Ah, documentation, that infamous thing that everyone hates writing but loves to have on hand when things get stuck. What's better than writing it collaboratively, of course, but if you're tired of MediaWiki-type gas plants that require a doctorate in system administration to install, I have great news for you. It's called WikiDocs and it is a tool that will simplify the way you manage documentation.

Born from the frustration of an Italian developer, Manuel Zavatta, who was looking for a simple solution to create a knowledge base shared with his colleagues, WikiDocs responds to a concrete need: to have a light but powerful wiki, without the usual complications of existing solutions . Faced with traditional wikis that were either too complex, full of superfluous features, or had an outdated interface, he decided to create his own solution.

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It's such a simple wiki to set up that it doesn't even require a database. A system where your pages are stored in simple text files, with the power of markdown to shape them. And the cherry on the score, a publisher WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) which saves you from having to memorize Markdown syntax if that's not your cup of tea.

The installation is disconcertingly simple. No need to configure MySQL, PostgreSQL or whatever database system. Everything is stored in text files, which means you can backup your wiki as easily as you would copy vacation photos. And for fans of Dockerit's even simpler with a ready-to-use image:

docker run -d -p 80:80 zavy86/wikidocs

Once installed, you discover a surprisingly complete system. The editor WYSIWYG is a real gem that allows you to format your texts without worrying about syntax. Do you still want to use pure Markdown? No problem, it's possible too! The system even handles mathematical formulas with KaTeX for the scientists in you.

The organization of the content is particularly well thought out. The system of namespaces allows you to structure your content however you see fit. You can create categories, subcategories, all that intuitively. The navigation menu is automatically generated based on your file structure, no need to manually maintain a table of contents!


Versioning is also nice since each modification is kept in a history, allowing you to go back if necessary. It's like a little Git integrated into your wiki, without the usual complexity of version control systems.

For developers who like to customize their tools, WikiDocs allows you to create your own CSS file to adapt the appearance to your graphic charter. The system even includes a native dark mode, because in 2024, it has become essential!

When it comes to security, WikiDocs does things well. You can define public and private pages, manage access rights, and everything is compatible with modern web security standards. The .htaccess file configuration system (or equivalent for Nginx) allows you to lock access to sensitive files.

Here are some features worth mentioning:

  • Full Markdown syntax support with extensions
  • Syntax highlighting for code
  • Uploading images with support for copying and pasting from the clipboard
  • Attachment management
  • Automatic index and sitemap generation
  • Built-in multilingual support
  • REST API for integration with other tools

The project is experiencing growing success: more than 250 stars on GitHub, nearly 30,000 downloads on Docker Hub, and an active community that regularly contributes with translations and improvements. In short, it’s another great example of an open source project that grows thanks to its community.

There you go, I've done the trick! So if you're looking for a wiki system that combines ease of use and rich functionality, WikiDocs really deserves your attention. It's ideal for teams who want to focus on documentation rather than maintaining a complex system plus it's completely free and open source!

To go further and test for yourself: WikiDocs and a big thank you to Lorenper for sharing!

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