On Friday I viewed a demo of the latest version of the Deki Wiki product from MindTouch, with Co- Founders Steve Bjorn and Aaron Fulkerson. The latest upcoming release, called "Deki Wiki Hayes", is described as a wiki and platform for developing collaborative web applications. The company says it's similar to CMS web frameworks like Drupal, Mambo, Joomla and DotNetNuke, but a wiki in nature.
In a sense MindTouch is transforming the Wiki, from the Web's best collaborative authoring tool into an open source service platform with a Wiki heart. Their Deki Wiki Hayes release is perhaps the most extendable Wiki tool available today. The product is OS and programming language agnostic. Deki Wiki Hayes allows developers, administrators and users to create or integrate Wiki capability into web apps.
Hayes for Developers
We talked a great deal about terms like the semantic-web, aggregation, and interconnectivity. Wiki Hayes allows all users to benefit from nearly any Web service with Wiki style and simplicity. From a developmental standpoint Wiki Hayes adds both flexibility and standardization to new or existing services. Here is the short list for key features that aid users and developers:
- Language Agnostic - Programmers can use any language and interface with Hayes
- Bi-Directional API - Allows developers to add Wiki capability to existing applications
- LDAP/AD Integration - Utilize existing user directories and authentication
- Multiple Skinning Support - Customization flexibility and simplicity
- Files and Tagging - Versioning, indexing for search with category and chrono-tagging
- Permissions - Pages, groups, spaces and other full page level authorizations
- Media Support - Page level attachments, rich media support and image gallery
- Platform Independence - Linux, Solaris, MacOSX, Windows or Unix via Mono or .Net
- Lucene Search - Enterprise class search tool searches indexed pages, file types and tags
Mindtouch has current deployments at Microsoft, BP, Stanford University and many others around the world. Transforming the simplicity and popularity of the Deki Wiki into a value added service platform aids developers by providing a more powerful, flexible and enjoyable downstream product for their clients.
Example of a nice Deki Wiki build
Hayes for Administrators
The big advantage to local administrators is the simplicity and flexibility of Wiki collaboration. Deki Wika Hayes also simplifies permissions and web extensions for users of any technical skill level. The Bi-Directional API function allows cross platform mixing and blending of services and enhanced control for administrators. In essence, anything the Deki Wiki can do is easily done by the site admin. Aggregating content, graphing, extension authentication and dozens of other features are resident out-of-the-box features for the Hayes release.
Editor and navigation of the Wiki hierarchy
Hayes for Users
Deki Wiki Hayes allows end users to participate on an unparalleled scale. Users can create, customize and utilize Deki Wikis and services like Flickr or YouTube without even learning Wiki markup. The WYSIWYG editor is the heart of the UI and has the power of a light word processor. Deki Hayes doesn't use non-standard markup language, so users can simple copy and paste from office docs. or web pages. The editor also toggles between plain text and XHTML for experienced users. In short, any user can enhance existing services, create rich pages, find and organize content, communicate and aggregate content with "simpler than Wiki" ease.
Sandbox creation I started for a project - note Digg widget
Conclusion
Mindtouch has done a fantastic job of creating a platform that simplifies and/or integrates the development, administration and end use of a wide range of Web entities. Wikis are one of the most widely used and flexible conduits for collaboration we have, and Deki Wiki tools add even more connectivity between the people from end to end. The Hayes release and the tools I tested are not "drop dead" simple as far as discoverability goes, but extensive documentation is available and the learning curve is not overly steep. Ease of use for programmers, HTML users and Wiki aficionados should be a snap, and even I was able to turn one of my projects into a Deki Wiki easily. Hayes will be released today or Wednesday, but you can get a head start at OpenGarden.
No comments:
Post a Comment