Editing TWiki

{{short description|Perl-based structured wiki application}}
{{For|the robot character|Twiki (robot)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{how-to |date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = TWiki
| logo                   = T-logo-235x67-t.png
| screenshot             =
| caption                =
| developer              = Peter Thoeny
| released               = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1998|07|23}}
| latest_release_version = {{TWiki version}}
| latest_release_date    = {{TWiki version|releasedate}}
| programming language   = [[Perl]]
| platform               =
| language               =
| genre                  = [[Wiki software|Wiki]]
| license                = [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]
| website                = {{URL|twiki.org}}
}}
'''TWiki''' is a [[Perl]]-based structured [[wiki application]],<ref>{{cite news |quote=TWiki is a structured wiki, which is a combination of a traditional freeform wiki and a more structured database |work=[[InformationWeek]] |url=http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201805279 |title=Everything You Need To Know To Get Started With Content Management Systems |date=10 September 2007 }}</ref> typically used to run a [[collaboration platform]], [[knowledge management|knowledge]] or [[document management system]], a [[knowledge base]], or team portal. Users can create wiki pages using the TWiki Markup Language, and developers can extend wiki application functionality with [[Plug-in (computing)|plugins]].

The TWiki project was founded by Peter Thoeny in 1998 as an [[open-source software|open-source]] wiki-based application platform. In October 2008, the company TWiki.net, created by Thoeny, assumed full control over the TWiki project<ref name="cnet">{{cite web | url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10078682-16.html
 | title = TWiki's hunt for cash fractures its community
 |work = CNET |author=Matt Asay |date=29 October 2008}}</ref> while much of the developer community<ref name="devcommunity">{{cite web | url=http://foswiki.org/Community/TWikiWatchTWikiContributors
 | title = TWiki Watch: TWiki Contributors}}</ref><ref name="Get-the-facts">{{cite web
    | title = Development of Foswiki and TWiki - get the facts
    | publisher = wikiring.com
    | date = 2009-11-17
    | url = https://wikiring.com/Blog/BlogEntry36
    | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306111735/https://wikiring.com/Blog/BlogEntry36
    | url-status = dead
    | archive-date = 2016-03-06
    }}</ref> forked off to join the [[Foswiki]] project.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cfcl.com/rdm/weblog/archives/001653.html |title=R. Morin: ''TWiki and Foswiki: the road ahead'' |access-date=23 October 2009 |archive-date=27 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527234041/http://www.cfcl.com/rdm/weblog/archives/001653.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Major features==

* Revision control - complete [[audit trail]], also for meta data such as attachments and access control settings
* Fine-grained access control - restrict read/write/rename on site level, web level, page level based on user groups
* Extensible TWiki [[markup language]]
* [[TinyMCE]] based [[WYSIWYG]] editor
* Dynamic content generation with TWiki variables
* Forms and reporting - capture structured content, report on it with searches embedded in pages
* Built in database - users can create [[wiki application]]s using the TWiki Markup Language
* Skinnable user interface
* [[RSS]]/[[Atom (standard)|Atom]] feeds and e-mail notification
* Over 400 Extensions and 200 Plugins

===TWiki extensions===

TWiki has a plugin API that has spawned over 300 extensions<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/PluginPackage |title=plugin packages |publisher=Twiki.org |access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref> to link into [[database]]s, create [[chart]]s, [[Tag (metadata)|tags]], sort tables, write [[spreadsheet]]s, create [[image gallery]] and [[slideshow]]s, make [[drawing]]s, write [[blog]]s, plot [[Graph (data structure)|graphs]], interface to many different [[authentication]] schemes, track [[Extreme Programming]] projects and so on.

===TWiki application platform===

TWiki as a [[structured wiki]] provides database-like manipulation of fields stored on pages,<ref name="TWiki Forms">{{cite web|url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/TWikiForms |title=TWiki Forms |publisher=Twiki.org |access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref> and offers a SQL-like query language to embed reports in wiki pages.<ref>[http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/VarSEARCH SEARCH variable], [http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/FormattedSearch formatted search], [http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/QuerySearch SQL-like query search]</ref>

Wiki applications are also called [[situational application]]s because they are created ''ad hoc'' by the users for very specific needs. Users have built TWiki applications<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/TWikiApplication |title=Sample TWiki applications |publisher=Twiki.org |access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref> that include call center status boards, [[Task list|to-do lists]], [[inventory]] systems, [[employee handbook]]s, [[Bug tracking system|bug trackers]], [[blog]] applications, discussion forums, status reports with rollups and more.

===User interface===

The interface of TWiki is completely skinnable in templates, themes and (per user) [[Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]]. It includes support for [[internationalization]] ('[[I18N]]'), with support for multiple character sets, UTF-8 URLs, and the user interface has been translated into Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.<ref name="UserInterfaceLocalisation">
  {{cite web
    |url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/UserInterfaceLocalisation
    |title= User Interface Localisation
    |access-date=2008-03-01
    |author=TWiki Contributors
    |publisher=twiki.org}}</ref>

