Question about online encyclopedias and MediaWiki

surfrider · #1 (**permalink**) 08-29-07, 13:55

If one were to create an online encyclopedia like Wikipedia where content was not user-created, what would be the best route? From my research, a PHP/MySQL script seems to be the answer, but I really don't know for sure.

And would freeware like MediaWiki be another good option, even for an online encyclopedia that did not have its users create the content? Is there any advantage to having a custom script over something like MediaWiki?

Any help on creating an online encyclopedia would be really appreciated.

TravisJ · #2 (**permalink**) 08-29-07, 14:53

I would go with using something like MediaWiki. If you make all the software yourself, you will be wasting a lot of time. The wikis can be configured so that only you (or a select group of people) can edit it , and you can change how everything looks/works so that it has your own custom appearance.

surfrider · #3 (**permalink**) 08-29-07, 15:49

Would I need to hire someone proficient in not only PHP and MySQL, but experienced with MediaWiki as well?

The following excerpt is from Wikipedia about MediaWiki. Would someone care to comment on it please:

Quote:

Furthermore, there is no offline version of MediaWiki, which would enable users to update pages on their client offline, and then have those pages automatically transferred to the server when re-connected, in a similar way to the client-server operation of Lotus Notes. An offline MediaWiki client could also help users with the back-up of important pages.

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