World building website for space opera

[Strellers]

Hi!

Over the years this aspiring writer has accumulated a set of background note which have grown into something totally unwieldy.

As a result I’m in the process of looking for a world building platform that can cater for a space opera setting.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this type of thing? So far I’ve taken cursory looks at World Anvil and Campfire.

It wouldn’t need to be super sophisticated although ideally would include the ability to upload images and a Wiki type section also.

I’m not super tech savvy so whatever I go for will need to be as close to plug and play as possible.

Thanks in advance

 

[CupofJoe]

Would it me for you or external audiences?
If it just for you, then something like OneNote from MS might be useful.
You can create sections and add as many pages as you like in each one.
On each page you can add images and text, and probably much more and have several of these windows on each page I think of them as Post-It notes...].
I have it free via work, so I don't know if there would be any costs involved.
It looks like it is part of Outlook [and I don't pay for that].
Good luck!

 

[Strellers]

Would it me for you or external audiences?
If it just for you, then something like OneNote from MS might be useful.
You can create sections and add as many pages as you like in each one.
On each page you can add images and text, and probably much more and have several of these windows on each page I think of them as Post-It notes...].
I have it free via work, so I don't know if there would be any costs involved.
It looks like it is part of Outlook [and I don't pay for that].
Good luck!

You may may have just come up with an ideal solution and one that I’d never considered!

From what I’m seeing it looks like you can create Wiki type links within the Notes to link to articles in other notes - is that roughly right?

 

[CupofJoe]

I used it more like a multi-media notebook, but I think it does the wiki like linking.
I use it for project notes. So for each stage of a project I can add images, screenshots, code snippets, reminder, how-to guides etc. all in one place.
I hope it works for you!

 

[ellastasia]

I also generally use OneNote for all my backstory and worldbuilding needs. However, I did just come across Docuwiki, though I haven't tried it just yet. Worth a look! I've always enjoyed the wiki-style layout. Campfire and the like are pretty comprehensive, but too time-consuming for my needs. I just use OneNote to keep notes for consistency, and a little more when needed.

Edited for link: dokuwiki [DokuWiki]

 

[Venusian Broon]

Hey @Strellers.

First welcome to Chrons.

Secondly, as an avid big space opera, big SF worldbuilder, I too was basically writing down loads of word documents of ideas and thoughts. And I thought I needed something a bit more sophisticated to just make it more accessible for me to come back to in the future. So if you want a software system that is for you alone and works a bit like Wikipedia...

(BUT, this will depend on your technical expertise level. I have various experiences of different levels of IT - I am in no way good or an expert! - I'd call myself a basic plus amateur when it comes to tech savviness!)

..anyway, like @ellastasia I found Docuwiki (Just google the name and you'll be brought to it) and I've put loads of projects up on that. It's pretty simple...ish. (I say that when it's all set up and running now!) You have to run another piece of software so that you can put a 'server' on your pc i.e. something that runs the Docuwiki . I use Wampserver 64 (Look up "wampserver download" to get the website). Docuwiki themselves may actually give you guidance on what to do. It's been years since I've looked!

I haven't used Campfire or World Anvil, but Docuwiki is very much more like a Wikipedia experience that allows you to just organise your thoughts in a hyperlinked manner. Plus it's fully in your control, on your PC.

Hope that helps.

If you decide to give it a go and you run into technical difficulties, come here and ask for help!

EDIT

Oh, skipped over me, sorry! Welcome to Chrons @ellastasia too!

 

[ellastasia]

Hey @Strellers.

First welcome to Chrons.

Secondly, as an avid big space opera, big SF worldbuilder, I too was basically writing down loads of word documents of ideas and thoughts. And I thought I needed something a bit more sophisticated to just make it more accessible for me to come back to in the future. So if you want a software system that is for you alone and works a bit like Wikipedia...

(BUT, this will depend on your technical expertise level. I have various experiences of different levels of IT - I am in no way good or an expert! - I'd call myself a basic plus amateur when it comes to tech savviness!)

..anyway, like @ellastasia I found Docuwiki (Just google the name and you'll be brought to it) and I've put loads of projects up on that. It's pretty simple...ish. (I say that when it's all set up and running now!) You have to run another piece of software so that you can put a 'server' on your pc i.e. something that runs the Docuwiki . I use Wampserver 64 (Look up "wampserver download" to get the website). Docuwiki themselves may actually give you guidance on what to do. It's been years since I've looked!

I haven't used Campfire or World Anvil, but Docuwiki is very much more like a Wikipedia experience that allows you to just organise your thoughts in a hyperlinked manner. Plus it's fully in your control, on your PC.

Hope that helps.

If you decide to give it a go and you run into technical difficulties, come here and ask for help!

EDIT

Oh, skipped over me, sorry! Welcome to Chrons @ellastasia too!

Thanks for the mini-tutorial! I'd noted that you could privately host your wiki, but the site is a little ambiguous as to how to go about that since it proffers PHP servers and using hosting options, which I wouldn't quite have the know-how or funds to host my own live wiki just for personal use. I've dabbled in self-hosting SQL servers and such though, so I imagine it's along the same concept.

Thank you kindly for saving us the legwork of trying to figure out that step!

 

[Venusian Broon]

Thanks for the mini-tutorial! I'd noted that you could privately host your wiki, but the site is a little ambiguous as to how to go about that since it proffers PHP servers and using hosting options, which I wouldn't quite have the know-how or funds to host my own live wiki just for personal use. I've dabbled in self-hosting SQL servers and such though, so I imagine it's along the same concept.

Thank you kindly for saving us the legwork of trying to figure out that step!

Yeah, I got one of these PHP books "for dummies" years ago and it suggested using wampserver for all the exercises in the book, so that thankfully set up a private server for hosting docuwiki a bit later!

Wampserver should be freeware or voluntary shareware, so being free is a big plus

Both wampserver and docuwiki may not be the most robust and safest pieces of software - I'm sure there are better ones out there - but because I'm assuming you will just be using it privately on a PC or laptop they are, in my opinion, very good and fit for purpose.

 

[Strellers]

I used it more like a multi-media notebook, but I think it does the wiki like linking.
I use it for project notes. So for each stage of a project I can add images, screenshots, code snippets, reminder, how-to guides etc. all in one place.
I hope it works for you!

@CupofJoe It's perfect for what I need right now - you've saved me a lot of time, effort and money!

Thank you!

 

[Strellers]

Yeah, I got one of these PHP books "for dummies" years ago and it suggested using wampserver for all the exercises in the book, so that thankfully set up a private server for hosting docuwiki a bit later!

Wampserver should be freeware or voluntary shareware, so being free is a big plus

Both wampserver and docuwiki may not be the most robust and safest pieces of software - I'm sure there are better ones out there - but because I'm assuming you will just be using it privately on a PC or laptop they are, in my opinion, very good and fit for purpose.

@Venusian Broon @ellastasia Thank you both so much for all the thoughts.

Funnily enough I had looked at DocuWiki and this is something that I will definitely be thinking about going forward if/when I need something a little more sophisticated (the irony being that I came here thinking I needed something a lot more sophisticated than what I realised I needed ).

 

[CupofJoe]

@CupofJoe It's perfect for what I need right now - you've saved me a lot of time, effort and money!

Thank you!

Glad I could [potentially] help!