Hi, HN! David here from Mimix. This week my co-founder Rom and I launched Test Drive which is a really cool way to try our product without a signup or credit card. (We found those were inhibiting conversions.)
Test Drive creates a full version of our product and launches it in 6 seconds for the user to try. Users can edit content and play with all the admin tools. Every instance is custom so people don't see each others' content or vandalize stuff.
The product we're offering for "test driving" is Miki, our lightweight alternative to Notion and Confluence. Miki is a wiki for team documentation that's meant to be edited and read by many people -- as opposed to note taking tools that are just for you.
With tons of flexibility and granular controls, Miki is designed to let you keep private documentation and public-facing stuff on the same site, with the same look.
Check it out and let us know what you think. We're grateful for the eyeballs and the feedback!
Ouch! We had that bug in early testing and thought it was fixed. Hit it once more from the home page if you would and we'll look into it. Thanks for letting me know.
My feedback was that I could not find an example, with a sidebar on mobile at all. There was a hamburger button on the bottom, but it just pulled up a menu for marketing. For example, the user guide appeared to be 1 page, no menu/table of contents at all on mobile?
For me, good documentation consists of a good, clear menu organized like a table of contents, and good representation of information. For me, either your examples don't show it well, or you don't have a menu at all. Best of luck, we use notion, but IMO it's stupidly expensive.
Thanks for that. Being made for folks who are writing/typing, most use cases will be on the desktop. I'm surprised you didn't see any nav. It's definitely there.
The user guide is one page and each header or section is clickable and goes to its own page.
No matter where you are, the product has a left side navigation menu on desktop and a hamburger menu at the bottom on mobile.
I totally agree on documentation and navigation. I wrote a lot about that in the Miki doc itself!
On the nav, there simply isn't room on a mobile device for a full menu down the side, so Wiki.js (on which Miki is built) draws a hamburger menu at the bottom.
Since you were visiting our sales site, all the links are about sales. The Users Guide page doesn't have separate nav down the side but it is navigable in that all the sections there are clickable and go to their own deep pages.
I hope you'll give us another look (maybe on desktop!) and see if Miki can meet your needs. If there's a better way to present the nav on mobile, we're certainly open to it.
This (https://miki.mimix.io/en/old-home-2) page documents that this is based of Wikijs (https://docs.requarks.io/) but did not document (or maybe I couldn't find) the comparison with it and / or is it just a managed-wikijs as a service or has MiMix added some more features to it to sort of build on top of WikiJs.
Great question! Underneath, we built on Wiki.js. We added all the management features which we call MCenter, like changing the contents of a live instance remotely and spinning up instances on demand.
Miki is our MVP to deploy our MSL[0] technology that adds fact checking and fact correction to text as you type. Soon, we'll be adding those features to Miki.
For freemium seekers: There is none (Not complaining about that, just FYI.)
This seems like a hosted version of Wiki.js basically? I see there is some need. One of my friend does host Wiki.js for his personal use because it's OSS.
Awesome comment. Thank you. Freemium is coming soon. Test Drive is the technological proof that we can do it and not shoot ourselves in the foot on costs. So, please Test Drive and let me know how it goes! I'll definitely post here when Freemium is live.
We started with Wiki.js because it's a good vehicle for our Secret Sauce, which is MSL[0], a language for fixing stuff while you write. That will also be added to Miki soon but we needed somewhere to put it.
Along the way, we found out there's a big need for hosted Wiki.js that isn't DIY. We're aiming for folks who could do it themselves and don't want to, and those that really couldn't.
We've removed all of the telemetry from Wiki.js and packaged it to run on the desktop without any setup. We also added the Inter font and upgraded the FontAwesome icons to pro. We removed some cruft from the UI (and much, much more pruning is coming). We'll also be adding some new stuff like link checking and a better media library. The developer of Wiki.js is going in a different path and doesn't actively offer hosting or support.
In addition to the fully offline version, we sell it hosted in individual VMs, deployed instantly without setup. And we offer a lot of support and customization services along with a growing set of training videos and documentation (all in Miki, of course) so that we continue to add value to our hosting product.
Finally, we've come up with a really cool set of CI/CD tools that enterprises (like us) can use to manage thousands of these Mikis in the wild. It can reach into a running copy and alter its code, contents, and settings. We see a lot of use for this in big organizations that have many teams, each who will need their own Mikis but also have content in common and require central management. Our competitors in that enterprise space are more restrictive and have a higher barrier to entry, we think.
