Cwgordon7's blog

Over the past two years, Drupal's wiki capabilities have expanded exponentially. Yet, still we get support requests on the forums, "How can I make a wiki with Drupal?" Well, here is a detailed plan that gives wiki functionality to Drupal. This tutorial assumes you're starting with an installed version of Drupal 5.x, and that you're familiar with installing modules.

Absolute Wiki Essentials:

1. Step 1: Allow for categorization of wiki pages.

   There is often this request: I want to be able to categorize my wiki pages into a hierarchy. Well, with Drupal core's book module, you can do just that! First, enable the book module. Then, go to the admin/content/types page to view your content types. Delete any content types you don't want. Then, rename the "Book page" content type to "Wiki page" or something similar. Also, in the "workflow" fieldset, make sure to check the "create new revision" checkbox. This will make it so that, by default, every edit of a page is done in a revision.

2. Step 2: Install the wikitools module.

   The wikitools module is an essential for all Drupal wikis. From deletion protection, to move protection, to ensuring that there is only one page for each title, wikitools is the future of Drupal wikis. Install it, and then configure the settings on the admin page to fit into your idea of how your wiki should work.

3. Step 3: Create a wiki-style filter.

   There are several ways of doing this. I recommend the pearwiki filter module, as it allows for much flexibility. However, also consider the freelinking module, which is easier to install. If you use the freelinking module, you will have to check the "Hijack freelinking module" checkbox on the wikitools install page. Then, configure your input format with the appropriate filters.

4. Step 4: Configure permissions.

   At the admin/user/access page, configure user permissions. Here are some recommended settings:

   • All users should have the access content permission.
   • All users should have the view revisions permission.
   • All users should have the revert revisions permission.
   • All users should have the create new book page permission.
   • All users should have the edit book pages permission.

   Of course, feel free to alter these settings as appropriate to your site.

Cool Drupal wiki tricks

• How do I format comments on a separate "talk" page, like wikipedia does?

  Simple! Use the talk module, which will do exactly that! It will add a "talk" tab to each applicable node page.

• How do I get a "table of contents" on each of my pages, to allow for easier navigation of long pages?

  Again, very simple! Use the table of contents module to insert a table of contents on pages of your choice.

• How can I highlight changes between revisions, as many wikis do?

  Easy! Use the diff module to show the differences between various revisions. This is useful for finding and reversing spammy posts.

What's next?

Now that you've read this article, do you have any more ideas? Perhaps you have another cool wiki Drupal tip to share? Or maybe you want to implement some wiki-style Drupal features, but aren't sure how. Or else you're trying out some of the things I suggested, but having trouble? Feel free to post a comment below; I'd love to hear what you have to say.