WikiMatrix / Wiki for group, page permissions, no Creative Commons... advice pls!

harkback · 2011-04-09 08:40:34

I would like to build a Web site for an arts group that has members. The site is to showcases art portfolios.

Each member would have his/her own public page that he/she can edit, but it should be an unchangeable template, for uniformity. They should only be able to add or delete words and up to a certain amount of photos and links. The members should only be able to edit their own, single page. The public would not be able to edit, only to look.

I would like several others (myself included) to have admin privileges over these pages and some other informational pages.

There should also be some password-protected pages that the public cannot see but that members can see once they sign in.

Because it's an arts group, we don't want wording in the licenses that says the company hosting the wiki can do what they want with the artwork. I know we'd still own copyrights but we do not want work published without the individual permission of members.

The group has about 50 members. I don't foresee it growing a whole lot larger, but I'd like if the wiki could accommodate up to 100 just in case. With the 50 now, there would be quite a few images on the site. The current site has about 60 pages. It's a pain in the arse to change the navigation bar as it has to be changed on each page, so we need some other way.

The site is non-commercial in that it doesn't sell anything, but member pages might contain links to members' online stores (this is optional, if there is a wiki that's best to use that doesn't that). The group is volunteer-run, but not an official non-profit. The artists are fine and commercial artists. (I have no idea how this might affect the choice of wiki, but the group is not like a library or something, it's a private, volunteer-run professional networking organization). Viewers should not be able to tell the site is a wiki. I looked at Google Sites, which might have worked if not for the license issue (Google can do what they want with the images). I'd like software similar to that.

We need our own domain name, preferably not forwarded. The hosting should be cheap (like not more than $250/year). Most of all, the back end needs to be simple enough for total non-techies to administer, which is why I feel a wiki may be a good solution.

We would like to use rollovers without it being really difficult. We'd like also to have a calendar and the ability to post video. (I'm at best a hobbyist with CSS and HTML and don't want to deal with PHP, which is why I'm not using Wordpress.org). We'd like the look to be customizable. There is an existing site and I'd like to just be able to paste a lot of it in.

I don't know where to start--I did the wizard but feel I need more advice. Which is the best wiki and plan? To download software or not to? Which wikis do not have the Creative Commons or similar licenses? Do I still need to use some kind of license if the CC is not present?

THANKS for any and all advice!!!

harkback · 2011-04-09 09:12:22

Me again... I read that the CC license doesn't apply to copyrighted works, and you can just put a copyright notice then people cannot do whatever with it...? Right? What about Google sites? It (and Flickr, Facebook, etc. says that the, the companies, can do anything (for their own promotion) with your work. If you put a copyright notice on each image does that mean they CANNOT do anything? I find this so confusing... thanks.

Strathview · 2011-04-09 12:58:51

Building a site on the Wikidot platform (http://www.wikidot.com) will give you everything you want. Wikidot is hosted so you don't download or install anything.

Permissions give you the ability for each member to create their own page but not not edit a page they haven't created (unless you allow that in the permissions matrix). The template for that page would be designed by you and they couldn't change it. They would enter the text and upload photos in a one-step process using what we call dataforms which protects them from the code behind it. Dataforms are a form of content management system.

Admin: as an admin you would have areas of your wikidot site for admin tasks, for things like the templates, CSS etc. Members couldn't get to that area and nor could general viewers of the site.

Members: there is no limit to the number of members your Wikidot site can have unless you make your site completely private so that only members can view it.

Domain name: wikidot sites support custom domain names. For example one of the wikidot sites I have developed is http://www.rfpg.org/ - no mention of Wikidot in the url!

Private area for members: Wikidot sites can have private categories for members which only they can see. Others see a page with an message saying that part of the site is private. For an example look at what is displayed if you go to http://www.rfpg.org/admin:menu.

Hosting: Hosting of the domain name certainly shouldn't cost you anything like $250 a year!

License: you can have a wide range of licenses on Wikidot sites up to a full commercial license. Just because it is built on a wiki platform it doesn't mean that your members can't protect their intellectual property. But I'm no lawyer so you might need to take specialist advice if you are very concerned.

Video and photos: yes these can all be uploaded in the one-step process. Rollovers are very easy. Jquery slideshows can be added etc.

Design: you can use one of the (awful) default Wikidot designs but I wouldn't recommend that. Other designs can be downloaded or you can develop a full-custom CSS design if you know CSS. There is no reason why your site needs to look like a wiki; with a wikidot site it can look like any other business or non-profit website. But it does take work, don't expect that "out of the box" with any wiki platform.

Navigation: you only change your menus in one place on a Wikidot site. Once you get more advanced you can have it so that different categories of pages can have different menus.

You don't need to know PHP but will learn the wikidot syntax. This is not difficult although for some tasks it can look quite complex at times. But like anything, the more you do it the more you learn.

Calendar: either a google calendar can be included or a Wikidot-specific calendar applicaion.

Costs: Wikidot has several different plans. You might want to start with the free one first to see whether the platform is going to be right for you then upgrade if you need to. Details of what you get with each plan are at http://www.wikidot.com/plans.

Community: Wikidot has a vibrant and supportive community at http://community.wikidot.com where I and many others around the world provide support, advice, assistance and solutions 24 hours a day. You might also want to have a look at the blog from the development team at http://blog.wikidot.com/.

I hope I've covered all the specific points you raised but do contact me if you would like more detailed advice on Wikidot.

Last edited by Strathview (2011-04-09 21:17:15)

harkback · 2011-04-10 09:31:51

Thanks so much!! Your site looks nice. Wikidot sounds perfect!

#1 2011-04-09 08:40:34

Wiki for group, page permissions, no Creative Commons... advice pls!

#2 2011-04-09 09:12:22

Re: Wiki for group, page permissions, no Creative Commons... advice pls!

#3 2011-04-09 12:58:51

Re: Wiki for group, page permissions, no Creative Commons... advice pls!

#4 2011-04-10 09:31:51

Re: Wiki for group, page permissions, no Creative Commons... advice pls!

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