native wiki

[dvsDave]

The biggest blank spot in both VB and IPB is their lack of a native wiki product.

I want a wiki product with multiple namespaces and autolinking of terms from the the forums to the wiki entry. I also want to be able to see a list of terms in the wiki displayed like the memberlist on vb. (characters listed in a row across the top)

You provide that and an import from vbulletin and I'll move in a heartbeat.

 

[erich37]

Just have a look at what kind of crappy Forum-software WordPress is having (bbPress), not to mention their crappy BuddyPress.org - filled with a huge amount of bugs and very confusing usability.
Not even WordPress is able to write proper Forum-software or a "working" Social Network out of the box, although it is advertised as such.

 

[Floris]

This is the same as any other "addon" thread, it's a forum product at the moment, not a site solution. And while we all want it, a wiki, a newsletter manager, a cms/portal, a gallery, a social network, etc. You need the basis of your products to be finalized before you can start expanding your company applications.

Let's imagine "a good quality job" application such as the forum, for say $249.
Now I want a wiki of that quality, maybe I don't want a forum, a wiki is enough. I wouldn't mind paying $249 for a stand alone version wiki, that's like these forums.
I know nobody will agree with me, because it sounds more expensive, they want the forum and the wiki. but a good wiki or a good cms is not just a quick addon to an existing product. Personally I sort of want a completely different products that is like the forum, a stand alone high quality wiki/cms/etc and if you have other applications installed from the same company, you could get it cheaper, and you could have them work together (use content to show on gallery or cms from the forum, or hook userbase into the wiki, etc).

 

[Disjunto]

This is the same as any other "addon" thread, it's a forum product at the moment, not a site solution. And while we all want it, a wiki, a newsletter manager, a cms/portal, a gallery, a social network, etc. You need the basis of your products to be finalized before you can start expanding your company applications.

Let's imagine "a good quality job" application such as the forum, for say $249.
Now I want a wiki of that quality, maybe I don't want a forum, a wiki is enough. I wouldn't mind paying $249 for a stand alone version wiki, that's like these forums.
I know nobody will agree with me, because it sounds more expensive, they want the forum and the wiki. but a good wiki or a good cms is not just a quick addon to an existing product. Personally I sort of want a completely different products that is like the forum, a stand alone high quality wiki/cms/etc and if you have other applications installed from the same company, you could get it cheaper, and you could have them work together (use content to show on gallery or cms from the forum, or hook userbase into the wiki, etc).

It make sense, and I know I'm going to spend a lot of time trying to integrate these forums into my site when I decide to move platform. It's not just install forums,install cms,install blog type install. If you want a well rounded site with the best of all these features, then prepare to work your ass off or pay someone to do it for you. These days everyone expects other people to make their site for them

 

[Floris]

Basically you pay base-price for the first application you buy, be it the forum, the cms or whatever, which is used by the other applications, so uploading files for addons won't be a problem overwriting anything. You pay the base price + forum addon, basically. And other applications will be addons on top of it. That's how I would like to see it.

* XenFramework:Forum ($199+$49)
* XenFramework:Blog ($199 already paid, so $0, + $49)

Someone buying the Forum + Blog will pay $199 + $49 + 49
Someone buying the Blog, and a year later the forum, pays $199+49 first, and $49 a year later.

I hope that makes sense. With this model one can buy the blog, and not run the forum, and the Blog is the same quality, same product as the forum basically, and runs stand alone.

 

[Disjunto]

Basically you pay base-price for the first application you buy, be it the forum, the cms or whatever, which is used by the other applications, so uploading files for addons won't be a problem overwriting anything. You pay the base price + forum addon, basically. And other applications will be addons on top of it. That's how I would like to see it.

* XenFramework:Forum ($199+$49)
* XenFramework:Blog ($199 already paid, so $0, + $49)

Someone buying the Forum + Blog will pay $199 + $49 + 49
Someone buying the Blog, and a year later the forum, pays $199+49 first, and $49 a year later.

I hope that makes sense. With this model one can buy the blog, and not run the forum, and the Blog is the same quality, same product as the forum basically, and runs stand alone.

Interesting idea, and would work very well. Although I'm not sure who would spend $200 (I know it's an arbitrary number) on a standalone blog

 

[Floris]

Interesting idea, and would work very well. Although I'm not sure who would spend $200 (I know it's an arbitrary number) on a standalone blog

Why would they pay for typepad?
Why would someone pay for forum software, they can use SMF?

I am serious about my site, paying $500 to $1,000 for a framework that comes with a forum, gallery, blog, newsletter, wiki, cms, download manager, shopping cart, etc .. is a small investment. Knowing it is consistent, done well, and dynamic to be extended to branding-, and company needs.

 

[Disjunto]

Why would they pay for typepad?
Why would someone pay for forum software, they can use SMF?

Point proven I guess

 

[Alpha1]

I tried Mediawiki. Most of my forum members ran into the hills screaming. Mediawiki code is very user unfriendly.
I tried a vbulletin Native wiki: Big hit, because everyone can use it and because its integrated.

Think about what forum software is today. And compare it to how user friendly forums and their predecessors newsgroups and mailing lists where in the last century. There are major improvements now in terms of usability and thereby forums are now usable / accessible for the masses. Thats why online forums are so popular. You could never reach the same popularity with the user unfriendly systems from 15 years ago. And I predict that the more we get rid of bbcode and add buttons and good UX functions, the more successful forums will become.

