Introduction | |
These are broad and vague terms.
With Tiki, you can pick & choose which features are turned on. Chances are, your project will be a combination of a few 'Use Cases'. So you can use the combined features of all appropriate use cases. Why cater to so many use cases? A bit like speaking many languages from the same root (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, etc.), once you know 3 or 4, the 5th and 6th are easier to learn because you already have many bases. Some words are the same, or similar enough that you can get by. So each Use Case is easier & easier. Similar to the list of features, rating (A, B, C, D, E) are to compare Tiki as an overall solution for these use cases, compared to "industry standards" in the Open Source World. So "A" means that Tiki is, for this Use Case, just as good as any other Open Source project. "A" does not mean "Perfect" or that it has all the features. Some features may be weak but compensated by other strong features. The ratings are based on the latest stable version of Tiki. If you disagree with a rating, please change it and edit the Strengths/Weaknesses sections accordingly. ToDo
Each Use Case will eventually need an installation profile to make it easy for people to get going when they install Tiki. Format: ![]() Copy to clipboard
|
Who is reading? | |
So info.tiki.org should start out with |
I am not a techy | |
|
1.1.1. Writer / Content manager / Translator / Marketing | |
Me: Content is king! I have info to get out and don't want to wait for a webmaster. Strengths: Tiki has a full range of features to make a great publishing & collaboration platform, with plenty of Interaction tools. Please also see: SEO
Potential to contribute to Tiki: Can help with *.tiki.org content and can also help with bug reports, testing, documentation, feature requirements, etc. |
1.1.2. Graphic artist / theme designer | |
Me: I am really good with CSS & HTML but I am allergic to PHP Strengths: Tiki has a very flexible template system. You can do an amazing quantity of thing without ever changing a single line of PHP code. Thanks to the theme control center, you can assign a different theme to different parts of your site. The whole theme system was recently re-organized. Please see: themes.tiki.org Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Theme designers often make very specific theme for customers. These themes often cover only a small number of features. Result: their work is most often not contributable. |
1.1.3. Power-user / Information architect | |
Me: I am really good at testing, configuring, finding bugs, etc. and I want a powerful system to organize things efficiently Strengths: Tiki has arguably more features out of the box than any other web application. Configure your Tiki to your liking through a point & click GUI.
Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Can help with bug reports, testing, documentation, feature requirements, etc.
|
1.1.4. Entrepreneur / Management / Lawyer | |
Give me the executive summary 😊 Strengths:
Potential to contribute to Tiki: Can help find new uses and business models for Tiki, which at least indirectly, lead to more resources working on Tiki (ex.: a SAAS project or web community (with Tiki as a back-end) |
I am techy | |
If the person clicks techy
|
1.1.1. Programmer / coder | |
Me: I want to code as little as possible and I want to be able to contribute my code or use APIs so I don't have to manage a local fork. Strengths: Tiki is a full-fledged Wiki/ CMS / Groupware. But it can also be used as a framework to build additional functionality. Tiki has a very open development philosophy. You can add features as long as you make them optional Strengths: Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: New features, bug fixes, improve release process, etc.
|
1.1.2. Sysadmin / Web host | |
Me:I am worried about complex updates and security issues. Apt-get is my friend Strengths: Why install 2, 3 or 4 Web apps when Tiki can handle these needs? One application to manage instead of inconsistent logins & permissions throughout different systems. Tiki offers Manager, MultiTiki & InterTiki. Many authentication options (LDAP, CAS, etc). Tiki runs on standard PHP/MySQL. You can easily export & reuse data if need be. See: Hosting Company Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Stability, Security, Uptime, Performance, Deployability, etc.
|
1.1.3. IT manager | |
Me: I am looking for a good overall solution for a web app. I am planning ahead because now, my staff is asking for a wiki, but I know that later, they are are gonna want more. I don't want to be limited down the road. Strengths: Tiki is a very active project. Hundreds of people have contributed. On one side, it is mature and stable in version LTS versions, a lot of exciting new features are in development Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Can help with funding / planning of enhancements and stability/upkeep of LTS versions. |
What type of organization? | |
Small and medium-sized business (SMB) | |
Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: https://wikisuite.org |
Enterprise / Corporate | |
Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: They save money, thus, can contribute. Typically long term commitment. Related links: |
Government | |
Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Large deployments and long-term projects. Could prefer to invest public money in FOSS solutions, which are thus available to all. |
Education / Research | |
For teachers & school administration
Strengths: Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Translation Student Program |
Association / Non-Profit / Co-ops / NGO / Special Interest Group / Club / Foundation | |
Can be an association of professionals Strengths: Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Have a culture of volunteers and good causes. Can help with fundraising and volunteer testers. If you a philanthropist and want to help, you can put your resources to good use, with a fantastic multiplying effect. Tiki is free as in free beer. Tiki got this far with a budget of 0, but money would help to cover travel expenses for contributors for TikiFests and increase overall quality.
|
Personal / Family / Freelancer | |
Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki:
|
Web agency / Designer / Consultant | |
Us: We do all kinds of web projects. Mostly web sites but sometimes some Intranets Strengths: With Tiki, you can manage several different types of projects, all with the same back-end. And it's easy to share back so you don't have to maintain your customizations.
