Wiki: Pedia

<p>Wikis are websites built for collaborative authoring, allowing numerous contributors to add, edit, and structure content online.

Wikis prioritize ease of use and openness: pages can be added or changed without technical expertise, and most track every edit so changes can be reviewed or undone.

Main features
- **Collaborative editing:** Several contributors can edit pages, sometimes at the same time.
- **Edit history:** Every modification is recorded with a timestamp and the editor’s identity or IP address.
- **Interlinking:** Creating links among pages is straightforward, which helps interconnect content.
- **Lightweight markup:** Pages are typically formatted with lightweight markup like WikiText or Markdown.
- **Permission settings:** Access controls vary — from fully open editing to permissions for certain users or groups.
- **Discussion pages:** Talk or discussion pages let contributors debate edits and organization.

Typical uses
- Community knowledge bases such as Wikipedia
- Internal documentation and company knowledge bases
- Collaborative writing and shared note-taking
- Classroom and educational projects

Advantages
- **Fast collaboration:** Multiple people can add and refine content quickly.
- **Openness:** Edit histories and talk pages reveal how content decisions were made.
- **Expandable:** Wikis can grow naturally as contributors add new topics.

Drawbacks
- **Vandalism and false information:** Open contribution can result in deliberate or accidental misinformation.
- **Inconsistent quality:** Articles can differ greatly in depth, tone, and reliability.
- **Organizational issues:** Lack of structure or rules can lead to disorganization and conflicts.

Notable example
- **Wikipedia** — the largest example, maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation and contributed to by volunteers worldwide.</p>