07 Dec 2008 10:03
TAGS: dev lighttpd lucene opensource search stable wikidot
Many of you ask about the development of Wikidot Open Source Edition. Is it stable? Can we safely use it.
The thing that needs to be said is the Wikidot Source changes. It is not meant to be solid stable yet. The development of .com and OS version is quite separate, although there is a flow in code in two ways:
- fixes for bugs in .com having the way to OS
- many future improvements in .com are first tested and introduced in OS
The latter introduces not-working revisions into the OS repository from time to time, but this is a product in creation (pre-1.0), so this just can happen.
Stability
The current version (revision 317) of Wikidot Open Source is used on Wiki Complete.
It's rather stable, but you have to know the following:
Lighttpd only
It's for lighttpd only (we want support for Apache back in 1.0).
INI file for configuration
File conf/GlobalProperties.php is no longer needed and needs to be deleted. But first have a look at conf/wikidot.ini and try to migrate any custom settings you had in conf/GlobalProperties.php.
The full-blown verbose example of wikidot.ini is stored in conf/full-example-of-wikidot.ini. This is not meant to even work, it's just every possible option listed and described. If the option has an default value it is also mentioned. Use the file as the reference for your wikidot.ini file.
HTML user-uploaded files hosting disabled by default
Since it could be dangerous in certain cases, we have disabled serving of HTML files with the default Wikidot installation. However Internet Explorer (6 and 7) ignores the hint to display HTML files as source, so it's not really a solution.
The solution that really works is having a totally separate domain for hosting uploaded files only (at wikidot it is wdfiles.com). The settings for this would be:
[security]
upload_separate_domain = true
upload_domain = your-different-domain.com
; having different domain for uploads we can safely enable user-uploaded HTML files serving
upload_restrict_html = false
Search All Wikis module
The SearchAllModule (allowing to search all wikis) is very experimental now. If you have already any content, that needs to be searched, don't upgrade (or you can restore the previous php/modules/search/SearchAllModule.php file after the upgrade).
The module is being migrated to Zend_Search_Lucene and require doing an initial indexing of all sites.
Also it's very probable the search mechanisms changes any time soon, so I just don't recommend using the new version of module.
Search This Wiki feature is unaffected!
Search Highlight
In the meantime of developing new search engine for Wikidot, we came into an idea to highlight phrases user searches for (using internal Wikidot search or Google/Yahoo search engine).
You can enable it in the wikidot.ini file appending:
[search]
highlight = true
Search features (the new SearchAllModule and Search Highlighting) is already tested on Wiki Complete, however there are some known limitations it the search module, that need to be improved yet.
Upgrading
As a matter of fact, we don't supply any "upgrade" script. This unfortunately doesn't mean that there are no problems with that.
Once we release the first stable version, we'll supply upgrade scripts for each incremental upgrade i.e. 1.0 -> 1.1 -> 1.2 and so.
This is because it would be really easier if we know what version EXACTLY we're moving from to what EXACT version. Otherwise we would end up with scripts that can work but can break something. If you're in trouble with upgrading, ask on our dev-list.
Yes, WDOS is, in fact, stable.
At least more stable than me. :)
— hartnell
As of Rev 317, I can also confirm that WDOS is very stable based on my testing (albeit much more limited than what hartnell is doing since I'm just running it on my home network for now). For those interested, I'm very confident this guide can get you up and running quickly. I have used the exact steps in this guide to install on both stand-alone hardware and on a VirtualBox VM. The only thing I've struggled with is SSL, so I've disabled it (I really don't need it anyway).
My guide is here:
http://my-wd-local.wikidot.com/guide:ubuntu-8-04-with-lighttpd-install
I also have a working installable ISO for rev 317 based on the setup in my guide. Shoot me a PM and I can provide a link to download it if you want to play with it in a VM. I'd like to do some cleanup on my working model and create a new ISO before making an "official" announcement on my site.
-Ed
Community Admin
Ed, you are probably the biggest Wikidot Open Source tester, at least the bigger that talks to us (hartnell only tests the working of Wikidot, not installation, configuration and such things).
I would like to really really thank you. If me make a song in Wikidot, your name will have its place in verse about the WDOS for sure :).
Your setup guide is also very very good. It recalls me the SSL support is not really well described yet.
Once we get some time, we're going to work on this. I also wonder if we should support the Apache webserver in 1.0 version, or be OK with supporting Lighttpd only and add the Apache support in later versions…
Piotr Gabryjeluk
visit my blog
I think supporting Apache may be important for some (see Wikidot Trunk Install for one reason why), but I think a rock-solid version 1 without Apache support to start is fine.
I haven't tried turning on SSL in a while. If you have any instructions to add to my guide, that would be great.
Congrats to the Wikidot team on launching Pro accounts. I'm really happy that you are seeing some financial reward for your efforts!
-Ed
Community Admin
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