Editing Permissions for Wiki

February 11, 2005 1:33 PM

Is it possible to set up a wiki in such a manner that anyone can read but only those with a password can edit? [mi]

I've got a project in mind for which the functionality of a wiki would be ideal, but I want to be the only one who can edit the pages. Is there a way to set it up so pages are visible to the public but only editable by me? Perhaps via password protection?

I should note that I'm not useless with a computer, but I'm by no means a coder.

posted by me3dia to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Best answer: Yes. I think most wikis have this ability. The one I'm familiar with -- phpwiki -- makes this quite easy, you just have to "lock" the page using a pretty easy-to-find link and then it can only be unlocked and editable with a password. mathowie's site uses this, with a fancier-coded front end. I was able to install phpwiki myself just by being able to follow directions pretty well, it's easy to use.

You can see how this would look to a user by looking at their SandBox which has a little edit button in the lower corner. Their HomePage on the other hand, has no edit button. If you tried to edit this page [say you knew the syntax and thought you were being sly] you'd get an error like this one. If you were logged in and had certain levels of privilege you would be able to edit that page.
posted by jessamyn at 1:47 PM on February 11, 2005

Qwikiwiki lets you do this. I'm sure many other wiki packages support it as well.
posted by Gary at 1:48 PM on February 11, 2005

Many wiki's can do that, for example MediaWiki (used by the Wikipedia projects), MoinMoin and PhpWiki. This page has a larger list (look under "user permissions").
posted by reynaert at 1:52 PM on February 11, 2005

instiki also does this. Actually, it publishes a read-only version at an alternate URL and keeps the editable version password protected. Very nice.
posted by lfaren at 2:00 PM on February 11, 2005

i [heart] qwikiwiki.
posted by heather at 2:12 PM on February 11, 2005

UseMod wiki does this, and it is very easy to set up.

Just set the following two configuration variables:
$AdminPass - set to your password
$EditPass - set to 0
posted by rajbot at 2:16 PM on February 11, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks all. That's perfect -- and my host has a relationship with instiki, so I'll probably go with that one.
posted by me3dia at 2:21 PM on February 11, 2005

Check out WebCollaborator. It's a free fully functional wiki tool that you don't even have to install somewhere. Runs on their servers!
posted by pwb503 at 2:24 PM on February 11, 2005