Table of Contents
Personal Wiki
Personal wikis are wikis that are run entirely by a single person, hence âpersonalâ. The wiki you are currently on is a personal wiki - shocking, I can imagine.
Theyâre similar to blogs, but the key difference is that blogs tend to be chronologically linearA), while personal wikis are chronologically non-linearB). Personal Wikis would suit pirates extremely well, as far as organization of contentâŚon the other hand, it may make it easier for authorities to shut them downâŚsomehow.
Other personal wikis
Alive personal wikis (I'm somewhat aware of)
Dead personal wikis (of interest to me)
- Everything Shii Knows - Run by Shii, arguably started the whole personal wiki crazeD). I only include it in this list due to that fact.
- World2ch Historical Society (Archive) - Run by 0037, the only dead personal wiki I bothered to go through. Has info on the early days of 4chan and the days preceding 4chan. The archive is maintained by killsushiE).
Software
I had initially been planning to use MediaWiki for this wiki, but it turned out to be far more complicated to install than I previously anticipated. Consequently, I donât recommend MediaWiki for personal wikis.
Instead, DokuWiki is the better option for a personal wiki and itâs what Iâm currently using. I like DokuWiki so much that I recommend it to people for other web-based purposes.
If you donât want other people to see your personal wikiF), or you want to build up the wiki before publishing online, then itâs best to use DokuWiki on a stick or WikidPad. Dokuwiki on a stick can easily be migrated to a Dokuwiki installation.
If youâre a writer, and youâre primarily interested in organizational software, then Iâd personally recommend Scrivener. Itâs commercial software, but the price is definitely worth it. I use it to help me organize my writing materialG).
A note on something I noticed
A while ago, I noted that there appeared to be a clear differentiation between the tones and presentation of personal wikis, although I havenât looked into it any further than âI noticed something!'
From what Iâve observed, there are two main âfamiliesâ of personal wiki, where each descend from one of the first ones - Shii and 0037âs wikis.
The wikis derived from Shiiâs tend to be more formal, they cite sources more often, and generally present themselves in an encyclopedic mannerH). Those derived from 0037 tend to use cruder language, are generally looser in tone, have less sources, and are generally more âblog-likeâI;J).
I did notice a little later, however, that personal wikis donât neatly fall into one or the other. My own wiki has undergone a significant changeK).
Nowadays, I actually think that this classification doesnât work the way it did before. There are very few personal wikis around, and they appear to take little inspiration from the dead ones. In my case, I see myself as separate from the rest, so the classification doesnât make sense. Another issue is that I really donât read many personal wikis, and those I do I read rarely, so whether this realistically applies is unlikely.
I am noting this in the event someone wants to look further into it, perhaps theyâll find something, or maybe they wonât.