How do I set up my own wiki
Do you really need a wiki?
That is, don't overcomplicate the start.
The thing that you keep doing is the best thing, whatever that is.
If you just want to organize your thoughts, then maybe the thing that motivates your most is fiddling with a standalone app like Obsidian (or one of of the many things like it).
Maybe you want a clean separation between messy notes, and then writing self-contained articles online.
Maybe that's easier to host elsewhere, and just as productive for you.
Say, consider the style of e.g. jvns.
Conceptually, that entire site is static HTML
...it just gets re-generated whenever a new article gets added.
The items are written in Markdown,
There is a sort of template that tells it how to translate that to HTML. You don't have to alter it, though probably want to over time to make it look more like your thing.
No database, no reliance of the kind of hosting, so easier to move to another host, or self-host.
If this suits your needs, this is more portable and, after the initial setup, more lightweight and low-maintenance.
When do you really want a wiki?
Generally, a wiki is preferred if you want one or more of:
- public facing
- e.g. obsidian can check most of the boxes - for private/group use.
- collaborative editing
- that is, where the primary copy is online, and editable, rather than with one person
- specific features that specific wiki software
- e.g. if you want source code to be processed and shown colorized
- cross-linked structure
- that is handled more or less automatically