Now compare that history with mediawiki codes. Mediawiki its usability can be compared to to forums, newsgroups and mailing lists 15 years ago. Thats why many forum users have difficulty editing mediawiki. Apply the success-formula of modern forums to the popular concept of wiki and you are miles ahead.

 

[Shamil]

Look at TheStudentRoom's integration. Their Wiki gives a lot of useful information. Having spoken to one of the staff, they believe that the wiki integration has saved them a lot in the grand scheme of things. One thing they wish though, was that it was part of the forum, and not a separate piece of software - since they have to maintain that as well; integration costed them quite a bit.

One nice thing for vB is http://www.vaultwiki.org/

 

[Waddy]

For me I would rather be able to assign permissions to a select group of users to edit static pages, some kind of index and search facility for those static pages would be good.

I'm not against the idea of a wiki, I just wouldn't personally use it, but the idea of making a wiki too integrated and easy to edit would surely also make it far more likely to be vandalised.

 

[dvsDave]

I tried Mediawiki. Most of my forum members ran into the hills screaming. Mediawiki code is very user unfriendly.
I tried a vbulletin Native wiki: Big hit, because everyone can use it and because its integrated.

Same with my users. I had to migrate to vaultwiki from nuwiki when I upgraded to vb4. Vaultwiki is considered worlds easier than mediawiki for users and I was still getting complaints about how the new software wasn't as intuitive as nuwiki was. Mediawiki also has a bad habit of breaking your SSO bridge whenever they do a minor upgrade as well. Personally, I'd rather not have an important part of my site be unable to have bug fixes applied because it might break an integration.

I have over 2000 terms defined very completely in my "glossary" (using the vaultwiki software) and I am about to create another namespace for products that we talk about. Because Vaultwiki uses the native editor, the community will latch onto this new initiative with such enthusiasm that I just have to stand back and let them work.

Giving my users the best tools to enhance their online home is my job. I don't write the content, they do. My users have, over and over again, thru bug reports and feature requests, made it clear that the wiki on my site is one of THE most important parts of my site.

So, a native wiki product, whether it's bundled with the core forum or offered as a 1st party addon (like a blog or CMS), is absolutely crucial to many sites that would love to migrate to XenForo. The wiki feature is not optional for me, its a core requirement for my site to be able to move to this wonderful forum platform.

 

[AlexT]

Deleted.

 

[Blackbeard]

Kier already said its the best plugin system ever. They created the bridge, so lets drive the cars over as 3rd party developers.

He (and Mike ) are giving us the tools to build our Rome. I'm excited.

 

[SneakyDave]

* XenFramework:Forum ($199+$49)
* XenFramework:Blog ($199 already paid, so $0, + $49)

Someone buying the Forum + Blog will pay $199 + $49 + 49
Someone buying the Blog, and a year later the forum, pays $199+49 first, and $49 a year later.

Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't IPS and ExpressionEngine package their solutions like this? They have a base price for their core product (EE is their CMS, IPS is their forum), and they build and support addons to those core pieces with additional prices. It seems to work well for them and their customers, and you only have to pay for what you want.

 

[Caliburn]

I haven't read this entire topic. Skimmed it for the most part. However I concur that what vB and IP.Board (the two 'big players' on the field) are missing native Wiki plugin's. I want a native wiki plugin so badly. Auto-linking in the forums, and whatnot. So I support a Xenforo Wiki being coded as well.

 

[Floris]

Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't IPS and ExpressionEngine package their solutions like this? They have a base price for their core product (EE is their CMS, IPS is their forum), and they build and support addons to those core pieces with additional prices. It seems to work well for them and their customers, and you only have to pay for what you want.

I don't know, I don't go to their sites often.

 

[Caliburn]

Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't IPS and ExpressionEngine package their solutions like this? They have a base price for their core product (EE is their CMS, IPS is their forum), and they build and support addons to those core pieces with additional prices. It seems to work well for them and their customers, and you only have to pay for what you want.

I can't speak for ExpressionEngine as I've never used it, but as far as IPS is concerned...

IP.Board is the primary foundation of IPS. The blog, gallery, chat, and whatnot --- those are all 'plugins' which are available at a conditional cost.

 

[feldon30]

Just generally talking about Wiki, they can be very powerful.

Collaborative authorship of content is very important. Wiki gives you the ability to write pages, FAQs, etc. all with full revision history and commenting.

As for which solution is best, again I don't expect XenForo to spend 2 years trying to copy MediaWiki.

Integrate > Duplicate

 

[Digital Doctor]

Just generally talking about Wiki, they can be very powerful.

Collaborative authorship of content is very important. Wiki gives you the ability to write pages, FAQs, etc. all with full revision history and commenting.

Excellent points !!

I don't expect XenForo to spend 2 years trying to copy MediaWiki.

Whooooaaa !

Mediawiki can make a beautiful wiki. But it is overkill for most sites. The vast majority of sites want to have a wiki that alot of users can contribute content. Most users will NEVER learn wiki code/tags. Mediawiki is to complex for most users and therefore most sites.

Sadly the world has never seen a good forum wiki combination. Vaultwiki is much better than Mediawiki, but sadly it copies it too much and is more cumbersome than it needs to be.

I hope to take the time and energy required to describe how Collaborative Authorship can be useful (as you say: pages, FAQs, full revision, commenting) but easy for the common man / forum. Mediawiki is not that.

 

[MordyT]

You know what they use at slickdeals? Some sort of wiki post after the first post. Yeah, that is invaluable.