# Personal wiki programs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809 "2010-06-03T18:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/1 "2010-06-03T18:14:45Z")
I want to set up a wiki on my computer for notes and things of that nature. I was wondering if anybody had some recommendations of programs they had used for this purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/2 "2010-06-03T18:40:40Z")
I am a big fan of Evernote [http://www.evernote.com/](http://www.evernote.com/). With a desktop program, iPhone application, and web browser, I can always get my notes. I just drop things on the icon and they are saved automatically to the database, I can tag and organize later. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/3 "2010-06-03T19:07:23Z")
I lerve [Tomboy](http://projects.gnome.org/tomboy/). ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/4 "2010-06-03T23:51:58Z")
You can use the [wizard](http://www.wikimatrix.org/wizard.php) at [Wikimatrix.org](http://Wikimatrix.org) to (help) find one that suits your needs. I set up MoinMoin (I believe it’s the one Ubuntu forums use), but haven’t had a chance to actually use it yet. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/5 "2010-06-04T05:18:04Z")
Thanks for the input. I tried > **[Wiki in a Jar](https://sourceforge.net/projects/wiki-in-a-jar/)** > > Download Wiki in a Jar for free. "Wiki in a Jar" is a small Wiki written in Java with great focus on simplicity. It is intended to run on a USB stick as a replacement for a paper note- and address book as a Personal Information Manager (PIM). It was pretty easy to setup. But it does not keep a log of past version of pages. That is a pretty big minus. I also setup MoinMoin. It is not obvious to me how to launch python in the background. Does anyone know how to do this? I have to have a command window still open when running the wiki. ---
**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/6 "2010-06-04T05:34:47Z")
How about one of the many variants of [TiddlyWiki](http://www.tiddlywiki.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/7 "2010-06-04T07:03:20Z")
If you don’t need collaboration and previous revisions, you’ve eliminated two big reasons for needing a wiki at all. For ordinary notetaking, I’m partial to [Microsoft OneNote](http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/HA101656661033.aspx). Easy to use but powerful. It supports everything from typing to web sites to documents to audio/video recordings (including automatic transcripts) to drawing to handwriting. It’s the only thing that’s convinced me to move away from pen & paper for actual notes. It does cost money, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/8 "2010-06-04T15:32:13Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > I also setup MoinMoin. It is not obvious to me how to launch python in the background. Does anyone know how to do this? I have to have a command window still open when running the wiki. Since I mentioned MoinMoin, I feel an obligation to respond. However, as noted above, I haven’t gotten around to actually _using_ the software, so my hands-on knowledge is close to nil. I’d be surprised if there isn’t a “server” setting somewhere in the configuration/installation. If not, surely you could add it to your startup procedure (which is platform dependent). I think you might find something relevant on [this page](http://moinmo.in/DesktopEdition/UserContributions?highlight=(wikiserver.py)). ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/9 "2010-06-04T16:10:12Z")
> [@Digital\_Stimulus](#): > > Since I mentioned MoinMoin, I feel an obligation to respond. However, as noted above, I haven’t gotten around to actually _using_ the software, so my hands-on knowledge is close to nil. > > I’d be surprised if there isn’t a “server” setting somewhere in the configuration/installation. If not, surely you could add it to your startup procedure (which is platform dependent). I think you might find something relevant on [this page](http://moinmo.in/DesktopEdition/UserContributions?highlight=(wikiserver.py)). I figured it out. instead of running python.exe wikiserver.py I ran pythonw.exe wikiserver.py It seems to work in my windows startup. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-wiki-programs/541809/10 "2010-06-04T18:31:30Z")
Do you have some old machine kicking around somewhere? Put MediaWiki on it in fifteen minutes by using TurnKey Linux. Here’s [my experience](http://paperjammed.com/2010/05/05/new-life-for-an-old-pc%E2%80%94no-geek-card-required/) with TurnKey Linux.