Top 3 Free IIS Based Wiki

Have you ever wondered what are the top 3 IIS based Wiki Applications, well here is my list not sure if it will be you top 3 but this is mine.

So what are my criteria?  It should be free, you can easily modify it (opensource), the backend database should be SQL Server and it should be Microsoft Based Application which means it should run in IIS.  So what is my top 3 then.

3. DNN (DotNetNuke)

The most popular .Net Open Source CMS is my third in the list.  And eventhough it is a CMS application it has as Wiki Module, though not extensive as the open source wiki’s it does it job.  To give you an idea here are the main things that you can only do.

Home – Brings you to the  default page of the Wiki, not the default page of the site.
Search – Searches the Wiki.
Recent Changes – Review the history of changes.
Index – Some sort of a table of contents where it shows you all Wiki Pages.
Add – Adds a new wiki page.
Edit – Edits a wiki page.
View Topic History – Review the history of changes on the specific Wiki Page.

Some additional settings:
Use DotNetNuke Security for edit content permissions – As it says use DNN Security otherwise you can manually override the permissions.
Allow Pages Comments – Allows visitors to leave comments on the wiki pages (individually or globally)
Allow Pages Ratings – Allows the visitor to rank the page (individually or globally).

And thats about it, thats all you can do.  I’m not saying that its not good but DNN’s main focus is CMS not a Wiki.  The wiki part is just a bonus.  DNN can be freely downloaded here.

Pro

• Open Source which means you can customize whatever you want.
• Have Active Directory Providers.
• Can do more than just a Wiki site.
• Can easily port to the internet.

Cons

• Need a bit of learning if you want to customize stuff.
• Not a full blown wiki application.

2. Microsoft Sharepoint

Yes, youve seen it right its Sharepoint and its another CMS Application.  Eventhough Sharepoint is a content management system it can be utilized as a Wiki tool and it comes free with a Windows Server which you can download here.

Pro

• Integrates with Microsoft Office.
• Can do more than just a Wiki site.
• Highly Customizable.
• Integrated natively with Active Directory.
• Install and use.

Cons

• Performance is based on the Server Hardware.
• You need to use Microsoft Sharepoint Designer to customize.
• Making it available on the Internet it not simple.

1. ScrewTurn Wiki

And the number one is ScrewTurn Wiki!

It is a dedicated Wiki engine developed in C# which can use SQL Server or just file system for its database.  Since its a dedicated wiki engine it means it have all of the wiki functionalities you are looking for like change control, discussions, ratings, attachments just to name some.  Definitely its free and can be downloaded here

Pro

• Open Source
• Blazing fast (High performance)
• Low Bandwidth usage (ViewState Compression and HTTP Compression)
• Install and use
• Simple usage and administration
• RSS

Cons

• I cannot use key strokes in the editor (such as CTRL+B, CTRL+U,etc)