(SYS-CON Media) - TWiki.org, a virtual open source software community consisting of 26,700 members, 4,000 contributors, and an estimated 2 million enterprise users, announced version 4.1 of its popular TWiki enterprise wiki software. Code-named Edinburgh, TWiki release 4.1 features enhanced application extensions to enable knowledge workers to create "Situational Applications" that include spreadsheet functions, dynamic tables, slide shows, and Web 2.0 user interfaces. Available free of charge, TWiki 4.1 can be downloaded from http://twiki.org/.

Situational Applications are enterprise software programs, created in short timeframes and with limited budgets, for small groups with specific needs. Created by users themselves, Situational Applications are often implemented without formal support from the IT organization. Accordingly, the Situational Application development process relaxes or omits many of the design, planning, scalability, and integration requirements associated with traditional enterprise software projects.

"One key objectives of the TWiki enterprise wiki platform is to enable each user to contribute to the company's collective knowledge and become a full participant in the application creation process. With streamlined support for third-party Plugins, enhanced search capabilities, and improvements to TWiki's AJAX-based user interface, TWiki 4.1 represents a significant milestone toward the achievement of that goal," said Peter Thoeny, the TWiki founder who has managed the open-source project since inception.

"My hat is off to the TWiki open source community. Through intense global cooperation, they continue to churn out innovative solutions that enable millions of enterprise workers to become full participants in the social software movement," added Bart Decrem, a long-time open source leader who's worked on GNOME, Mozilla, and was most recently the founder of Flock.

TWiki is an open source enterprise wiki platform, and a pioneer in the field of situational applications. TWiki extends the free-form world of wikis by adding structure. With TWiki, wiki content can be browsed, searched, grouped, categorized, filtered and restricted for limited access. TWiki looks and feels like a Web 2.0 web site, and can be easily modified through standard web browsers.

The server-side Plugin API turns TWiki into a platform for developers and non-programmers to build collaborative, situational applications in an efficient way. More than 250 Plugins are currently available to extend the functionality of TWiki. Examples Plugins include: BlogPlugin, software that turns TWiki into a weblog engine; SpreadSheetPlugin, a system for adding spreadsheet functionality; and WorkflowPlugin, software for embedding project tracking functionality within a wiki page.

TWiki 4.1 adds significant improvements to the TWiki platform including: a streamlined installation process, key enhancements to the Plugin architecture, improvements to many popular third-party Plugin modules, meta search capabilities, flexible user interface skin handling, and various automation improvements.