==TWiki deployment==

TWiki is primarily used at the workplace as a [[corporate wiki]]<ref>[http://www.wikisym.org/ws2006/wiki/space/Paper%3E%3ECorporate+Wiki+Users-Results+of+a+Survey Paper on corporate wiki users] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926234213/http://www.wikisym.org/ws2006/wiki/space/Paper%3E%3ECorporate+Wiki+Users-Results+of+a+Survey |date=26 September 2011 }} ([http://www.wikisym.org/ws2006/wiki/space/WikiSym_2006_Presentation.pdf slides] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912160413/http://www.wikisym.org/ws2006/wiki/space/WikiSym_2006_Presentation.pdf |date=12 September 2012 }})</ref> to coordinate team activities, track projects, implement [[workflow]]s<ref>"The wiki as online conveyor belt" section in BusinessWeek article [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_36/b4048441.htm Make Some Noise - How web 2.0 tools can help you communicate with customers more effectively] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505011451/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_36/b4048441.htm |date=5 May 2009 }}</ref> and as an [[Intranet Wiki]]. The TWiki community estimates 40,000 corporate wiki sites as of March 2007, and 20,000 public TWiki sites.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/NumberOfTWikiInstallations
 | title=Estimated number of TWiki installations |publisher=Twiki.org
 |access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref>

TWiki customers include [[Fortune 500]] such as [[Disney]], [[Motorola]], [[Nokia]], [[NYU]], [[Oracle Corporation]] and [[Yahoo!]], as well as [[small and medium enterprise]]s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twiki.net/customers.html |title=What do TWiki users say? |publisher=Twiki.net |access-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420142241/http://www.twiki.net/customers.html |archive-date=20 April 2009 }}</ref> such as [[ARM Holdings]]{{dead link|date=April 2012}}<ref>
{{cite web | date = 2007-01-24 
 | url = http://www.marketwatch.com/story/case-study-wikis-give-arm-holdings-a-leg-up
 | title = Case Study: Wikis give ARM Holdings a leg-up
 | work = The Wall Street Journal| publisher = Market Watch | access-date = 2010-10-06}}</ref> and [[DHL Express|DHL]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Main/TWikiSuccessStoryOfDHLPackstation
 | title = TWiki success story of DHL Packstation
 | publisher = Twiki.org | access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref> TWiki has also been used to create collaborative internet sites, such as the [[City of Melbourne]]'s ''FutureMelbourne'' wiki where citizens can collaborate on the future plan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://futuremelbourne.com.au/ |title=Future of Melbourne City Plan |access-date=9 September 2009 |archive-date=4 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504182240/http://www.futuremelbourne.com.au// |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Realization==

TWiki is implemented in Perl. Wiki pages are stored in plain text files. Everything, including meta such as access control settings, are version controlled using [[Revision Control System|RCS]]. RCS is optional since an all-Perl version control system is provided.

TWiki scales reasonably well even though it uses plain text files and no [[relational database]] to store page data. Many corporate TWiki installations have several hundred thousand pages and tens of thousands of users. [[Load balancing (computing)|Load balancing]] and caching can be used to improve performance on high traffic sites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/TWikiScalability |title=TWiki Scalability |publisher=Twiki.org |access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref>

TWiki has database features built into the engine. A TWiki Form<ref name="TWiki Forms"/> is attached to a page as meta data. This represents a database record. A set of pages that share the same type of form build a database table. A formatted search<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/FormattedSearch |title=FormattedSearch |publisher=Twiki.org |access-date=2009-07-08}}</ref> with a SQL-like query<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/QuerySearch |title=QuerySearch |publisher=Twiki.org |access-date=2009-07-08}}</ref> can be embedded into a page to construct dynamic presentation of data from multiple pages. This allows for building [[wiki application]]s and constitutes the TWiki's notion of a [[structured wiki]].

==Forks of TWiki==
[[Fork (software development)|Forks]] of TWiki include:
* 2001: Spinner Wiki (abandoned)
* 2008: [[Foswiki]], launched in October 2008 when a dispute about the future guidance of the project could not be settled,<ref>{{cite web
    | last = Thoeny
    | first = Peter
    | author2 = Tom Barton
    | title = Relaunch TWiki.org Project
    | publisher = twiki.org
    | date = 2008-10-31
    | url = http://www.twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/RelaunchTWikiOrgProject
    | access-date = 2009-02-04
    | archive-date = 28 July 2011
    | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110728140658/http://www.twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/RelaunchTWikiOrgProject
    | url-status = dead
    }}</ref><ref name="Foswiki-why">
   {{cite web
    | title = Why this fork?
    | work = Foswiki
 | date = 2009-01-31
    | url = http://foswiki.org/About/WhyThisFork
    | access-date = 2009-02-04 }}</ref> resulting in the departure of much of the TWiki community including the core developer team<ref name=Get-the-facts />

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:twiki_screen_4_0_a.png|Sample page layout.
Image:twiki_screen_4_0_b.png|Page edit with wiki markup, SmartEditAddOn toolbar installed.
Image:twiki_screen_4_0_c.png|Page edit with WYSIWYG editor.
Image:twiki_screen_4_0_d.png|Edit tables with EditTablePlugin.
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[Comparison of wiki software]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://twiki.org/ TWiki.org - Open source community site]
* [http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/ComparisonOfMediaWikiToTWiki Comparison between TWiki and MediaWiki] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517072329/http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/ComparisonOfMediaWikiToTWiki |date=17 May 2008 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130412040709/http://www.twiki.net/ TWIKI.NET - company providing commercial installation, support and hosting solutions for TWiki] 
* [http://www.wikimatrix.org/show/TWiki WikiMatrix description of TWiki]
* [http://foswiki.org/ Foswiki.org - The Free and Open Source Wiki site]

{{Wiki software}}
{{Perl}}

[[Category:Free software programmed in Perl]]
[[Category:Free wiki software]]
[[Category:Free content management systems]]
[[Category:Groupware]]
[[Category:Cross-platform software]]