Support in English, Chinese, German, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese. Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
Math formulas
Wikidot Each site gets a subdomain on .wikidot.com (like mywiki.wikidot.com). Also there is possibility to map a custom domain (like mywiki.com -- if previously registered by the wiki owner) for free. One can optionally allow Wikidot to display ads on their wiki and get 80% of revenue. RSS import/export, private RSS feeds for Users (notifications and watched items), RSS for page changes and forum, customizable themes (every item can be styled with CSS), advanced forum for each Site. Custom page hierarchies, searching, advanced page (full/section/append) edit locking, blocking users and IP addresses. Private messages between users. Uses Ajax for clean and fast (no browser page-reload) interface. SEO-friendly. No limits on site size. Public and private wikis. Lots of widgets, that allow to embed a video from YouTube, GoogleVideo, photos from Flickr, chats from Meebo and many more). Each user can create up to 20 wiki sites and be a member of an unlimited number of wikis. Modified Text_Wiki engine English, Polish, Russian and Community support in French, German, ... more to come. No HTML,[1]
CSS styling
LaTeX math formulas
Wikihost.org 100 MB space, File and Image upload, User authentication, Private wikis, Subdomains for wikis larger than 30 pages, RSS, Edit locking, Fulltext search, Email notifications, Complete wiki export, Unlimited pages, Unlimited Revisions, Diff function, Revert of old revisions GeboGebo
WikiLot No No limit on number of pages or number of accounts. MediaWiki Over 70 Languages Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
Math formulas
WikiNote No limit on number of pages (64KB/page limit) or number of accounts, complete page history, integration with Shortify Custom, PHP-based
Wiki-site.com Yes Wiki farm with unlimited pages and users, wiki spam protection, user rights control for paid accounts. Interface in 150 languages. A free *.wiki-site.com domain is offered. Google text-ads added to the right sidebar for free accounts. MediaWiki 1.11.0 English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and over 70 other languages. Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
Math formulas
Wikispaces Yes Clean easy to use interface, users get a subdomain on wikispaces.com. Free version supported by Google ads - Wikispaces ads can be turned off for a fee. No limits on numbers of pages, spaces, or members. Full RSS support; easy space backups in zip and tgz. Blog import function/ integration with Blogger.com and Typepad. Themes and stylesheets can be customized. Private label service available. Custom Optional HTML,[1]
Unknown script
Math formulas
Wiki Spot No advertising, user accounts work on all wikis, use bookmarks and track changes across multiple wikis. Customizable CSS by wiki and user CSS. Simple, intuitive syntax. No limits on pages/disk space. RSS feeds available on all pages. Easy to create a wiki and configure settings. Sycamore
WikyBlog.com No advertising on user accounts, unlimited custom skins, AJAX enhanced tabbed interface Custom (WikyBlog) UTF-8 with English, Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Spanish and Korean Some HTML,[1]
No script
No math
XWiki custom skin, unlimited users XWiki All HTML,[1]
velocity/groovy
No formulas
Babylon.wiki For Russian-language sites MediaWiki 1.5.8 UTF-8/Russian Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
Math formulas
Russian wiki community negotiatable MediaWiki 1.5.8 UTF-8/Russian Some HTML,[1]
JavaScript,
Math formulas
Wiki farm WYSIWYG editing Features Wiki engine Multilingual support Syntax support

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "WikiMatrix - Compare them all" (selectable table), WikiMatrix, 2007, webpage: wikimatrix-org-main.
  2. ^ Approximative rank according to Alexa Internet. Click on the rank to get the last figures.
  3. ^ Free for charitable nonprofits and open source projects
  4. ^ text and splash
  5. ^ Fee for Wiki-On-Demand & Management Console
  6. ^ paid for dedicated servers
  7. ^ Free for charitable nonprofits and read-only access
  8. ^ (For generally non-commercial projects. See Wiki Spot Community Guidelines)
  9. ^ Approximative rank according to Alexa Internet. Click on the rank to get the last figures.
  10. ^ viawiki.com

[edit] External links