Kiwix and Zimit!

 

Kiwix and Zimit?  What the heck are those?  Well, I have discovered these to be very useful tools first brought to my attention by Martin's The Waving Flag blog back in December 2025.

What are they, really?

Kiwix is the application used to read web content offline while Zimit is a tool used to create offline archives of websites for Kiwix to read.  Together, they provide a package for preserving and accessing useful online information without a need for having a live internet connection.  I use these tools as a way to archive the Palouse Wargaming Journal.

Zimit
Zimit is an automated website scraper and archiving tool.  Given a starting URL, it uses a browser-based crawler to visit pages, capture their HTML, stylesheets, scripts, images, fonts, and other resources, and follow additional links according to specified exploration rules.

After crawling, Zimit converts the captured material into a single ZIM file archive.  That archive can then be opened in Kiwix and browsed offline in a way that attempts to preserve the structure and appearance of the original site.  The process does more than simply save a page.  It preserves the links embedded within the "seed" URL to drill down into the structure of the actual website.  For me, Zimit is especially useful for creating a snapshot of reference sites.  I am likely not alone to discover a useful reference site only later to find that the website and all of its content have vanished.  

Kiwix
Kiwix is free, open-source software for browsing downloaded collections of websites offline.  This is especially associated with offline versions of Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Project Gutenberg, TED content, medical references, educational materials, and other resources.  The Kiwix reader opens content packaged in ZIM files created by Zimit.  These archives can then be searched and browsed locally.

How They Work Together

Briefly, Zimit is the archiver or publisher, the ZIM file is the offline package, and Kiwix is the reader.

The basic workflow is:

1. Choose a website.
2. Use Zimit to crawl and package it into a ZIM file.
3. Transfer or download the ZIM file.
4. Open it in Kiwix.
5. Browse the archived content without internet access.

For example, the website illustrating the history of Sardinian/Piedmontese uniforms often cannot be displayed in my desktop browser.  The website can be displayed on tablet or phone but Windows refuses.  To prevent the loss of such an interesting and valuable resource, I created a ZIM file from Zimit to build an offline archive.  Then using Kiwix, that archive can be opened anytime and anywhere.  All of the tabs and hyperlinks work and there is no difference from browsing through the website with an internet connection.  Now, this website will always be available!

Reading ZIM file in Kiwix

I recommend it!

Maybe I will Zimit Kronoskaf's Project Seven Years War just for safe keeping?