Frequently asked questions

Securing, organizing and developing company knowledge in a team: BlueSpice is an enterprise wiki for the implementation of integrated management and documentation systems, organization manuals and a flexible knowledge base.

Key advantages:

• Breaking down knowledge silos and nested folder structures
• Activation of the swarm knowledge of your staff
• Safeguarding your company knowledge against loss of migration
• Faster familiarization and reduction of employee training
• Easier handovers in case of illness and staff changes
• Less burden from incoming e-mails
• Activation of hidden resources and promotion of teamwork and explorative learning
• Increased productivity

Further information …

BlueSpice free, as a free of charge extraction from BlueSpice pro with its limited range of functions, is oriented to the needs of small companies and organizations. Larger companies and public institutions profit with BlueSpice pro from an enterprise software with numerous functions for professional knowledge and information management. These include

• a workflow including quality assurance and file access restriction,
• an export function for PDF manuals,
• semantic functions for working with forms and meta information,
• a blog and comment function for team collaboration and
• professional support

The enterprise wiki is available as BlueSpice pro Cloud or BlueSpice pro On Premises

With BlueSpice farm we offer companies and public institutions with a focus on scalability and / or internationalization a solution for the creation and management of multiple wikis on one server.

BlueSpice free is available as open source software for free download. Ideal for teams and companies that want to build a knowledge base or get a first taste of the performance level a wiki has to offer.

Both options include the full version of BlueSpice pro and therefore offer the full range of functions. They differ primarily in the technical provision of your wiki and the options for individual customization.

Do you require a quick and uncomplicated solution to exchange knowledge? You also don‘t want to worry about server setup or maintenance? BlueSpice pro Cloud is the right thing for you.

Or do you need individual functions or interfaces? No problem. Choose BlueSpice pro On Premises. There is almost nothing that our developers cannot realize.

Yes. All your content can be migrated to a locally installed BlueSpice Wiki. Since MediaWiki is a standard software, it is possible to archive content in a MediaWiki.

Of course. After a cancellation you can download a backup of your database within eight weeks. After this period, your data will be deleted permanently.

Our cloud customers can and should participate in all major version upgrades. All you have to do is to give us an explicit assignment. This way your users will not be surprised by a new look and feel. We will inform you in advance about all upcoming changes and if there are any necessary actions. We make sure that major version jumps are possible for you without any problems. Your contract does not have to be changed for this.

Wikis are not as CPU-intensive as other software applications. If you want to upload a large number of images and videos, please talk to us beforehand. We can find the right solution for you right away. We have a fair use clause. Only if you constantly need more than 30 to 50% compared to the average in terms of memory, traffic or hardware utilization, we have to discuss new terms and conditions.

You can upload videos or embed them from another source (e.g., YouTube). Please contact us for advice.

The total number of users results from the number of permitted user accounts within a wiki. Such user accounts have the right to log in to a wiki. We sum up all activated accounts for the calculation. Deactivated accounts, deleted or anonymous users are not charged.

The user licenses are staggered. That means for up to 50 users you pay 175 euros per month, from 51 up to 100 users 270 euros per month. If you need more or fewer users, simply contact our sales department.

BlueSpice is an open source software and is based on MediaWiki, the software of Wikipedia. This has many advantages, including:

• continuous development of the software by a dedicated community
• high security standards, fast closing of security gaps
• stable and proven technologies with high performance
• open source code for maximum transparency and trust
• optimal adaptability of the software to your needs
• no compulsive binding to manufacturers or IT service providers
• compatibility with other software solutions and IT systems

You can find further information on the topic of “Open Source” on Wikipedia, which, with MediaWiki, is based on the same software as BlueSpice.

To support the protection of privacy within the GDPR, BlueSpice MediaWiki offers the “Privacy Center”, which is delivered as an extension in all BlueSpice editions. It supports our customers with the compliance of the GDPR and maps them in the software. We work continuously on adapting BlueSpice to a fast changing legal environment and to meet the current interpretations of the GDPR.

