May I learn the hard way, so that you don't have to

Well, I'm trying to set up a wiki and a web page, and I'll be honest, It's going a little bit harder than I expected.  I refuse to believe that this is a total problem and a total disaster, because I want to pass on what I learn to you, and I (want to) believe that even as a non-techie you can use some of the on line tools out there. 

Wikis:
Ok, so wikis are websites that any user can log on to and add/edit content.  There are some powerful implications to this, but in order to tap into those possibilities, you've got to put a wiki out there.  The one that everyone knows about is Wikipedia, which is powered by MediaWiki.  Now, I think that Wikipedia has been done well, but any other site with it's layout, design and software are not faring as well.  Those sites seem a little more awkward.  But the most annoying thing, I've found, is navigation.  I think navigation, above all, has to be super-easy.  And the ones that look like Wikipedia  (using MediaWiki software) don't seem to have it down.  And if you're reading this, and you're not a pro, but want to set up a wiki, I suggest NOT going the root of looking like Wikipedia. 

Another wiki software is Stikipad.  This is the one that I've started my trial wiki on, but may switch.  Stikipad has different versions--free, and then different paid levels.   I'm on the free  version  right now, mainly because I'm tinkering around with it.  My tinkering is not as great as I would hope.  First, the address is cumbersome--you need to include ".stikipad.com/notes" in order to access the wiki.  Secondly, the free version does not have much to make it look "spiffy".  I don't know how many people need it to look fancy in order to use it, but it definitely looks amateurish.  But.  There are several other wikis out there, being used, and are successful, and look very amateurish.  Do looks matter?

If you want to have an easy name for people to access your wiki (which I would highly recommend), you will need to get a domain name.  Now, I am figuring this out, and have not quite got it, and that is another source of my frustration.

Websites and Domain Names:
It is possible to get just a domain name, without the whole hosted website.  Essentially you can register a name that you like with someone like GoDaddy, and  then have your name  point to the  wiki address (I believe with Stikipad, you will need to upgrade in order to allow this to happen). 

Why this may good for you:   you don't need to deal with a website and hosting it, you just pick out your name (if it's not taken--they figure that out for you) and point it to your wiki.  Then people can access the wiki through an easier URL address.

Or, you can buy a domain name and web-hosting service through a company and create a website.  This will allow you to build a site, should you like, which can have a whole host of other services (include your blog, some website builders have wikis that can be installed, have forums, sell stuff).  I thought I might want a website, and that is why I went that route.

My Website Experience:
Has not been going well, but I haven't given up yet!  I went with a web hosting service called LunarPages.   If you have a  Mac (which is what I have) this is not the way to go.  Their site-building feature only works on Windows.  Somehow I missed that, but at least they have a money-back guarantee for the 1st 30 days.  If you have Windows, the site seems ok.  It'll take some trial and error and figuring out, but you might do alright.  Their customer service is not great though.  They don't have a "live chat" function, so you need to email your question, and the last several (urgent) messages that I emailed have not been answered yet (it's been 3 hours).  Host Gator has a live chat function, which you can use to walk through the process of getting started--how do you even create the 1st page? 

I still don't have a website, yet.  But I'm working on it.  Just thought I'd share these frustrating few hours that I've had....

Comments

[JDG]

Hi!

Thanks for trying out Stikipad and writing about us.

One item to note is that with your URLs, you can actually set your default wiki, so that when someone visits, for example, http://support.stikipad.com they are automatically taken to http://support.stikipad.com/kb/. For each mapped domain, you can do the same as well.

We're hard at work and are always open to new suggestions. If you see any ways to improve our software, please don't hesitate to e-mail!