Very rarely do you come across a small utility or tool that completely blows you away and TiddlyWiki did just that the first time I stumbled upon it yesterday. TiddlyWiki is a single html file which has all the characteristics of a Wiki - including all of the content, the functionality (including editing, saving, tagging and searching). I have highlighted the word “single” in the earlier sentence to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that this is a highly compact solution for personal To-Do’s, Projects, Tasks and Collaboration with colleagues. Being completely self-contained in one single HTML file, you can email it, put that on a Web server, or share it via a USB stick. And you can easily synchronize multiple files using the “backstage” menu within the tool.
The entire application is developed in java-script and hence can operate solely inside a Browser. Besides the code is highly portable and runs within all popular Web Browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and more.
There are several flavors (see below) of TiddlyWiki’s around and you can chose the one that works best for you and also extend that if you are technically inclined (using plugins):
- MonkeyGTD (http://monkeygtd.tiddlyspot.com/)
- TeamTasks (http://getteamtasks.com/)
- GTDTiddlyWiki (http://nathanbowers.com/gtdtw/)
- RippleRap (http://www.ripplerap.com/)
- TiddlyDu2 (http://www.giffmex.org/tiddlydu2.html)
- Twab (http://www.tiddly-twab.com/)
- BibblyWiki (http://www.giffmex.org/bibblywiki.html)
- TiddlySticky (http://www.maloninc.com/cgi-bin/fswiki/wiki.cgi?page=TiddlySticky+-+Sticky+Notes+for+Web+Browser+-)
For a nice beginners tutorial on getting the best out of this nifty tool, check http://www.giffmex.org/twfortherestofus.html
In a world of bloated software, TiddlyWiki really shines as a lean & simple application.