Why Use DokuWiki?

DokuWiki is flexible and customizable, but it is still easy to install and use. Because it does not require a database, all page content, revisions, user logins, and site configuration are stored as files on your server. Backing up and restoring data is therefore much easier than with many database-backed systems.

The practical benefit is day-to-day simplicity. Creating and editing pages is straightforward, and configuration, user permissions, access control lists, plugins, and themes can be managed from the web interface. Installing plugins and templates can often be done with a few clicks.

For a more detailed comparison, see our DokuWiki vs MediaWiki page. If you already know you want DokuWiki, see our DokuWiki hosting service page.

DokuWiki Hosting and Installation

Installing DokuWiki is easier than installing many other wiki platforms, but hosting still matters. A good hosting environment should provide stable PHP support, SSL, backups, file permissions, email delivery, and responsive support if something stops working.

CiviHosting provides managed DokuWiki hosting with expert setup included. We can install DokuWiki for you or migrate an existing DokuWiki site from another host. For do-it-yourself instructions, see our How to Install DokuWiki guide.

Base Features

The most basic feature of DokuWiki is the ability to create and maintain a wiki. Visitors or users with permission can create, edit, and delete pages through the browser.

DokuWiki includes built-in ACL features, which let you control which users and groups can access or edit different parts of the site. This makes it useful for private team wikis, public documentation with restricted editing, and internal knowledge bases.

The software has been translated into more than 50 languages.

Plugins

There are over 1000 plugins for DokuWiki, although not all are maintained or usable with the latest version. You can visit the DokuWiki.org plugins page to review the plugin directory.

The upgrade plugin is one of the most important DokuWiki tools. It lets administrators upgrade the core DokuWiki site from within the website itself.

Templates

There are over 100 templates for DokuWiki, although not all are maintained or compatible with the latest version. You can visit the DokuWiki.org templates page to browse them.

The Bootstrap3 template is popular because it can be used as a base for a custom template. The prsnl10 template is often used for simple static sites rather than traditional wikis.

The prsnl10 template has a section called Sites using this Template with examples of simple static sites using that template. The screenshot here shows the author’s own site using prsnl10.

Sample DokuWiki Sites

The OpenWrt Project is a Linux operating system project for embedded devices, and its main site uses DokuWiki.

JDownloader is a free, open source download management tool, and it uses DokuWiki for documentation.

The StockCharts ChartSchool subsite uses DokuWiki for its knowledge base.

Helpful DokuWiki Resources

The Top Bar page explains how to create a top navigation bar like the one on dokuwiki.org itself.

There is also a page called Backup to S3 with a script and directions for backing up an entire wiki to Amazon S3.

For first steps, see our Getting Started with DokuWiki page.