Is Mediawiki Outdated?

MediaWiki is an open-source platform for creating and managing wikis, and it is the software that powers Wikipedia. While it has been a popular platform for many years, there are some who argue that it is now outdated and no longer able to meet the needs of modern organizations.

One of the main reasons why some people believe that MediaWiki is outdated is its technology stack. The platform is built on PHP and MySQL, which are older technologies that are no longer as widely used as they once were. This can make it more difficult for organizations to find developers with expertise in these technologies, and can make it more difficult and expensive to customize and extend the platform.

Additionally, because MediaWiki is developed and maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is not as flexible and customizable as some other platforms. The Foundation sets the direction and priorities for the platform, which can make it difficult for users to tailor the platform to meet their specific needs. This can be a problem for organizations that have unique requirements or that want to differentiate themselves from other wikis.

Another reason why some people believe that MediaWiki is outdated is its performance and scalability. The platform can struggle to handle large volumes of traffic and data, and can be slower and less responsive than some other platforms. This can be a problem for organizations that need to manage large volumes of content, or that have a large number of users and pages.

Despite these limitations, however, MediaWiki remains a popular platform for many organizations. Its open-source nature and the fact that it powers Wikipedia give it a certain cachet, and many organizations are willing to put up with its limitations in order to use the platform. Additionally, the Wikimedia Foundation is actively working on improving the platform, and has released a number of updates and improvements in recent years.

Overall, whether or not MediaWiki is outdated depends on an organization's specific needs and requirements. For some organizations, the platform's limitations may be a deal-breaker, and they may prefer to use a more modern and flexible platform. For others, however, the platform's strengths may outweigh its weaknesses, and they may be willing to continue using it despite its limitations. Ultimately, the decision to use MediaWiki or not will depend on the individual organization and its specific needs and requirements.

If you are looking for an open-source alternative to Mediawiki, you can try out Wiki.js which is developed by Requarks. At Hostwiki, we offer a cloud hosting solution for Wiki.js.