How do you manage and organize multiple wikis?

[talha131]

I have two specific questions from the pros who have multiple wikis.

First, how do you ensure all your wikis run on the same plugins and customization set? Say you customize the style of one wiki; now, how do you sync it with the rest of your old and new wikis?

Second, how do you do interlinking? Say, I want to write in my journal that today I worked on “Indexing problem in the Project Manhattan.” But Project Manhattan is a separate wiki with the tiddler, “Indexing problem.” How will I link my journal entry to the entry in another wiki?

Background

My wiki has grown to over 4000 tiddlers. I do not face performance issues by running it from NodeJS locally with only a selected number of plugins and all images and PDFs hosted externally. Except, Relink plugin adds a break of 3-4 seconds every time I rename a tiddler.

But it has grown to a point where I should split it into multiple wikis for better information organization.

What have I tried so far?

1. includeWikis is a practical option to run multiple wikis from a single Wiki. But it does not solve the information management issue. All tags, tiddlers, TOC, etc., appear in the same place, crowding the UI.

2. I also tried placing plugins in a shared folder, which makes those plugins available to all the wikis but does not solve the customization issue.

[TW_Tones]

Big question with Big answers

• I tend to manage each wiki (typically single file wiki) installing only what I need when I need it. I call this just in time installs.
  • I have a wiki full of plugins
  • I have a searchable file system and folders with my tools in JSON files, I retrieve when needed.
• I have a range of interwiki transfer methods but primarily end up exporting a JSON package then drop it on one or more destinations
• Perhaps given my experience as a Knowledge/Information Management professional I have no problems dividing my life into wikis. Or naming tiddlers, however I do not know how to share this knowledge/skill set, but have tried over the years.
• You can package multiple plugins into an edition or a single JSON for install as needed in a lump.
  • Similarly designs, macros and data if needed for transfer.
• I don’t bother with the Node Plugin folders even when using the bob.exe version of node because each wiki has bespoke combinations of plugins and macros.

[TiddlyTweeter]

@talha131

But it has grown to a point where I should split it into multiple wikis for better information organization.

Is this a tech question or a experiential one?

[talha131]

@TiddlyTweeter

Is this a tech question or a experiential one?

Whichever helps me organize my wikis

It’s a bit of both, I assume. Most of you have been power users for years. I am interested how you guys tackled the issue that I am facing now.

@TW_Tones

You can package multiple plugins into an edition or a single JSON for install as needed in a lump.

• Similarly designs, macros and data if needed for transfer.

That’s a great idea. If I make sure that my customizations are packed into a plugin, then I can easily drag and drop them into new wikis.

[talha131]

And how do you create links between wikis if necessary?

[TW_Tones]

@talha131

create links between wikis

I have being developing sophisticated solutions for this I will eventually publish, however I don’t need it so often, I tend to name the tiddler in one wiki, copy the title and search for it in the other wiki.

The tricks include having all wikis autosave, then when linking to a tiddler in another tiddly make sure you use the correct window name / target so they are always opened in the same tab, because you don’t want single file wikis in two tabs/windows because the last save wins.

• This is why I used bob because it protects you from multiple tab/windows

[talha131]

@TW_Tones

• This is why I used bob because it protects you from multiple tab/windows

There is also TidGi. Looks pretty promising

[TiddlyTweeter]

@talha131

Most of you have been power users for years

Well it is true I aspire to the SHULMAN BEARD … but actually I am an idiot …

[EricShulman]

@TiddlyTweeter

Well it is true I aspire to the SHULMAN BEARD…

That caricature image was professionally-drawn more than 10 years ago as a gift/award for my work with the UnaMesa Association (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that holds the intellectual property rights in TiddlyWiki for the benefit of the community, ensuring that it always remains available under the present permissive license).

Alas, as many years have passed (I turned 60 years old this July!) and I have faced some serious ongoing health challenges, my beard has been getting progressively more “salt-and-pepper” gray. Nonetheless, I still use this younger visage as my personal logo, since it represents the vitality and joy that I still derive from working with TiddlyWiki (and TiddlyTools, of course!) and the wonderfully thriving community of incredibly creative and giving people that surrounds it.

-e

[talha131]

I am sharing my conclusions in the hope that they might help someone else too.

Importance of Splitting Wikis

During migration, I discovered several tiddlers that were not correctly tagged, tags that were not reachable from the table of contents, and tiddlers that should have been in the system path.

Even if you are not facing a performance issue, splitting wiki into smaller wikis is good practice once you have collected several tiddlers on a subject. It helps improve the internal structure of your notes and remove redundant tiddlers.

View/Update multiple wikis

I decided to use TidGi to manage all my wikis. It runs wikis using NodeJS and presents them in a single window. Hence, I will not have to switch between different windows looking for a specific wiki, and I can keep getting the advantage of the NodeJS server.

It has bugs. But so far, they do not seem showstoppers, though I hope the developer will make the app more reliable.

Syncing configuration and plugins

One solution is to export all your settings as a plugin. Eric has a great tip for creating plugins from your tiddlers.

But I already store my tiddlers using a custom file path configuration.

[is[system]!has[draft.of]removeprefix[$:/]addprefix[_system/]]

So all my settings are inside the _system folder. All I had to do was to copy these three into new wikis to replicate the configuration

1. tiddlywiki.info
2. plugins
3. _system

Interlinking Wikis

For now, I am going to rely on localhost links, like, http://192.168.10.3:5217/#2022-10-01

If getting a permalink to a wiki is critical, then the only solution is to store or host it at a permanent domain name, like wiki1.mydomain.com. But for now, the localhost URL is OK for my needs.