Loading...
 
Features / Usability

Features / Usability


Is TikiWiki suitable for a collaboration network with workspaces

posts: 4

I'm considering TikiWiki for a international collaboration network. It would consists of one Tiki website that allows users to join workspaces and easily add content to the workspace (pages, tasks, media, chat). The workspaces are similar to what you would expect in project team space, but this network means the structure is more flat and the collaboration between teams is more self-organizing. Users need to be able to create workspaces by themselves, and become admin for that workspace to accept memberships of that workspace.

I see in the Tikiwiki docs an explanation of how to work with workspaces (categories and groups etc) which I tried out, but to me it seems very non-intuitive for users to work with. Tiki has clearly not prioritized the collaboration features in the sense that they can be used easily out of the box. For example, I managed to set up a workspace as admin, but still don't see how to automatically add create content to that workspace with one click, in a workspace menu that allows for that.

Anyway, I just want to be sure I"m not wasting time using TikiWiki for something that it may not be specifically built for. Feedback about this is much appreciated, thanks!

posts: 8633 Israel

Hello Yuri,

First of all, by nature, I would say that Tiki one of the best "zero programing" software you can find for a multilingual collaborative project.

As you mentioned, and before getting to workspace, through categories, groups, permissions (at almost any level) and dozens of preferences you can already manage a lot and on top of this almost all areas include multilingual (and translations) tools.

While that's usually fits the projects of that kind I conduct, if you add on top of it Workspace... you should be all set or at least very close to what you need.

I guess you've been there already ?



From my experience in such project, the key here is to carefully plan (tiki diagram can help) before setting permissions and preferences. Complex projects require good planning unlike standard websites where you just add pages along the way.

If you need help with Tiki you can always call-up in this forum or hire a Tiki consultants.

If you feel then that something is missing or there is room for improvement you can always ask for a feature request at : https://dev.tiki.org/Make-a-wish

In all cases, to help people to help you, you will need to be very concrete and explain what you need, what you do and what you would like. (eventually setup a playground)

For example, what version are you on, what feature you are mainly using, what you did and what you expected...

Sorry for the long answer, I hope it helps.
Good luck !

posts: 126886 United Kingdom

Hi @Yuri

Not much to add to what @Bernard Sfez / Tiki Specialist said, the feature (actually a collection of features) is there but i've not tried it in a few years so it might well need a little polish... and last time i used it i remember some trouble separating common content from group specific stuff, so also as Bernard said, plan it well before you start (and/or be prepared to have a few goes at it).

Another feature that arrived since i last tried anything workspace-like are the templated groups and roles features, which might offer an alternative approach?

Good luck!

posts: 4

Thank you @Bernard Sfez / Tiki Specialist and @Jonny Bradley for your replies

What I need is indeed closest to the templated groups (organic groups) suggestion of Jonny where users can create their own groups and set group permissions as open, closed or secret.
I agree with Bernard that careful planning is needed, maybe Tiki has published an example of such planning steps?
And I'm not sure how to draw a diagram that would explain the setup better.
Essentially, I'm good with a basic organic groups feature and allowing that to become more advanced in time.

Authenticated users with the 'create group' permissions, can create groups

A group has one group admin (by default the creator of the group) that can:

  • Add / invite member
  • Add custom membership fields
  • Change the group permissions type (open/closed/private)
  • Create category (as part of a group taxonomy)


Group members can:

  • Create and edit group content (page, wiki page, media, project, task),
  • Can edit group content of other group members. (This may be an optional setting, to keep documents editable only by the creator, or a co-editor)


Open group:

  • Group entity is visible by every user.
  • Group content is visible by all users of the website, but only group members can add edit content

Closed group:

  • Group entity is visible by every user.
  • Group content is only visible by group members, only group members can add/edit content

Private group:

  • The group is is only visible by group members. Membership by invitation.
  • Group content can only be viewed, created and edited by group members.


Looking at TikiWiki, I see some challenges for me:

  • Create optimal user experience: The end users (which are group members) need the group menu always in sight on every group content page, meaning they can easily navigate in the group from every group content page. The current workspaces feature is technically present, but does not give a workgroup user experience to me, is confusing.
  • The organic groups feature is not available as an 'out of the box' template, and thus I need to build that manually, and make the page components like menu and user actions block, where they appear etc. Not having an example template means that investing time to try this out, is a risk.
  • Tasks are possible through the tracker feature, but needs polishing to make working with tasks and task lists user friendly, if possible with kanban view.
  • All needs to become mobile friendly.


If any of you have an example of an existing project or website that comes close to networked project management or collaborative organic groups, please let me know.

Thank you!


posts: 8633 Israel

Dear Yuri,

May be someone will have time to invest to help you, but what you ask is not a 15mn question/answer.

With such limited specifications (I don't see a lot of aspect of the user management) and admitting you are talking about Wiki page and files only, I can see how each formal groups is related to 2 tiki group (ie: usergroupA admingroupA, etc.)... but from experience, this is just a part of your puzzle.

I really believe you need to plan everything and experiment with Tiki and the documntation open. When you are stuck, come back to us with specific and limited question. I and other will be happy to help.

And if you want someone experimented with Tiki to do the job faster for you, then I encourage you to hire a Tiki consultant.


posts: 4

Thank you @Bernard Sfez / Tiki Specialist
The main purpose of this post for me (sorry if I was not clear enough) is to check whether TikiWiki is suitable for a collaboration platform with the most often used features like organic groups and pages/tasks, without the need to either hire an expert or to learn to design and implement it myself.

My conclusion based on my research of TikiWiki and the responses received, is that TikiWiki or its community did not develop/share such collaboration solution as template to easily apply. This means for me, that TikiWiki is not specifically built for this kind of platforms, otherwise it would already be available as a platform template.

With all respect for the work done by the amazing team of tikiwiki, for me it would make no sense to invest time and risk in building a multi-groups platform that is not already proven to be at least in some basic form available as template or example. For that reason, I asked above the question about examples or templates that may be available.

If anyone reading this, is willing to spend their time with me, for now unpaid, investigating the possibilities of TikiWiki for an organic groups-based, easy to use collaboration, feel free to contact me. This is for a non-profit international collaboration initiative for sustainable development. Our project may be funded in the future (by UN) if the wiki/groups system used appears to be promising.


Upcoming Events

1)  18 Apr 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
2)  16 May 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
3)  20 Jun 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
4)  18 Jul 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
5)  15 Aug 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
6)  19 Sep 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
7) 
Tiki birthday
8)  17 Oct 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
9)  21 Nov 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting
10)  19 Dec 2024 14:00 GMT-0000
Tiki Roundtable Meeting