Further information on this topic…

Yeah, there is.

Data migration: Our experts support you in moving your data from MediaWiki, Office and many other systems into your BlueSpice Wiki. Further information about data migration …

Connection to other systems: From the ticket system to your document management and Microsoft SharePoint. BlueSpice can be optimally integrated into your IT architecture if desired. Further information on the topic of connections …

BlueSpice protects you from external attacks and takes into account the requirements of the GDPR. So you can fully concentrate on working with your enterprise Wiki.

Further information about data protection and security …

When it comes to the management of knowledge and information, BlueSpice as an enterprise wiki is a very flexible software. Among the classic use cases are:

• BlueSpice as integrated management system
• BlueSpice as documentation system
• BlueSpice as online-/ organisation manual
• BlueSpice as flexible knowledge base
• BlueSpice as intranet wiki

But also more exotic use cases like helpdesks or platforms for public relations can be mapped with BlueSpice.

BlueSpice is an operating system independent open source web application based on PHP, JavaScript and MySQL. BlueSpice runs on all common browsers and mobile devices.

Further information on technical deployment and system requirements can be found here …

Endless announcements from the answering machine and long waiting loops? Not with us. We attach importance to easily accessible support staff and professional project management. This goes down well, because our customers appreciate consistent contact persons who quickly take care of their questions and concerns and always have an open ear. Customers who use BlueSpice pro profit from our Professional Support within the framework of a support contingent.

You can find further information about support here …

Together we will make a successful start. With our tailor-made service and support offers we make your Wiki project fly! Learn more about our service offers here:

Installation, Migration, Updates …
Configuration and customization …
Technical support …
Software development …
Trainings & Workshops …
Design Services …

Yes, that is possible. After you have checked your system requirements and prepared your server environment, follow our step-by-step instructions to install BlueSpice yourself.

You can find further information about installation on our Helpdesk …

We would be pleased to take over the professional installation for you. Further information about our installation services …

The MediaWiki community writes and maintains extensive support documentation on all topics related to MediaWiki. Many of the questions you have about how to use your wiki are answered directly on mediawiki.org. Our user manual focuses largely on those functions that are part of the BlueSpice distribution of the MediaWiki software. In addition, we explain important concepts that you need to make decisions about organizing and managing your content.

You can find our user manual on our helpdesk …

A change from BlueSpice free to BlueSpice pro requires a new installation of the system. Often customers wish to make adaptations to the system, the effort of which is first estimated by us. Their wiki contents are migrated into BlueSpice pro without any problems via a database copy.

Further information about update and upgrade …
Please contact us for further information and an offer …

Information on updating BlueSpice to a higher version number (e.g. from BlueSpice 3.0 to 3.1) can be found on our helpdesk …

Further information about updates and upgrades …

From graphical user interface adjustments as part of our branding package to completely individual user interfaces. Our design team ensures that BlueSpice fits optimally into your corporate design – content design included!

You can find further information about our design services here …

BlueSpice can be optimally embedded in your technical infrastructure. Our software offers interfaces and technological bases to connect ticket systems, DMS or Microsoft SharePoint and to work with widgets and data imports and exports. Via an API, for example, your enterprise search, user directories, or your document management can be connected to BlueSpice.

Further information on the topic of connections can be found here …

BlueSpice is basically based on MediaWiki, the software of Wikipedia. As long as the compatibility with our current BlueSpice version is given, all MediaWiki extensions can be integrated into BlueSpice. Contact us for a consultation on this topic and a customized offer.

Overview of all MediaWiki-Extensions …

Yes, the rights management in BlueSpice regulates, among other things, who may read, edit, delete, comment or release content. Via versioning changes are traceable and can be undone if necessary.

You can find an overview of all BlueSpice features here …

Please read our article “What makes a company wiki unique” …