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TWiki File Format (.twiki)

A TWiki file holds a wiki topic written in TWiki markup, the plain-text syntax the TWiki enterprise wiki engine uses to store a page before rendering it as HTML.

.twikiDocuments

TWiki at a glance#

Full nameTWiki markup
File extension.twiki
CategoryDocuments
DeveloperPeter Thoeny
First released1998
CompressionUncompressed
SpecificationTWiki TextFormattingRules
FileFlip supportFileFlip reads this format but does not write it

What a .twiki file can hold#

These are the things a TWiki file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.

Selectable textYes
Human readableYes

Strengths and limitations of TWiki#

What TWiki does well

  • Plain text, so a topic diffs and version-controls cleanly outside the wiki's own database
  • CapitalizedWordsStuckTogether link to other topics automatically, with no bracket syntax needed
  • Foswiki, the actively developed fork most TWiki sites have since moved to, still reads it

Where TWiki falls short

  • TWiki's last release was 6.1.0 in July 2018, and most of its original developers left to start the Foswiki fork back in 2008
  • Percent-sign macros for plugins and variables don't carry over to any other wiki's markup
  • Tables, forms and access-control rules live inline in the same text, which makes hand-editing a topic outside TWiki risky

Leave a topic as TWiki markup only while it still lives inside a running TWiki or Foswiki installation that renders it.

Convert TWiki markup once its content needs to leave an aging or decommissioned TWiki install, since almost nothing outside TWiki and Foswiki reads it.

How to open a .twiki file#

A .twiki file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts TWiki into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.

PlatformPrograms that open it
WindowsAny text editor
macOSAny text editor
LinuxAny text editor
WebTWiki, Foswiki, FileFlip

TWiki questions people ask#

What is a .twiki file?

A .twiki file holds one topic's worth of TWiki markup, the plain-text syntax TWiki uses to store wiki pages before turning them into HTML. TWiki itself doesn't normally export topics with this extension; it shows up when a topic has been dumped to a file for backup, migration or conversion.

Is TWiki still maintained?

TWiki's own site is still online, but its last software release was version 6.1.0 in July 2018. In 2008 most of the original developers split off to start Foswiki instead, which is the actively maintained continuation most TWiki installations have since migrated to.

What's the difference between TWiki and Foswiki?

Foswiki is the fork that most of TWiki's developer community started in 2008 after a dispute over the project's direction, and it has been developed continuously since. Foswiki still reads TWiki markup, so a TWiki topic generally opens correctly in a Foswiki installation without changes.

Converting TWiki files#

FileFlip does not write .twiki files, so nothing on the site converts into this format. It works as a source only.

Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.