'Best tools/approaches to organize a project wiki (diagrams, user flows and etc.)

I'm involved in a few projects with quite a small teams. Usually it is 2-5 developers.

And we don't have a proper tools to organize our wiki. For some features we have diagrams stored on Google Drive. Some features are explained with comments in a code.

I'm not ready to pay per user for some specialized services, so I'm looking for more simple/cheap/straightforward solutions.

Any ideas and experience how to build and support project documentation for a small team?

projectdocumentationdiagramwiki


Solution 1:[1]

I worry this question may get flagged as too open-ended and subjective. See What types of questions should I avoid asking? Still, I am passionate about knowledge management and Wiki is one kind-of tool that can help. There are others, e.g. Document or Content Management solutions, Files/Folders with good conventions, etc.

I recommend you assess the capabilities and enthusiasm of the targeted teams. Different teams might benefit from different solutions or have ideas about how to fix what they are now using. Know that some may never warm-up-to, or meaningfully participate in, a Wiki or other solution.

If you opt for a Wiki-based solution, there are many, many "Wiki Engines." Many are free but you need to consider their supporting run-times. I also value the portability of my content so I look for CommonMark or GFM (GitHub Flavored Markdown) adherence. Security and control is important for some but, that flies in the face of "Wiki Principles"

These articles may help you as you develop a matrix of your teams' needs:

  1. sitepoint: How to Choose the Right Wiki
  2. Nuclino: The Ultimate Guide to Wiki Software

Also consider what you may already have.

  • SharePoint? One of the poorer Wiki implementations in my view. Still if you own it already it may suffice. It's not presently very portable.
  • Do you use Visual Studio? If so you may have an Azure DevOps instance provisioned. That provides for "project Wikis" that are reasonably compliant and portable.
  • Do you use GitHub? It supports markdown files (.md) in repositories and it also provides a Wiki whose files are compliant.
  • Confluence? Isn't really a Wiki (not readily portable, no markdown) but it provides a polish not matched by many.
  • Microsoft Teams? Avoid its "Wiki." It isn't really working - yet.

I hope this gets you "off the ground." Best of luck.

Sources

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Source: Stack Overflow

Solution Source
Solution 1 ScottWelker

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