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Beautify Instiki (even more) with custom CSS
Merlin Mann | Oct 9 2004
You probably already know about Instiki. It’s is a terrific, elegant, beautiful wiki that I personally use for half a dozen of my own projects. I’ll probably run a longer post on Instiki some time in the future, but I can especially recommend the OS X install for Mac users. If you have a server that can handle Ruby 1.8.1, I can equally recommend the regular Ruby install. The app is gorgeous and works swell either way. One of my favorite things about Instiki is how attractive and simple it is to use (PHPWiki, you’ll always be my first love, but sometimes, you’re just too high-maintenance). Instiki even lets you apply your own custom style sheets without having to change any actual code (Dear Typepad: Please steal this idea. Love, Merlin.). Here’s a quick tip for adding your own styles to your Instiki wiki.
Hint: Here, as in most cases, it’s really easier to just refer to an external style sheet, so you can make changes in a text editor (rather than having to diddle around in a textarea and repeatedly save changes). I welcome you to swipe my “hamburger helper” Instiki style sheet to get you started. You’re also welcome to just link to it as is (proviso: may go away some day without warning). To apply it to your wiki:
Note: There are many many other swell wiki packages out there (I estimate that three new ones have been released since I started writing this). Mac users who want something even simpler should definitely look at VoodooPad, which brings a fairly robust, very intuitive wiki to a desktop Mac app. Fave feature? Export all your pages to your iPod. Neato! 22 Comments
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 [...] Beautify Instiki (even more)...Submitted by Pensievin’ » links for 2006-04-20 (not verified) on May 27, 2006 - 9:24am.
[…] Beautify Instiki (even more) with custom CSS | 43 Folders (tags: instiki design css) […] »
I only recently started looking...Submitted by knewman (not verified) on October 9, 2004 - 9:04pm.
I only recently started looking at wikis, and I still haven’t wrapped my brain around how to best use them for personal organization. Most of the literature i’ve seen on the web has been praising the collaborative nature of the wiki, but for personal use, this isn’t a big selling point for me. I’d love to see some examples of how people are using a personal wiki like Instiki to organize their lives and get things done. »
Seconded. I don't necessarily...Submitted by Aaron (not verified) on October 10, 2004 - 3:13am.
Seconded. I don’t necessarily see the point for personal organization as of yet, so I’d be interested to read how you use it Merlin. I’m just getting started with GTD, and so far it looks like OmniOutliner will be the best/easiest app to use for making my project, and possibly action, lists. Though I just got a snazzy new Cliè, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sync OmniOutliner content smoothly with that. »
 I don't actually use wikis...Submitted by Merlin Mann on October 10, 2004 - 6:14am.
I don’t actually use wikis much for productivity stuff—I use ‘em for work and for ad hoc projects I do with other folks. One thing I love about Instiki—once you have it up and running, it’s very easy to create additional “webs,” which are independent wikis with their own access controls, styles, etc. Great app. »
Completely OT: why is www.reinvigorate.net...Submitted by Ceesaxp (not verified) on October 10, 2004 - 6:32pm.
Completely OT: why is www.reinvigorate.net always takes ages to return that JS script? It results in page loading for minutes! »
Instiki looks really nice. I...Submitted by Akakie (not verified) on October 10, 2004 - 6:56pm.
Instiki looks really nice. I installed it and am using it to define personal projects. A nice point is that it doesn’t require anything external. I have Apache and Ruby on the Mac (came with it!), but with Instiki, I don’t have to bring those up. I do wonder about Ruby 1.8.1. I had installed that upgrade, but after installing Instiki, I seem to be back to Ruby 1.6. Maybe it’s just klutzism on my part. Any ideas about how to use the installed version of Ruby instead of the one in the package? »
I've been using a desktop-based...Submitted by Corie (not verified) on October 10, 2004 - 7:17pm.
I’ve been using a desktop-based wiki to try to handle GTD for a couple weeks now, and it seems to work pretty well. I’ve been running wikidpad (win, but I know there are mac versions out there that have been mentioned here). I have one wiki page for each project, a next actions page, a waiting page, and a general reference page. My vertical planning for each project goes on the specific project page, and the top item goes on the NA page (or the waiting page) - after the action, I just have a link to that project - rather like the PigPog method described here except there’s no danger of losing my project notes if I accidently delete the entire action - it’ll just go in the orphaned pages area. downsides - not portable by palm/otherhandheld, but I’m usually working from home, its usually not a problem. I’d guess a webbased wiki would help for people that are more mobile. »
How does one create additional...Submitted by Avram (not verified) on October 11, 2004 - 7:06am.
How does one create additional Instiki webs? I haven’t been able to find anything about this on the Instiki site. »
For new Instiki webs, just...Submitted by Thomas (not verified) on October 11, 2004 - 7:31am.
For new Instiki webs, just go from current web’s homepage to ‘Edit Web’ page. Scroll down - just below the ‘Update’ form button is a link to ‘Create a new web’. That’s it. »
Actually, the real power of...Submitted by Leif Brown (not verified) on October 11, 2004 - 12:05pm.
Actually, the real power of instiki + CSS just occured to me: CSS makes it possible to have the display of certain pages… change based on context. I don’t mean annoying, useless, constant changes. But imagine Calendars that reorder themselves, NextAction lists that sort themselves, “In Boxes” that know when their contents need to be sorted, project categories that tell you when an item has been inactive too long, and may need re-categorization… I have seen the future… »
About Merlin MannBio Merlin Mann is an independent writer, speaker, and broadcaster. He’s best known for being the guy who started the website you’re reading right now. He lives in San Francisco, does lots of public speaking, and helps make cool things like You Look Nice Today. Also? He looks like this, answers questions, and has something like a life. Merlin’s favorite thing he’s written recently is a short essay called, “Better.” |
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