What criteria should be considered in selecting a wiki engine?

Creating a wiki using a wiki engine requires that you install the software on your own server. It is the do-it-yourself approach. Although there are many similarities among wiki engines, differences are noted in the source code used, wiki management, page formatting, access control, communications, user support, and advanced features. The following items include some criteria that should be considered when selecting a wiki engine to install and to support.

• Technical Complexity
  • In what programming language is it written?
  • How easy is it to install?
  • What are the prerequisites for the installation?
  • Is version control automatically provided or will an external system be required?
  • Is it web-hosted or is a download required?

• Control
  • Is user registration required?
  • What user management functions are supported?
  • What permissions features are supported?
  • May page content be locked?
  • Is password protection of pages supported?
  • Are user levels supported (e.g., administrators, authors, readers)?
  • May the administrator view an action user list?
  • May the administrator view the participants online?
  • Is it easy to restore damaged or deleted pages?
  • May content for all pages be easily archived?

• Technical Requirements and Limitations
  • What are the prerequisites for editing content (e.g., a forms-compatible browser)?
  • Does the wiki operate across multiple platforms or arethey technical limitations?
  • Can the code be installed for use on the Internet as well as on intranets?
  • How does it resolve simultaneous editing conflicts?

• Features
  • May the content be edited from all major browsers?
  • Is WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editing supported?
  • Is the markup text simple to use?
  • Does the markup text provide rich features?
  • What HTML support is provided?
  • What text editing is supported (e.g., italics, font size, color)?
  • How easily are hyperlinks inserted?
  • How easily are images inserted?
  • Are other attachments supported?
  • What types of lists are supported (e.g., numbered, bulleted, hierarchical)?
  • May tables be created?
  • What media may be inserted (e.g., streaming audio, video)?
  • Is there a search function provided?
  • Is version control supported (e.g., viewing differences, reverting content)?
  • Is there a spellcheck function?
  • May emoticons be used?
  • Is blogging supported?
  • Is there an online polling service available?
  • Are RSS feeds supported?
  • Are links automatically checked?
  • Does it offer a drawing tool?
  • Does it offer an equation editor?
  • Is synchronous text messaging supported?
  • Are there any useful meta-tags or macros provided?
  • What internationalization or localization is supported?
  • What features are provided by this wiki implementation that are not offered by others?

• Ease of use
  • Is an index or site map easily created?
  • How is content linked between different sites (e.g., by using Camel Case or by using link names between brackets)?
  • Is there a view of page hierarchy?
  • Is revision history (version tracking) supported?
  • Is it easy to create a new page?
  • Is it easy to delete a page?

• Support
  • What online technical support is available (e.g., documentation, manual, FAQs, online chat)?
  • Is help provided by e-mail, telephone, fax, or online forum?
  • Is there an opportunity to obtain plug-ins or scripts?
  • Is a sandbox available online for users to test formatting?
  • Is there an established user community (e.g., for sharing hints and tips, for online discussions)?

• Cost
  • Does it use open source software or is there a cost for obtaining the code?
  • Are there any license fees associated with using the wiki engine?
  • Does the code require a supported programming language?

These are certainly not the only criteria you might consider. However, this list covers some common items to be evaluated when selecting a wiki engine.