You don't need MediaWiki to run a wiki. A few hundred lines of PHP over MariaDB gives you a fast, custom encyclopedia you fully control — the approach behind the wiki you're reading.
Architecture
TLS (edge) → web server → public/index.php (front controller)
├── lib/ (router, model, markdown, layout)
└── views/ (article, edit, history, search, ...)
config.php ← DB credentials, kept OUTSIDE the web root
DB tables: pages · revisions · categories · page_categories · media · usersCore features to build
- Markdown rendering (e.g. Parsedown) with
<a class="wikilink new" href="/wiki/wiki_links">wiki links</a>and an auto table of contents. - Revision history — store every edit as a row; diff two revisions.
- Categories, infoboxes, full-text search, image uploads.
- Public read, single-admin edit — a hashed login, CSRF tokens, and prepared statements (Securing a Public PHP App).
Why roll your own
| Custom engine | Off-the-shelf |
|---|---|
| Exactly your look & features | Generic theme to fight |
| Tiny, auditable codebase | Large attack surface |
| Any storage you like | Its schema, its rules |
A wiki is mostly CRUD + Markdown + links. Building it yourself is a great weekend project and a working secure-PHP reference.
Related: Securing a Public PHP App · Apache Name-Based Virtual Hosts on One Server · MariaDB Socket Auth vs TCP Users