User:Brian7632416

I've wanted to create a wiki ever since I discovered Wikipedia.org a few years ago. But I could never get non-MediaWiki software (e.g., FlexWiki) installed correctly on Windows-hosted (ASP) remote servers, and I had a crappy hosting service anyway (1&1 - shudder). So I put aside my ASP woes and tried a new Linux-based hosting service (Servage.net) that, like all the other hosts, claimed ease of use and auto-installation of scripts, but offering a MediaWiki auto-install.

I'll be darned; their auto-installer installed MediaWiki in about 10 seconds, and perfectly, even though I have multiple domains hosted in a shared environment (which 1&1 seemed to have a problem with).

And MediaWiki worked right from the git-go, and was very stable. MediaWiki.org's documentation pages were easy to understand in most cases. I was up and running with my recipe wiki DishiWiki pretty fast.

I still have a lot of questions about MediaWiki and php in general, but I'm learning as I go, and I'm having a lot of fun. Brian7632416 17:39, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Here it is, about one year later, and I'm still having a blast, and I've learned a lot. Our Web site hasn't been publicized much, so it doesn't have a lot of visitors or members yet, but it's quietly maturing and readying itself for prime time, I think.

Having switched hosts three times, I finally found Aplus.net, an affordable service that actually works as advertised (uptime), and whose support techs have good written communication skills.

Thank you, MediaWiki community, for all the knowledge each of you shares evert time you submit comments or advice. The contributors who write extensions are my heroes! Brian7632416 16:17, 8 September 2009 (UTC)