'''Features I Want in a Wiki'''

This is a bulleted list of the features I'm looking for in a wiki.

To understand more about why or what I expect to accomplish with a wiki, see:
	* WikiEngineReviewRhkObjectives 
	* WikiEngineReviewRhkCriteriaDiscussion (My motivation for a previous version of these requirements and SunirShah's comments have been moved there.)

To see some suggestions for extensions to WikiEngines, see:  
	* WikiEngineReviewSuggestions 
(That page expands on some of the features listed here -- I think you need to read it to get the full flavor of what I'm looking for.)

I recognize that it is very likely I won't find a WikiEngine that meets all of these requirements.  That's OK -- then I'll try to pick the one that fits the set of needs that I consider most important. 

'''Requirements List'''

	* Easy for a newbie to install in Linux (or Windows)

	* Good performance with 100,000 pages (may require a database)

	* No proprietary software required (low cost)

	* Open source or freeware (so I can consider modifications)

	* Excellent means of finding information:
		* Page lists and indexes
		* Possible hierarchical organization
		* Ability to be indexed by Web search engines (perhaps selectable)
		* Full text search including words, wild cards, phrases, boolean, within x
	 :	Alternates to finding a WikiEngine with the search capabilities listed above could include using a separate search engine with a wiki that stores each topic in a separate file or finding a wiki that uses a database with those search capabilities.  See WikiEngineReviewAlternateSearchDiscussion(?).

	* The ability to group pages for operations like application of password protection, email notification, import, export, translation

	* Subpages or other means of organizing pages in a hierarchy 

	* Email notification of changes on selected pages (or groups)

	* Security.  
		* Snapshots of most revisions, and associated rollback and diff capability, but provide a secure means of deleting snapshots to preserve the WikiNature of forgetting mistakes
		* No embedded HTML  
		* Password protection on editing of selected pages (or groups)

	* Easy to read diff format

	* Re Diffs: If a system is accepted that stores snapshots of only the last revision by each author, a means must exist to declare a new baseline for the diff.  (The problem I'm trying to address is the one, for example, where only one person modifies a particular page (or a private wiki).  In that case, the diff just keeps growing and growing (like the Energizer Rabbit?) and becomes useless to highlight the most recent change.)

	 :	Maybe there is a workaround to the above if I create two separate identities for myself, and then edit pages alternately.  (Maybe RandyKramerA and RandyKramerB.)  I'm not sure what would be required -- am I identified on this wiki by a cookie?  Would I need to edit from two different machines with different cookies?  (A little cumbersome, at least.  I'm more curious than serious.)

	* Images

	* Tables

	* Enhanced WikiNames including numbers and adjacent capital letters (even all caps for acronyms)  

	* Headings 

	* InterWiki links 

	* Import / export capabilities  (for private backup, offline editing, and to support mirroring)

	* Display original Wiki text formatting rules

	* Translators available (for translation between wiki formatting markups)

	* Editing support for mirroring

	* Editing contention resolution

	* A clean display to help readers and editors

	* Improvements to navigation
		* Ability to bookmark one or more pages to easily move between them (especially for editing)
		* ??

	* Hidden text

	* Global search and replace (or similar tools) to support things like renaming of pages.  Possible alternatives:
		* Each page in a separate text file -- tools like SED, Awk
		* Pages stored in a common text file, possibly indexed -- editors with search and replace capability that can handle large files
		* Pages stored in a relational data base (MySQL, msql, etc.) -- ??

-- RandyKramer

Notes I put on another wiki, may reflect the beginning of a prioritization:

New Comments: What I want in a wiki: (See my WikiEngineReview at http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngineReview, which is rough and unfinished)

Here I try to list the things I most want (essentials):

	* Easy to install (on SourceForge)
	* History (more than last edit by previous author)
	* Diffs (MSWord style would be nicest)
	* Easy import / export 
	* Easy backup / restore
	* Pages and history deletable
	* Change notification by Email, per page (or group of pages) (pages might be grouped by Topic, Category, or "EmailGroup")
	* At least three levels of headings (beyond emphasis)
	* Customizable templates (by administrator -- I guess they all are)
	* Lists (bulleted and numbered, nested)

Nice to have:
	* Global editing (to facilitate, for example, page name changes)
	* Page locking or password protection
	* Vastly improved search capability, including phrase, boolean, proximity (within x) -- might be achieved by an external search engine like htDig, with robots.txt limits on which engines can index.
	* WikiNames with numbers, all caps

This is in addition to what I consider the standard features of a wiki, not listed here.

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CategoryWikiEngineReview