I will demonstrate an easy and fast way of configuring Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware for the purpose of having a central repository for a knowledge base.
I will also explain how to manage permissions for various use cases, how to separate different topics, how to access stored knowledge.
Full Description
This presentation will start with a minimal Tiki site and show how to build structures of pages and file repositories.
I will show how to configure permissions for a publically visible and editable knowledge base, or separate knowledge bases which are restricted to groups of users and invisible to others, or intermediate scenarios with groups of editors and groups of read-only viewers.
I will show the basics of how to make the knowledge acessible, searchable, navigatable and allow comments from people who can only view it.
We start with a real-life Tiki website right after the installer was run.
Tiki version is Tiki 18 LTS (Long Term Support)
Nothing special except I put my email in Sender email field because I want people who get automated notifications to reply to me in an easy way.
Setting Tiki
I did the demo on a local VM http://fosdem.alsawiki.com You need to adapt links shown below to your own site.
Special for the FOSDEM presentation: theme trick
I set a different theme for admins than normal users to make it clear if it's an admin's view or a user's view for the people who watch the vidéo.
Settings → Control Panel Switch to advanced mode: Switch from Basic to Advanced then Set as my default.
→ Look & Feel → Theme Site theme: Slate
Group theme: check
Settings → Groups → Admins
Admins group theme: Default
Now admin views are mostly white and anonymous browsing or normal users are grey.
General Tiki improvements
I set a number of configurations which make sense for our use case or are required for the site to perform as we want.
Global permissions:
Added
Registered: tiki_p_search (tiki)
Deleted
Anonymous and all the children groups: tiki_p_download_files (file galleries)
Anonymous and all the children groups: tiki_p_view (wiki)
Anonymous and all the children groups: tiki_p_search (tiki)
Reload user browser: Lost access to everything, as expected.
Ugly message: Let's fix that.
Reorganise modules and HomePage
For the benefit of visitors.
HomePage
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! Welcome to this FOSDEM talk demo site
The purpose of this website is to demonstrate how to set up a site for collaborating efficiently with different customers which don't know about each other.
As a Tiki and Free Software specialist freelancer, I have been using this system for my own communication with my customers for 8 years. They like it.
Remove list of authors.
Edit HomePage object permissions Anonymous can view
Set Modules
Settings → Modules
Move login module from top to left
position: 1
mode: module
Add Since last visit to right section
Only visible to Registered
Add Search module to right (with more time, it might be nicer in top section but detailed placing requires CSS)
Restrict Menu 42 module to Admins
Reload user browser: View the site for Anonymous users (not logged in)
Create a new workspace for AACMEE Corp (aacmee)
Totally fictitious Corporation, don't sue! 😊
Create category aacmee
"Categories" → "Admin Categories" → Name : aacmee
Uncheck Apply parent category permissions
Create group aacmee
Description: People involved in AACMEE Corp's projects.
Inherit permissions directly from following groups: Registered
Group Home page: aacmee - Homepage
Set default Category: aacmee
Default category assigned to uncategorised objects edited by a user with this default group
blogs
Can post to a blog (tiki_p_blog_post) Can read blogs (tiki_p_read_blog)'
category
Can see the category in a listing (tiki_p_view_category) Can add objects to the category (tiki_p_modify_object_categories permission required) (tiki_p_add_object) Can remove objects from the category (tiki_p_modify_object_categories permission required) (tiki_p_remove_object)
comments
Can post new comments (tiki_p_post_comments) Can read comments (tiki_p_read_comments)
file galleries
(all but Can assign permissions to file galleries (tiki_p_assign_perm_file_gallery))
group
(none)
wiki
Can view page/pages (tiki_p_view) Can edit pages (tiki_p_edit) Can view wiki history (tiki_p_wiki_view_history) Can roll back pages (tiki_p_rollback) Can view wiki comments (tiki_p_wiki_view_comments)
wiki structure
Can create and edit structures (tiki_p_edit_structures)
Tiki
Can change the categories of an object (tiki_p_modify_object_categories)
× Send an email to the user in order to allow him to validate his account.
(no self-registration, only professional contacts known beforehand here)
Set him in group aacmee, also as the default group
There won't be a confirmation mail (this is a demo running on a VM). Force validation as admin (right-hand spanner for user)
Log in and set the password for Vile Fox Tip: For the demo, we create it early and actually use it. In real life, use "switch user" as an admin in the login module for testing what he can see and do.
Create file Gallery aacmee
First create a projects file gallery to keep things orderly.
Create file Gallery aacmee in Projects → Keep track of number NNN
Optionally, create aacmee → Invoices
Group Monitor: aacmee
Create blog aacmee day-to-day interventions
Create blog aacmee day-to-day interventions
Description:
Tasks performed for AACMEE Corp.
This is for keeping track of day-to-day interventions
Allow search
Categorize: aacmee
→ Save → Note number NNN
Group Monitor: aacmee
Create page aacmee - Homepage
aacmee - Homepage
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aacmee
This section is reserved for people involved in ACME Corp and can be accessed by the following.
So as to let users and yourself find their way.
Admin → Modules
Create new custom module
Name: Custom menu aacmee
Title: aacmee
x ← Must be wiki parsed.
Data:
→ Create
Click Assign
Position: Left
Order: 2
Groups: aacmee
→ Assign
Edit again (double click)
Groups: aacmee
Flip: y
Exit Modules
Validate
That's it
You can add other customers and other companies and they won't see each other.
Yet you can communicate with them and changes trigger email notifications.
Extensions and improvements
Please remember that more communication channels does not necessary lead to better communication. As an example, a small addition to the above would be to create a bug tracker for a customer/project. This would be done just like adding the blog or the file galleries above. Yet, in 8 years only a single customer of mine wanted to communicate using a bug tracker.
If you feel constrained by the end result of the above and you would like full control of forms, processes and such, you can have a much more elaborate site and more customisation using Tiki's trackers feature (which really stands for our inbuilt database/forms system).
That's more complex than the above, but also way more powerful.
Yes, if you want more control than a plain blog, you can rewrite the blog feature using trackers. Same for file galleries.
But that's off-topic.