Vim Ki

1.  What?

Vim Ki is presently an alpha implementation of a Personal Wiki using the Vim Text Editor. It uses Vim's native scripting language to jump between Wiki Words (Vim tags) and to create new pages. I have tested it on a Linux platform using both 'vim' and 'gvim.' I suspect it would run on Win32 machines, or any machine that handled Vim and had an 'echo' command. I'll have to work on that later.

2.  Why?

I wanted a Personal Wiki that:

• Used vim-style editing, because I use vim for most of my text editing. I'm not a vim zealot, just a touch-typist who managed to master Vim and isn't looking for an alternative.
• Did not require a web-server. I wanted to be able to put the files on any of my computers and have ready access to it.
• Provided easy installation. Just dump the vim scripts in their appropriate directories, configure the plugin, create the Vimki custom tag file, and you're ready. Any directory becomes a wiki. Every directory could link to one another via the tag file.
• A custom wiki for local use only. When I plan to share among multiple computers, I'll probably sync using CVS and update.

I'm going to graduate school in a few weeks, and wanted a local-computer implementation of something-this-wiki-comes for taking notes. I prefer vim over other editors, even Open Office. I'm presently a software engineer and literally spend tens of hours per week at the console using Vim. I can do some pretty cool things in Vim because I've tried to become a power-user. If I could write a wiki-to-pdf interpreter, I'd be on cloud nine.

I'd also be happy if Vim could provide italics when I want to show italics. Another goal?

3.  Where?

I have made vimki available via both Bzip'd tarball and ZIP file. However, I have not tried using vimki in a Win32 environment.

• Download the Vimki.tbz2 Δ
• Downlaod the Vimki.zip Δ

4.  When?

The alpha version was completed on June 14, 2004 and published here first. I figured I owed it to the Wiki Community. This is my first attempt at a public consumption wiki product.

5.  How?

Vim has its own tags system–a way to jump from one file to another. The best way to demonstrate this is to open vim, and type :help. This will split the window, and put you into their help documentation. It takes a bit of snooping around to find where tags are explained. The important thing is that there is a tags file that has to have all the local tags. I left this out of the present screen shot, but that is one of the crucial steps to pulling this off. When a wiki is full-blown, this file maps where tags are anchored.

I modified the tags.vim file by by Jos van Riswikto allow for more Wikiesque tags, and added a function that added a new tag and creates a new file (and jumps straight to editing it) if that file is missing. I plan on a rewrite to be cleaner. Hey, I also plan to win the lottery.

tags.vim

6.  FAQ

1. How do I navigate?

Well, you can always start here. But, as an introduction, you can either use the vim default macros, or the ",t" custom macro:

1. <CTRL-]> Jumps to the tag beneath the cursor
2. <CTRL-T> Jumps back to the previous page
3. <CTRL-O> Moves to the next page, like your browser's "next" button

1. How to I create directory specific tag files?

Just enter the directory and touch a .vimki_tags file. You should also create one in your home directory. Presently, vimki assumes your personal wiki will reside in your home directory.

7.  Issues?

If you try this tool and have questions, gripes or problems, post them here and I'll do what I can.

• Well, it uses 'echo >> $file' to create the file, which prevents overwriting the file if it exists, but it is just a hack.

8.  Change Log

1. 2004-JUL-01: Added directory-specific tag file capability. Fixed defect in the new page generation; when the page name was empty, it would still create a page. Now it silently exits. Updated this document.
2. 2004-JUL-26: I'm drifting toward wikidPad. It matches most of my requirements, save that it does not allow for a vim editor, per se. It outputs the files in simple ASCII, which allows me to jump in with vim.
3. 2006-APR-02: A big update. I used Wikipad for a while, but stopped using it–primarily because it felt too much like notepad at the time, and it did not suit the use I was trying to use it for–outlining for law school. For online use, I've resorted to PmWiki, which this site currently uses. The file available for download here appears to be the same one suggested by Stan's site, but I appear to have downloaded it not long after he made the changes, or else his changes are pretty close to my own.

9.  Screenshot

Vimki Screenshots (:commentable:)