[FIXED] Why does wiki.js need public URL when installing?

Issue

After configuring my database and running my Wiki.js instance using nodejs, I was prompted to "install" Wiki.js on localhost:3000. However, there is this input bar asking for the public URL wiki.example.com: I am trying wiki.js out on my own computer, which has nothing to do with public URLs. In the future, I plan to use nginx to reverse proxy received request to two different ports on my server, which also does not require public URL exposing to the service (proxied by nginx already).

Therefore I am curious: Why does wiki.js need public URL when installing? What do I need to configure when testing Wiki.js on my computer? What do I need to configure in nginx reverse proxy and what to fill here in the public URL input bar?

Solution

TL;DR if you're on localhost and testing it doesn't matter what URL you put. Also note that this setting can be easily changed after installation from admin area.

I was deploying wiki.js in our company and first I was setting it up on throwaway domain before switching to target domain, and I was confused by this as well.

I've put target URL during installation and it seemed at first like this setting is unused - I was able to use wiki normally. Later I found out that it is in fact used in few places like for example when user requests password reset, the reset link will be generated against this URL.

Note that while using reverse proxy allows you to easily change on which domain name is wiki.js served, if the wiki is public for users, the system WILL have to know this public URL, for reasons like password reset mentioned above.

Answered By - ympek

Answer Checked By - Dawn Plyler (PHPFixing Volunteer)