When comparing BookStack vs DokuWiki, the Slant community recommends DokuWiki for most people. In the question“What is the best single-user wiki?” DokuWiki is ranked 1st while BookStack is ranked 19th. The most important reason people chose DokuWiki is:
To install you need a webserver running PHP 5.2 or later where you unpack the downloaded archive and navigate to install.php in your browser, fill out the necessary information required for the one-page installer and you are done.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Clean & simple default interface
The stock interface design has a modern feel and is simple for new users to use.
Pro Free and open source
Released under the MIT license.
Pro Full role and permissions system built in
Granular permissions can be set up for specific roles on a per-content basis and permissions will waterfall down to child content.
Pro Multilingual
Over 9 different languages are built in to BookStack which can be set at a per-profile level.
Pro Feature rich and stable
Markdown editing, syntax highlighting, WYSIWYG, keyboard shortcuts, versioning, SSO, LDAP, different roles, performant and fast developer response.
Pro Support for domain authentication
Can be deployed within an active directory environment with its features to connect over LDAP.
Pro Supports SSO using Google Apps
Very convenient when you're a company that uses Google Apps, that makes logging into Bookstack more secure and more convenient.
Pro Easy to set up and mantain
To install you need a webserver running PHP 5.2 or later where you unpack the downloaded archive and navigate to install.php in your browser, fill out the necessary information required for the one-page installer and you are done.
Pro Local and open source
Local...
Pro Plain-text file storage
Dokuwiki does not require a database, it stores everything in plain-text.
Pro Version control
Dokuwik offers unlimited page revisions.
Pro Access control
DokuWiki has built-in ACL support.
Pro Runs on any PHP server
It requires a webserver running PHP 5.2 or later of any kind.
Pro A dedicated page for recent changes
A dedicated page to quickly note what has changed recently can be set up.
Pro Search functionality
DokuWiki allows searching through pages.
Pro Very last, consuming very few Local
Local....
Pro Good selection of plugins
DokuWiki offers over a thousand plugins to extend its functionality.
Pro Good selection of themes
DokuWiki offers over a hundred templates to change the visual appearance of the site.
Cons
Con Limited customisability
Customisation options are limited with only the main theme color, logo and name being customisable.
Con No support for readable markup languages
The content entered through the WYSIWIG editor is stored as HTML. The HTML can be edited directly, but no other markup language is parsed. Speak ReST, Markdown, etc.
Con Limited to 2 levels of content
Bookstack implements a "Book / Chapter / Page" system which works fine, but lacks flexibility when you need to have more levels of imbrication.
Con Complicated installation
The current installation process involves many steps and may be a lot to take in for people not familiar with setting up Laravel applications.
Con Lots of plugins to manage
DokuWiki is highly modular. Even thing like WYSIWYG editors and categories have to be added separately as plugins. This can quickly lead to managing lots of plugins.