A wiki is a website designed for collaborative editing, letting many people create, update, and organize content directly in a web browser.
Simplicity and openness are central to wikis: anyone can often add or change pages without technical knowledge, and edits are usually logged for review or rollback.
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:** It’s easy to create links between pages, forming an interconnected knowledge base.
- **Lightweight markup:** Simple markup languages (such as WikiText or Markdown) are used to format pages.
- **Permission settings:** Some wikis are open to anyone; others limit edits to registered users or specific groups.
- **Discussion pages:** Separate talk pages allow contributors to discuss edits and structure.
Frequent uses
- Community knowledge bases such as Wikipedia
- Internal documentation and company knowledge bases
- Collaborative writing and shared note-taking
- Educational and classroom projects
Advantages
- **Fast collaboration:** Many people can collaborate and iterate quickly on content.
- **Openness:** Visibility into edits and discussions shows how decisions were reached.
- **Expandable:** Wikis can grow naturally as contributors add new topics.
Limitations
- **Vandalism and false information:** Public editing can lead to vandalism or incorrect information.
- **Inconsistent quality:** Articles can differ greatly in depth, tone, and reliability.
- **Organizational issues:** Without clear governance, content may become fragmented or disputed.
Example
- **Wikipedia** — a well-known wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation and written by volunteers around the globe.