Potential to contribute to Tiki: These agencies are the ones picking the tool, and can both increase the install base, and contribute back enhancements. |
Hosting company / Tech services | |
Us: We want applications which add value to our hosting services. And it has to be easy to maintain. Strengths: Tiki is ideal! Please see: Hosting Company
Potential to contribute to Tiki: Links:
|
International / Multilingual / Geo CMS | |
Strengths: Tiki interface is at least partially translation in 40+ languages
Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Translations Links: |
How will the system be used / what is the project? | |
Web Publishing / News / Blog / Personal site / family site / Portal / news site | |
"One to Many" web communication Features: Menu, Newsletter, Articles, Article Generator, Blog, Banners, Themes, Kaltura videos, Comments, Spam protection, WYSIWYG, Search engine optimization, Clean URLs, RSS, Categories, etc. Strengths: Themable, Smarty, Can natively handle multiple blogs Weaknesses: Spam prevention, not enough nice built-in themes. Potential to contribute to Tiki: Web shops that do brochure-ware websites typically take Tiki as-is, have very little to develop, and most often can't recontribute the custom theme. Since sites are pretty simple, and version history / collaboration is not important, they more often change technologies after a few years. Because of a custom theme, site upgrades are likely to be 2-4 years apart, along with design refresh. LTS is useful for them. Links:
|
E-commerce / Shopping cart / Finance / Membership | |
Managing transactions Features: Shopping Cart, Payment, Accounting, Credit, Membership, PluginTrade, Spreadsheet Strengths: Weaknesses:
Links:
|
E-learning / Learning Management System (LMS) / classroom / course management system (CMS) / Coaching communities | |
One to many teaching, or many to many learning
Features: Quizzes, BigBlueButton webinars, Slideshow and Screencast Strengths: Weaknesses:
Links:
|
Social Networking / Community / Fan Site / E-democracy | |
Many to many, organic groups Examples: Job board / Dating site / hospitality exchange / Car Pooling People are connected around a topic. Features: Forums, Inter-User Messages, Maps, Friendship Network, Spam Protection, Workspace UI, User profiles, Organic Groups, Wiki user pages, Calendar of events, polls Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Links: |
Knowledge base / Documentation / Book / Thesis / Glossary / Dictionary / Encyclopedia / Manual / Knowledge Management (KM) / institutional memory / Document Workflow / Document Management System (DMS) | |
Collaboratively edited
Features: Wiki, Screencast, Search, Structure, i18n (for translation), Flagged Revision, Tag, Spam Protection, Zotero, References, WebHelp, categories, category permissions, Watch, category watch, category transition, File galleries with check-in/checkout, WebDAV Strengths: Excellent tracking of edits (wiki history) Weaknesses: Printing, Offline, PDF, Doesn't handle non-Web things (OCR, etc) Potential to contribute to Tiki: Links
|
Customer/Contact/Constituent relationship management (CRM) / Support / Help Desk / Issue Tracker / Bug Tracker / Customer extranet | |
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Potential to contribute to Tiki: Typically Long Term commitment as they want to have a stable platform for their customers Links:
|
Office Suite | |
Online office productivity tools, to collaborate on various document types (all web-based) Features: Wiki, Docs, Screencast, Spreadsheet, Slideshow, Drawings, Database builder. For regular files, you can use the File Gallery and WebDAV Strengths: Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Links:
|
Productivity / Personal Information Management (PIM) / Personal knowledge base | |
Makes users more efficient Features: Webmail, Bookmarks, Notepad, Task, User Files, Calendar, Contact Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Potential to contribute to Tiki: Related links:
|
Framework / App builder / Activity Workflow / Online service / Database, forms & reports / Specialized web Application | |
Tiki has all these features, and you use as Framework to build even more! Most online services like Basecamp, Freshbooks, etc. are not using FOSS software (although they are very likely using components). Contact some of the developers to see if/how your project could fit in so you can focus on your content and community and reduce the risk/cost of feature development. I have legacy data | I want to reuse content from another DB http://tiki.org/PluginSql, Webservices, etc.
Strengths:
Potential to contribute to Tiki: Links:
|
Production / ERP | |
This can be built with trackers, but Tiki is not yet good here. Features: Trackers, Category Transitions engine to code custom processes Strengths: Weaknesses: Potential to contribute to Tiki: Related links
|
Event Management, Conference Management & planning | |
This is a mix of Project Management for the organizers, CRM for the attendees and publishing to promote the event. Yet, since it's a fairly clear / common use case, we'll make add a section Features: Trackers (for user registration), Wiki, Calendar Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Related links
|
What is your infrastructure? | |
Shared hosting | |
|
V-server or dedicated server | |
|
Local computer or USB key | |
|
Alias | |