Thanks again for looking and if your friend wants to start before Freemium, we offer the full banana[1] free for 14 days.
Thank you for that suggestion! Let me investigate adding the ability to change that. I may be able to come up with a workaround for you that can be added to the CSS (one great thing about Miki is that it's hackable like that).
If I can't change that aspect from the outside, we'll add it as a feature request for the product and put it on our list. Thank you again!
Wiki.js source is available on their website. The source for changes we made to Wiki.js is available at no charge for customers who license a paid copy or the hosted service. (AGPL ¶6d)
Wiki.js is currently available under AGPL and that is one of the ways code that uses it can be compliant. It is not our intent to mislead. It is certainly true that other open source companies like Red Hat provide source code for their licensed products only to licensees.
Here is the section from the Wiki.js license (again, not ours):
d) Convey the object code by offering access from a designated place (gratis or for a charge), and offer equivalent access to the Corresponding Source in the same way through the same place at no further charge.
In this case, we are offering access to the object code for a charge and anyone who licenses it can have the corresponding source code at no additional charge. This is straight-up AGPL.
Wiki.js is the only product we offer with AGPL source and the only one licensed this way. Our other products are Blue Oak which is entirely permissive. We offer those products for self-installation from GitHub repos with the full source.
Our software is all open source. For Blue Oak stuff, you can download our source on GitHub. For AGPL-modified products, we provide the source to customers on request, per the AGPL license.
I still prefer Dokuwiki: it's open source and doesn't need a database. Pretty simple to run, and not one more thing to maintain. I have eleven years of internal infrastructure and organization notes in there, as well as user-facing docs.
It's getting too old that it's showing its age badly.
I'm tired of editing wiki with some original markup but WYSIWYG is the way to go. A plugin to integrate CKEditor doesn't even properly work, mobile experience is not optimal and authentication hooks are way behind wikis like Wiki.js.
I think you should be making it a lot clearer that this is essentially just WikiJS but hosted/not free.
It's also a pretty unusual offering, imo. We use WikiJS and the only reason we chose it compared to other popular wiki style solutions (e.g notion) was because it can be self hosted.
Many customers are looking for something that solves a problem, rather than a specific tech. Other customers are looking for hosted Wiki.js. We think there's a market for both.
Other hosted Wiki.js offerings still require IT experience to setup and manage. There is no desktop version of Wiki.js that runs as an executable on Mac and Windows. So we provide solutions for both of those groups, too.
As with any open source product, support is always an issue. Documenting, supporting, and evolving the product with new code and features that aren't in Wiki.js is a big part of our offering.
Most importantly for us, Miki is a vehicle where we can deploy our key technology, MSL[0], which is unlike anything found in any wiki product.
Appreciate its one click, but it's just a bit of a bugbear for me - platforms built entirely around OSS should put it front and center, mainly just to bring extra attention to the OSS project.
I didn't mean to come across dismissive - I'm sure there's people who will benefit from having the support! WikiJS is quite nice to use so I think its a good choice really.
MSL isn't something I've seen before and it sounds quite interesting! Think I'll end up reading through that, thank you.
Thank you for that! Earlier versions of our home page did have OSS at the top of the page, very first thing. We found that it didn't convert as well as leading with some other things. We do like to harp on it and we see it as a huge benefit.
We'll be adding a lot of improvements to Miki in the coming months, not only MSL but a lot of other things that will make it even easier to use for that 1 thing it does really well: document things with a team.
30 comments
[ 0.21 ms ] story [ 109 ms ] threadTest Drive creates a full version of our product and launches it in 6 seconds for the user to try. Users can edit content and play with all the admin tools. Every instance is custom so people don't see each others' content or vandalize stuff.
The product we're offering for "test driving" is Miki, our lightweight alternative to Notion and Confluence. Miki is a wiki for team documentation that's meant to be edited and read by many people -- as opposed to note taking tools that are just for you.
With tons of flexibility and granular controls, Miki is designed to let you keep private documentation and public-facing stuff on the same site, with the same look.
Check it out and let us know what you think. We're grateful for the eyeballs and the feedback!
Thanks in advance, -- D
For me, good documentation consists of a good, clear menu organized like a table of contents, and good representation of information. For me, either your examples don't show it well, or you don't have a menu at all. Best of luck, we use notion, but IMO it's stupidly expensive.
The user guide is one page and each header or section is clickable and goes to its own page.
No matter where you are, the product has a left side navigation menu on desktop and a hamburger menu at the bottom on mobile.
