Description

• Introduction and Concepts
• Current State and Context
  • Context
  • In-app
  • Competitor Benchmark
• Proposal
  • Out-of-app (before account creation / download)
    • Proposal 01: Have a more prominent "Try Out" option on XWiki.org
    • Proposal 02: Improve the layout of https://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Hosted/
    • Proposal 03: Have the playground running on the latest version of XWiki
  • In-app (after account creation / download)
    • Proposal 04: Use slides as the main path of onboarding
    • Proposal 05: Have different flows for Admins, General users and Current users
    • Proposal 06: Make the onboarding app customizable
    • Proposal 07: Reduce the amount of steps in the Tour App
  • Onboarding Scenarios
    • Scenario 01
    • Scenario 02
    • Scenario 03
    • Scenario 04
• Appendix
  • Current Situation
    • Out-of-app xwiki.org website
    • Out-of-app xwiki.com website
    • In-app
  • Benchmarks
    • Confluence
    • Notion
    • Guru

Introduction and Concepts

NN Group defines onboarding as the process of familiarizing users with a new interface using dedicated flows and UI elements that are separate from the standard interface. It covers both basic guidance and the initial setup required to start using a product. The paradox is that the best onboarding is the one that can be skipped entirely, because the interface is intuitive enough to guide the user without extra help. While this is not always possible, it should remain a guiding principle.

This analysis considers the perspective of a user exploring knowledge management tools for the first time. The journey begins when the user lands on XWiki.org or XWiki.com, continues through account creation or downloading XWiki Standard, and ends with the first interaction inside the product.

For clarity, we divide the onboarding process into two stages:

• out-of-app (before account creation or download) and
• in-app (after account creation or installation).

We also consider two distinct user types:

• administrators, responsible for setup and maintenance, and
• general users, focused on reading and creating content.

The aim is to make the transition between stages and user types as seamless as possible, ideally allowing someone to land on the site, start a trial or download, and begin using XWiki immediately.

Current State and Context

Context

Current out-of-app onboarding, below you can see the versions from xwiki.org and xwiki.com (from Xwiki SAS). The full flow can be seen in the Appendix section.

XWiki.org

On XWiki.org, users are presented with three competing call-to-action buttons: “Donate,” “Download,” and “Try Now.” While each is clear on its own, having them side by side forces the user to pause and interpret which one is right for them.

Selecting “Try Now” leads to the Playground, a pre-configured instance that resets daily. This offers a quick way to explore the interface but is currently running an outdated version. Other options include a redirect to XWiki SAS cloud services, a request for a myxwiki.org deployment, and a download link that is small and easy to overlook.

The myxwiki.org option also lacks explanation; the term “community farm” is unclear to newcomers. While the flow after choosing an option is straightforward, the abundance of initial choices can be overwhelming, and a single primary path would reduce confusion.

XWiki.com

On XWiki.com, the “Try Now” button is more prominent and easy to find. From there, users are directed to either try XWiki Cloud or download XWiki.

The cloud option requires completing a two-step form with many mandatory fields, which can be discouraging. The download option leads to the same modal as the cloud trial, creating ambiguity.

After completing account creation, both paths lead to the standard in-app onboarding.

In-app

After going through the out-of-app onboarding, every user is inducted to XWiki UI by going through the default Tour App.

• This tour goes through some interface elements, providing a quick explanation
• This tour can be customized by admin users.

Competitor Benchmark

Competitor analysis reveals some consistent patterns. All major competitors provide a clear, prominent way to start immediately, often with a “Try it out” button in both the header and hero section.

Notion starts by collecting basic user details, then moves through workspace type, solo or team use, work type, and goals, which preload relevant templates. After an optional paid plan prompt and desktop app download, users are left to explore freely. Notion does not use guided tours with hotspots, relying instead on interface clarity.

Confluence begins by asking about the type of work the user intends to do, offering multiple selections and showing a live preview that updates in real time. After this step, users can explore on their own. It also includes an educational section covering templates, commands, and media insertion, each with a short video and text explanation. While informative, this section takes up significant screen space and can feel intrusive.

Guru combines several approaches. It requires creating an organization before proceeding, confirms the choice, then plays an onboarding video that can be skipped. This is followed by a feature tour starting with AI capabilities, and finally a sidebar of topics mixing explanatory slides with UI hotspots. The process is comprehensive but can feel excessive, demanding user attention and willingness to follow the entire sequence, though it remains skippable.

Proposal

For out-of-app onboarding, both XWiki.org and XWiki.com should focus on a single, prominent “Try it out” path. On XWiki.org, this means giving more emphasis to “Try Now” and less to “Donate” and “Download” at the first touchpoint. Forms for trial or download should be simplified, asking only for essential information. After confirmation, users should be taken directly into the product with a clear “Proceed to XWiki” option.

The new proposed onboarding experience will guide users through a sequence of clear, targeted slides, ensuring they can quickly understand and start using XWiki. Each slide focuses on a single key aspect, and adapts to the user’s role, whether they are an administrator or a general contributor.

• This format reduces complexity and should be skippable. Users can also customize the content to fit their company needs.
• This format was also proposed for Cristal and also during a discussion of the Tour App

This also means of phasing out the default Tour when we have this slide format in place. The Tour app can coexist with new onboarding for users that have custom Tours configured.

Out-of-app (before account creation / download)

Proposal 01: Have a more prominent "Try Out" option on XWiki.org

Why?

• XWiki.org have three buttons with the same hierarchy between them
• This dilutes user's attention between each option

Proposal:

• Give more emphasis to the "Try XWiki" option by making it the primary
• Make "Download" and "Donate"have a secondary styles.

