Approaches to a Wiki - Database hybrid

Question

I need a database where one (or more) fields behave like a wiki. I want the free-form content creation aspects of a wiki bolstered by the strict semantic structure of a database.

Specifically, I need this database field to hold wiki-style markup, track multi-user changes, allow reverts, etc...

I've come at this from a few directions:

• Wedging a wiki into a database by having this field point to a page from a separate wiki system.
• Building the database around the wiki (creating extra fields per page for my structured data).
• Or build it from scratch with my own system for tracking changes in this field (can this really necessary given how much wiki software there is out there?)

Does anyone have any experience or insight on approaching the construction of this? Or can anyone point me to a framework that would get me on my way?

I've looked into the structured wikis like TikiWiki and TWiki but it's not clear to me how to accomplish what I'd like.

Answer 1

The Attribute extension of MediaWiki will let you add custom attributes to a page.

If you really need more than this, the database structure is documented here.

Answer 2

Just for future reference, anybody interested in this may also want to check out the semantic-mediawiki extension:

Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) is a free extension of MediaWiki – the wiki-system powering Wikipedia – that helps to search, organise, tag, browse, evaluate, and share the wiki's content. While traditional wikis contain only text which computers can neither understand nor evaluate, SMW adds semantic annotations that let you easily publish Semantic Web content, and allow the wiki to function as a collaborative database.

Answer 3

the Halo extension is only one extension packed in SMW+. The latter is a complete package containing ready installed MW, SMW and several extensions for better usability (e.g. WYSIWYG) and funcionalities. It's an open source win installer or vmware.