Wiki: Pedia
A wiki is a website designed for collaborative editing, letting many people create, update, and organize content directly in a web browser.
They emphasize simplicity and openness — pages can be created or modified without special technical skills, and most maintain an edit history so revisions can be reviewed or reverted.
Common features - **Collaborative editing:** Numerous contributors can work on pages, sometimes simultaneously. - **Edit history:** All edits are stored with timestamps and the author’s name or IP. - **Interlinking:** Links between pages are simple to create, helping build connected content. - **Lightweight markup:** Pages are typically formatted with lightweight markup like WikiText or Markdown. - **Permission settings:** Wikis may allow public editing or restrict changes to registered or authorized users. - **Discussion pages:** Talk or discussion pages let contributors debate edits and organization.
Typical uses - Community knowledge bases such as Wikipedia - Project documentation and internal company knowledge repositories - Cooperative writing and shared notes - Educational and classroom projects
Benefits - **Fast collaboration:** Multiple people can add and refine content quickly. - **Openness:** Transparency through revision histories and discussions. - **Expandable:** Wikis expand easily as contributors add and organize content.
Drawbacks - **Vandalism and false information:** Open editing may allow intentional or accidental inaccuracies. - **Inconsistent quality:** Content quality may vary widely between pages. - **Organizational issues:** Poor coordination or governance can cause content fragmentation and disputes.
Illustration - **Wikipedia** — a well-known wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation and written by volunteers around the globe.