On the nav, there simply isn't room on a mobile device for a full menu down the side, so Wiki.js (on which Miki is built) draws a hamburger menu at the bottom.
Since you were visiting our sales site, all the links are about sales. The Users Guide page doesn't have separate nav down the side but it is navigable in that all the sections there are clickable and go to their own deep pages.
I hope you'll give us another look (maybe on desktop!) and see if Miki can meet your needs. If there's a better way to present the nav on mobile, we're certainly open to it.
Miki is our MVP to deploy our MSL[0] technology that adds fact checking and fact correction to text as you type. Soon, we'll be adding those features to Miki.
[0] https://nebula.mimix.io/msl/specs
This seems like a hosted version of Wiki.js basically? I see there is some need. One of my friend does host Wiki.js for his personal use because it's OSS.
We started with Wiki.js because it's a good vehicle for our Secret Sauce, which is MSL[0], a language for fixing stuff while you write. That will also be added to Miki soon but we needed somewhere to put it.
Along the way, we found out there's a big need for hosted Wiki.js that isn't DIY. We're aiming for folks who could do it themselves and don't want to, and those that really couldn't.
We've removed all of the telemetry from Wiki.js and packaged it to run on the desktop without any setup. We also added the Inter font and upgraded the FontAwesome icons to pro. We removed some cruft from the UI (and much, much more pruning is coming). We'll also be adding some new stuff like link checking and a better media library. The developer of Wiki.js is going in a different path and doesn't actively offer hosting or support.
In addition to the fully offline version, we sell it hosted in individual VMs, deployed instantly without setup. And we offer a lot of support and customization services along with a growing set of training videos and documentation (all in Miki, of course) so that we continue to add value to our hosting product.
Finally, we've come up with a really cool set of CI/CD tools that enterprises (like us) can use to manage thousands of these Mikis in the wild. It can reach into a running copy and alter its code, contents, and settings. We see a lot of use for this in big organizations that have many teams, each who will need their own Mikis but also have content in common and require central management. Our competitors in that enterprise space are more restrictive and have a higher barrier to entry, we think.
Thanks again for looking and if your friend wants to start before Freemium, we offer the full banana[1] free for 14 days.
[0] https://nebula.mimix.io/en/msl/specs
[1] https://miki.mimix.io/en/public/free-trial
If I can't change that aspect from the outside, we'll add it as a feature request for the product and put it on our list. Thank you again!
false claims like this will ensure I never use or recommend this product
Here is the section from the Wiki.js license (again, not ours):
d) Convey the object code by offering access from a designated place (gratis or for a charge), and offer equivalent access to the Corresponding Source in the same way through the same place at no further charge.
In this case, we are offering access to the object code for a charge and anyone who licenses it can have the corresponding source code at no additional charge. This is straight-up AGPL.
Wiki.js is the only product we offer with AGPL source and the only one licensed this way. Our other products are Blue Oak which is entirely permissive. We offer those products for self-installation from GitHub repos with the full source.
how is that not misleading?
if YOUR license is not open source, you need to remove this claim from your website.
I'm tired of editing wiki with some original markup but WYSIWYG is the way to go. A plugin to integrate CKEditor doesn't even properly work, mobile experience is not optimal and authentication hooks are way behind wikis like Wiki.js.
With our desktop product, Postgres is built-in and nearly invisible. With the hosted product, of course, we manage all that.
It's also a pretty unusual offering, imo. We use WikiJS and the only reason we chose it compared to other popular wiki style solutions (e.g notion) was because it can be self hosted.
Many customers are looking for something that solves a problem, rather than a specific tech. Other customers are looking for hosted Wiki.js. We think there's a market for both.
Other hosted Wiki.js offerings still require IT experience to setup and manage. There is no desktop version of Wiki.js that runs as an executable on Mac and Windows. So we provide solutions for both of those groups, too.
As with any open source product, support is always an issue. Documenting, supporting, and evolving the product with new code and features that aren't in Wiki.js is a big part of our offering.
Most importantly for us, Miki is a vehicle where we can deploy our key technology, MSL[0], which is unlike anything found in any wiki product.
[0] https://nebula.mimix.io/
I didn't mean to come across dismissive - I'm sure there's people who will benefit from having the support! WikiJS is quite nice to use so I think its a good choice really.
MSL isn't something I've seen before and it sounds quite interesting! Think I'll end up reading through that, thank you.
We'll be adding a lot of improvements to Miki in the coming months, not only MSL but a lot of other things that will make it even easier to use for that 1 thing it does really well: document things with a team.
Looking forward to your thoughts on MSL...