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. Key features - **Collaborative editing:** Several contributors can edit pages, sometimes at the same time. - **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:** Simple markup languages (such as WikiText or Markdown) are used to format pages. - **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. Common uses - Crowd-sourced knowledge resources (e.g., Wikipedia) - Internal documentation and company knowledge bases - Collaborative writing and shared note-taking - Classroom and educational projects Benefits - **Fast collaboration:** Many people can collaborate and iterate quickly on content. - **Openness:** Transparency through revision histories and discussions. - **Expandable:** Wikis expand easily as contributors add and organize content. Cons - **Vandalism and false information:** Open editing may allow intentional or accidental inaccuracies. - **Inconsistent quality:** Articles can differ greatly in depth, tone, and reliability. - **Organizational issues:** Lack of structure or rules can lead to disorganization and conflicts. Example - **Wikipedia** — the largest example, maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation and contributed to by volunteers worldwide.