The Scoop

At last week’s NICAR conference I showed off Instiki at a demo session, and there was a request for a handout of instructions on how to get it up and running under Windows. To install Instiki on Windows, you’ll need three things. In order, they are:

* the Ruby language
* the Instiki program (zip file)
* access to the command line (DOS prompt)

And you’ll need to follow three steps:

First, install Ruby, which has a Windows installer that at this writing (version 1.82) was about 12.5 MB. Download and run the installer, which will place Ruby on your PC (typically in c:\ruby).

Second, download the Instiki zip file, being sure to download the Windows version. Unzip the contents of the file, being sure to check the “use folders” box to preserve the folder structure. You can unzip the contents into the c:\ruby folder.

Third, open a command line (you can do this by clicking the Start button, followed by Run and then typing “cmd” in the box and clicking Enter, or by Start -> Accessories -> Command Prompt). Switch to the c:\ruby directory by typing “cd \ruby” and hitting Enter. Finally, type “ruby instiki” and hit Enter. You should see several lines of text indicating that the WEBrick server is starting and that you can find your wiki at http://localhost:2500.

Configuring Instiki

To configure Instiki for the first time, open a web browser and go to http://localhost:2500

You’ll see a screen asking for you for a name for your wiki. This can be anything you like, and Instiki will fill in the name that will appear in the wiki’s URL based on what you enter. Tip: keep it simple and avoid special characters. Instiki also will ask for an administrative password. This is necessary to ensure that you have the abilities to change the configuration in the future. After you finish those two steps, you’ll be taken to a blank home page that you can create.

Adding and Editing Pages

Instiki’s editing interface is intentionally spare, and you can simply type in text without any markup. Instructions for Instiki’s markup system, called Textile, are on the right side of the screen. When you add or change content, you publish the page by clicking on the “Create” button (for new pages) or “Edit” button (for existing pages) at the bottom left. You can add your name in the space to the right of that button (and you should).

Wiki Words

The real power of Instiki (and any wiki) is its ability to link words and phrases among its various pages. This is done through the use of Wiki Words, which when editing pages are indicated by placing double brackets around words or phrases. You can also create a Wiki Word by placing more than one word together without spaces, such as InstikiRocks. But beware: Instiki and all wikis treat [[Instiki Rocks]] and InstikiRocks as two separate Wiki Words and thus two separate pages. My advice is to pick a style and stick with it. When you add new content to your wiki, you can establish new pages by using the double brackets or point to existing pages. This can help connect information with common elements or individuals. Instiki displays those connections at the bottom of each page by listing all of the pages that link to it.

Instiki Maintenance

The list of links near the top of each page provides navigation of your wiki. To see all pages (and thus all Wiki Words), click on “All Pages”. The “Recently Revised” link shows which pages have changed recently, in reverse chronological order. “Authors” shows people that have contributed to the wiki and which pages they’ve authored or co-authored. “Feeds” has two versions of an RSS feed for tracking the wiki’s contents, and “Export” allows you to make backups of the wiki’s content or create an HTML version that can be placed on any Web server (note that the HTML version is not editable). The other option, exporting all pages with their Textile markup, allows you to move or copy entire wikis to another location.