Why use a wiki / collaboration software?
There are currently many different wiki softwares available, but the most recommended ones for Production (Office/Company Setup) and self hosted setups (personal) are: Confluence and Mediawiki.
Confluence vs Mediawiki
These 2 softwares are backed by a history of good implementations, developer contributions and are generally the better sought after collaboration software right now.
In my own experience of Confluence usage, my previous company uses it extensively from the most mundane tasks(daily tasks update) to collaboration(Project update) and knowledge-sharing purposes.
| Mundane Tasks | Collaboration | Knowledge Sharing |
| Daily tasks update | Project Update | How-to articles |
| Keep track of BAU requirements | Implementation Update | Tips on certain work requirements |
| Inventory Management |
For collaboration working purposes and self documentation
This is just on a typical corporate level why users in corporate setup are preferring to use Confluence. It is intuitive, very much tried-and-tested as a collaboration software and also integrates a form of social companionship in which you can customize it to be either very formal or very informal setup.
In a development/IT company you are likely going to use JIRA (which is another flagship from Atlassian company) so knowing the 2 integrates with each other as a product, convincing you from here shouldn’t be too hard.
So if you are a 1-user situation where you probably want:
- a way to record down important life details (life goals/events/personal planning)
- a method to financially track your portfolio (shares/real estate/trusts/bonds)
- photo portfolio setup
- career personal portfolio setup
Why do you need a wiki?
The list goes on from here, but there are just many other things in life where you want to track, manage and even be in control of. Welcome to the life of keeping your personal wiki.
You know the time when your electronic product stopped working and you weren’t sure about its warranty status? Track it down!
That time when you felt you had overspent and was not clear on how your finances actually working out that month? Track the receipts/invoices down!
There are tonnes of ways to utilise wiki beyond a functioning company setup and it is up to you to integrate it closely to your personal life. But the caveat that most people might feel as a problem here is: security and privacy.
Beware of security requirements when relying on Wiki
None of us wants to share private details especially finances, passwords(gosh, try not to keep passwords in Wiki. If you really must, make sure to password protect it) If you belong to this category of persons then make the effort to secure accesses to the wiki.
It is up to you, the administrator of your own computer resources, to secure your network and accesses. Make sure to install a firewall(software/hardware), antivirus software and be aware of how to manage problems if they arise.
The goal is that once you “are comfortable with the security bit” of your systems, then you should rest your mind on being able to use your own wiki freely.
Steps of Wiki setup initiative
Our recommended goals of such a wiki initiative:
- Software/Hardware Firewall
- Antivirus Software
- Wiki Software
- Port forward via your router / hardware firewall onto the hosted wiki
After this, it means you are able to readily access your wiki on your phone/tablet and laptop when you are away from your home. On a corporate level, you can choose to do it the same way except your information is so much more critical and private that a VPN connection should be required to access the wiki.
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