X-Git-Url: https://sipb.mit.edu/gitweb.cgi/ikiwiki.git/blobdiff_plain/169162e92f06e2fad4c4a18c0ec45e5643a4c595..4f009a680650a0f10e902ca149881e3f19a36c20:/doc/features.mdwn diff --git a/doc/features.mdwn b/doc/features.mdwn index 069be981a..a7b5c19ab 100644 --- a/doc/features.mdwn +++ b/doc/features.mdwn @@ -1,36 +1,172 @@ -Currently implemented: +An overview of some of ikiwiki's features: +[[toc ]] -* [[Subversion]] +## Uses a real RCS - Rather than implement its own system for storing page histories etc, ikiwiki simply uses subversion. (Supporting other revision control systems is also possible, ikiwiki only needs $FOO add, $FOO commit, and $FOO log). +Rather than implement its own system for storing page histories etc, +ikiwiki uses a real Revision Control System. This isn't (just) because we're +lazy, it's because a real RCS is a good thing to have, and there are +advantages to using one that are not possible with a standard wiki. - Instead of editing pages in a stupid web form, you can use vim and commit changes via svn. Or work disconnected using svk and push your changes out when you come online. +Instead of editing pages in a stupid web form, you can use vim and commit +changes via [[Subversion|rcs/svn]], [[rcs/git]], or any of a number of other +[[Revision_Control_Systems|rcs]]. - ikiwiki can be run from a [[post-commit]] hook to update your wiki immediatly whenever you commit. +ikiwiki can be run from a [[post-commit]] hook to update your wiki +immediately whenever you commit a change using the RCS. -* [[MarkDown]] +Note that ikiwiki does not require a RCS to function. If you want to +run a simple wiki without page history, it can do that too. - ikiwiki supports pages using [[MarkDown]] as their markup language. Any - page with a filename ending in ".mdwn" is converted from markdown to html - by ikiwiki. Markdown understands text formatted as it would be in an email, - and is quite smart about converting it to html. The only additional markup - provided by ikiwiki aside from regular markdown is the [[WikiLink]]. +## A wiki compiler -* support for other file types +ikiwiki is a wiki compiler; it builds a static website for your wiki, and +updates it as pages are edited. It is fast and smart about updating a wiki, +it only builds pages that have changed (and tracks things like creation of +new pages and links that can indirectly cause a page to need a rebuild) - ikiwiki also supports files of any other type, including raw html, text, - images, etc. These are not converted to wiki pages, they are just copied - unchanged by ikiwiki as it builds your wiki. So you can check in an image, - program, or other special file and link to it from your wiki pages. +## Supports many markup languages -* [[SubPage]]s +By default, pages in the wiki are written using the [[ikiwiki/MarkDown]] format. +Any page with a filename ending in ".mdwn" is converted from markdown to html +by ikiwiki. Markdown understands text formatted as it would be in an email, +and is quite smart about converting it to html. The only additional markup +provided by ikiwiki on top of regular markdown is the [[ikiwiki/WikiLink]] and +[[ikiwiki/PreprocessorDirective]]. - Arbitrarily deep hierarchies of pages with fairly simple and useful [[SubPage/LinkingRUles]] +If you prefer to use some other markup language, ikiwiki allows others to +easily be added by [[plugins]]. For example it also supports traditional +[[plugins/WikiText]] formatted pages, pages written as pure +[[plugins/HTML]], or pages written in [[reStructuredText|plugins/rst]] +or [[Textile|plugins/textile]]. -* [[RecentChanges]], editng pages in a web browser +ikiwiki also supports files of any other type, including plain text, +images, etc. These are not converted to wiki pages, they are just copied +unchanged by ikiwiki as it builds your wiki. So you can check in an image, +program, or other special file and link to it from your wiki pages. - Nearly the definition of a wiki, although perhaps ikiwiki challenges how much of that web gunk a wiki really needs. These features are optional and can be enabled by enabling [[CGI]]. +## Blogging ----- +You can turn any page in the wiki into a [[ikiwiki/blog]]. Pages matching a +specified [[ikiwiki/PageSpec]] will be displayed as a weblog within the blog +page. And RSS or Atom feeds can be generated to follow the blog. -It also has lots of [[TODO]] items and [[Bugs]]. This wiki is not ready for production! \ No newline at end of file +Ikiwiki's own [[TODO]], [[news]], and [[plugins]] pages are good examples +of some of the flexible ways that this can be used. There is also an +[[example_blog|examples/blog]] set up that you can copy into your own wiki. + +Ikiwiki can also [[plugins/aggregate]] external blogs, feeding them into +the wiki. This can be used to create a Planet type site that aggregates +interesting feeds. + +You can also mix blogging with podcasting by dropping audio files where +they will be picked up like blog posts. This will work for any files that +you would care to syndicate. + +## Valid html and [[css]] + +ikiwiki aims to produce +[valid XHTML 1.0](http://validator.w3.org/check?url=referer). ikiwiki +generates html using [[templates|wikitemplates]], and uses [[css]], so you +can change the look and layout of all pages in any way you would like. + +## [[Plugins]] + +Plugins can be used to add additional features to ikiwiki. The interface +is quite flexible, allowing plugins to implement additional markup +languages, register [[ikiwiki/PreProcessorDirective]]s, hook into [[CGI]] mode, +and more. Most of ikiwiki's features are actually provided by plugins. +Ikiwiki's backend RCS support is also pluggable, so support for new +revision control systems can be added to ikiwiki. + +The standard language for ikiwiki plugins is perl, but ikiwiki also supports +[[plugins/write/external]] plugins: Standalone programs that can be written in +any language and communicate with ikiwiki using XML RPC. + +## [[todo/utf8]] + +After rather a lot of fiddling, we think that ikiwiki correctly and fully +supports utf8 everywhere. + +## Other features + +The above are the core design goals and features of ikiwiki, but on that +foundation a lot of other important features are added. Here is an +incomplete list of some of them. + +### [[Tags]] + +You can tag pages and use these tags in various ways. Tags will show +up in the ways you'd expect, like at the bottom of pages, in blogs, and +in RSS and Atom feeds. + +### [[SubPages|ikiwiki/SubPage]] + +Arbitrarily deep hierarchies of pages with fairly simple and useful +[[ikiwiki/SubPage/LinkingRules]] + +### [[BackLinks]] + +Automatically included on pages. Rather faster than eg MoinMoin and +always there to help with navigation. + +### Smart merging and conflict resolution in your web browser + +Since it uses a real RCS, ikiwiki takes advantage of its smart merging to +avoid any conflicts when two people edit different parts of the same page +at the same time. No annoying warnings about other editors, or locking, +etc, instead the other person's changes will be automatically merged with +yours when you commit. + +In the rare cases where automatic merging fails due to the same part of a +page being concurrently edited, regular commit conflict markers are +shown in the file to resolve the conflict, so if you're already familiar +with that there's no new commit marker syntax to learn. + +### [[RecentChanges]], editing pages in a web browser + +Nearly the definition of a wiki, although perhaps ikiwiki challenges how +much of that web gunk a wiki really needs. These features are optional +and can be enabled by enabling [[CGI]]. + +### User registration + +Can optionally be configured to allow only registered users to edit +pages. + +User registration can be done using a web form, or ikiwiki can be +configured to accept users authenticated with OpenID, or HTTP basic +authentication, or other methods implemented via plugins. + +### Discussion pages + +Thanks to subpages, every page can easily and automatically have a +/Discussion subpage. By default, these links are included in the +[[templates]] for each page. + +### Edit controls + +Wiki admins can [[lock_pages|page_locking]] so that only other admins can +edit them. Or a wiki can be set up to allow anyone to edit Discussion +pages, but only registered users to edit other pages. These are just two +possibilities, since page edit controls can be changed via plugins. + +### [[PageHistory]] + +Well, sorta. Rather than implementing YA history browser, it can link to +[[ViewVC]] or the like to browse the history of a wiki page. + +### Full text search + +ikiwiki can use the [[HyperEstraier]] search engine to add powerful +full text search capabilities to your wiki. + +### Commit mails + +ikiwiki can be configured to send you commit mails with diffs of changes +to selected pages. + +### [[w3mmode]] + +Can be set up so that w3m can be used to browse a wiki and edit pages +without using a web server.