ikiwiki automatically commits edited pages, and uses the
git history to generate the [[RecentChanges]] page.
+Normally you can just follow the instructions in [[setup]] to create
+the git repositories and get started. To understand the details, read on.
+
## git repository setup
[[!img wiki_edit_flow.svg size=490x align=right]]
-The suggested setup for git is a set of repositories setup like a
-shallow, single level tree, with a bare repository (meaning that it
-does not have a working tree checked out) at the root, and various
-working clones (with working directories) as leaf nodes. The root
-(bare) repository is meant to be pushed to and pulled from the various
-working clones.
+The suggested setup for git has a bare repository, and various
+working clones (with working directories). The bare
+repository is pushed to and pulled from the various working clones.
-One of the leaf node clone repositories is special; it has srcdir
+One of the clones is special; it is the srcdir
which is used to compile the wiki, and is also used by the
[[cgi]] to commit changes made via the web interface. It is special
since the `post-update` hook for the bare root repository is used to
trigger an update of this repository, and then an ikiwiki refresh
-updates the published wiki itself.
+updates the published wiki itself.
-The other (optional) leaf node repositories are meant for you to work
+The other (optional) clones are meant for you to work
on, and commit to, changes should then be pushed to the bare root
repository.
-Using three or more of repositories isn't the most obvious set up, but
+Using three or more repositories isn't the most obvious set up, but
it works the best for typical ikiwiki use. [[ikiwiki-makerepo]] can
automate setting this up for the common case where there is no
pre-existing wiki. [[tips/Laptop_wiki_with_git]] describes a different
## Optionally using a local wiki to preview changes
-When working on the "working clones" to add content to your wiki,
+When working on your wiki,
it is common (but optional) practice to preview your changes using a
private wiki on the local host before publishing the updates by
sending it to the root repository. If you do want to setup a private
git_wrapper => "/working/dir/.git/hooks/post-commit",
Then just committing should refresh the private ikiwiki on the local
-host. Now just run `ikiwiki -setup localwiki.setup -getctime` and
-you should be good to go. (You only need the slow `-getctime` option
+host. Now just run `ikiwiki -setup localwiki.setup -gettime` and
+you should be good to go. (You only need the slow `-gettime` option
the first time you run setup.) Use standard git commands to handle
-pulling from and pushing to the server. **Note**: Currently, after
+pulling from and pushing to the server. **Note**: After
pulling changes from the bare root repository, you will need to
manually update the local wiki, with a command such as `ikiwiki
--setup localwiki.setup -refresh`. This is because git 1.5.4 doesn't
-have a hook that is run locally after pulling changes. Newer
-versions of git will have a `post-merge` hook that should work for
-this purpose.
+-setup localwiki.setup -refresh`. You could use git's `post-merge` hook
+to automate that command.