Proposal 02: Improve the layout of https://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Hosted/

Why?

• This page requires a fair amount of reading to understand each option
• Action buttons are far apart from their section title
• The download option is very hidden

Proposal:

• Improve the layout by standardizing each section to comprise only of a Title and Description.
• Make the Download option have the same visual weight as the other options
• Proposed order (title and description):
  • Playground
    • A test instance on XWiki.org that you can use in order to discover some of XWiki's features. The content is reset every day.
  • XWiki Cloud
    • Host with us and get your wiki up and running in no time, in a stable and secure environment.
  • Download
    • Run XWiki locally or setup in your own server. Requires Java installed
  • MyXWiki.org
    • A community farm dedicated to non-profit organizations and individuals. No uptime and support warranty nor programming rights.

Proposal 03: Have the playground running on the latest version of XWiki

Why?

• The playground is a powerful first-look interface into the features of XWiki.
• Here we can promote the latest and greatest from XWiki.

Proposal:

• Update the playground instance with the release each month.

In-app (after account creation / download)

Proposal 04: Use slides as the main path of onboarding

This format of onboarding was also described by:

• @Adina Milica  on the forums
• @Thiago Krieck for the Cristal onboarding

Why?

• Widely used design standard, users are familiar with it;
• By making the interatable we promote customization of the instance;
• Less visual jank when going through the steps;
  • Everything is concentrated in the screen center
  • The Tour app might switch visual context too much for a user to follow
• Predictable, every navigation button stays in the same place relative to the viewport.

Proposal

• Create an Onboarding App
  • This app needs:
    • The contept of flows. Each flow attends to a different kind of user.
    • Each flow contains:   
      • Slides that are navigated from standard buttons (much like a wizard)
        • Each slides supports:
          • title (text only, required)
          • description (text only, required)
          • main image (optional)
          • navigation (standard)
            • Next button
            • Back button
            • Close (dismiss) button
          • "working area" that is specific to each slide containing:
            • texts;
            • images;
            • form fields;
• Change the default Tour App to the newly created Onboarding App
  • We don't need to deprecate the Tour App, they serve different purposes

Risks

• We might end up having too many slides between different flows (see below)
  • For admins in particular this means seeing for the first time:
    • the flow of setting up the XWiki instance,
    • plus the general users one for setting up a basic profile
    • AND the new features one
  • Having them skipabble is very important
  • Each flow might have all fields on a single slide

Proposal 05: Have different flows for Admins, General users and Current users

Why?

• Different users have different need at different points in time
• Admins have to set up an instance.
  • This might be basic stuff like Wiki logo, pretty default name and visibility.
  • But also customization for their companies.
• First time users need to have a glimpse of what's possible in XWiki.
• Current users need to know new features that might enhance their experience

Proposal for some flows:

• For administrators:
  •  Guided setup of a basic instance
    • Define the default Wiki's pretty name. Currently, the name "Home" is used for the default wiki, but it might raise some confusion about the "home" page.
    • Custom Logo
    • Description
    • Default visibility of the wiki (private, public, mixed, etc)
    • Invite other users for the default Wiki.
      • Perhaps this is better done only in the cloud offering, since this involves having an SMTP server properly configured. 
• For general users (admin or not):
  • Basic profile personalization
    • Name
    • Profile photo
  • An educational home page introducing the fundamentals of the tool
    • A minimal set of pre-configured pages tailored for common use cases
    • A minimal set of slides introducing the strong points of XWiki (AWM)
• For recurring users:
  • New features introduced
• For system admins
  • Possibility to create custom slides for the onboarding

Open Questions:

• How to navigate between each flow after the initial usage?
• Do we provide a central onboarding dashboard listing every flow?
  • We show this for every user? Only Admins?

Proposal 06: Make the onboarding app customizable

Why?

• Companies might have specific needs to show to each user, these might be:
  • Really important news
  • Custom rules or apps in their XWiki instance
  • Legal action required (Acknowledgment of internal rules for ex.)
• Admins need to insert these rules somewhere

Proposal

• Each onboarding flow is an XWiki page
• Every step of the flow is a sub page of the flow page

Proposal 07: Reduce the amount of steps in the Tour App

Why: 

• By having the Onboarding App taking care of general onboarding the Tour app can be left with a more specialized role
• Single key interactions might improve the next users actions

Proposal

• Use the Tour app to show the user how to restart the Onboarding app.
  • Text: "You can restart the Onboarding here"
• On first time use: point to the sandbox app to invite the user to explore XWiki editing features without breaking anything
• Only when entering edit mode for the first time, point to the "Done" button (if available) to tell the user how to get out of edit mode.
  • Currently entering and existing edit mode are very far apart in the UI.

Onboarding Scenarios

These scenarios were developed thinking about the different use cases that the Onboarding App might need to cover. Other scenarios might appear over time.

Scenario 01

A system administrator evaluating alternatives might arrive at the XWiki site, choose “Try Now,” and quickly explore the Playground, experiencing key functionality without installation.

Scenario 02

A new employee joining a company that already uses XWiki could log in for the first time, receive a brief welcome guide, and immediately learn how to find and contribute to content.

Scenario 03

An existing user logging in after a new release might see a short summary of new features

Scenario 04

A new hire in a large organization could receive a customized onboarding sequence prepared by the system admin, including internal best practices and guidelines.

Appendix

Current Situation

Out-of-app xwiki.org website

Out-of-app xwiki.com website

In-app

Benchmarks

Confluence

Notion

Guru