Building a documentation site using the wiki module

Building a documentation site using the wiki module

by Matt Reid -
Number of replies: 4

Hello everybody - I've just started learning Moodle, and this is my first post 😊

I'd like to build a documentation site for my organisation using the wiki module - in exactly the same way as https://docs.moodle.org/ 

The standard implementation of the module seems to be: create a course; enrol users; then create a wiki. However, I want to bypass the first two steps and make my wiki publicly available. 

Is this possible using Moodle, or is docs.moodle.org a standalone wiki?

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In reply to Matt Reid

Re: Building a documentation site using the wiki module

by Mary Cooch -
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Hello Matt and welcome to Moodle smile
I have to say though that Moodle does not use the actual wiki activity (documentation here: Wiki activity to create its documentation site; instead we use separate sites created with MediaWiki - so it is indeed standalone.
You could make a course on your Moodle site and add just one wiki to it - using the single activity course format. Assuming you want all users to edit the wiki then you could use self enrolment to the course and then once people have enrolled, they can edit the wiki.

Also - since it is your first post, make sure you have checked out Moodle Academy and Learn Moodle smile
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In reply to Matt Reid

Re: Building a documentation site using the wiki module

by Jon Bolton -
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Are you wanting to replicate the Moodle docs wiki for your organisation? If so, you can export some/all of the MoodleDocs wiki at https://docs.moodle.org/311/en/Special:Export

If you're wanting a wiki for other documentation, then you can achieve what you want to do with Moodle although docs.moodle.org is a standalone wiki powered by MediaWiki.

If you want your wiki publicly available:

You can either put the wiki on the front page but you need to enable guest access to your site.

or put it in a course (but you'll also need to enable guest enrolment - which is NOT the same as the site wide guest access).

See:

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In reply to Matt Reid

Re: Building a documentation site using the wiki module

by Colin Fraser -
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Given what Mary and Jon have said, both of whom are real experts whereas I'm just a part timer, I found that for the sort of thing you're looking for is have a MediaWiki setup separate from your Moodle. You can link each to the other quite easily. My logic for doing it this way was based in the idea that the Moodle Wiki is okay in a course, but not suitable for a broader option. The advantages of MediaWiki easily outweigh the Moodle Wiki. Both are easy to set up and maintain, I've always had them on the same network drive. Also, learning how to edit the MediaWiki easy but a range of Admin functions are not as simple. We run backups, for example, on everything on that server drive, all at once, so we don't lose anything. Works for us.
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In reply to Matt Reid

Re: Building a documentation site using the wiki module

by Matt Reid -
Thanks everybody for your replies 👍

A standalone MediaWiki site sounds like the best option for me.
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