Wiki: Pedia

<p>A wiki is a website designed for collaborative editing, letting many people create, update, and organize content directly in a web browser.

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.

Key features
- **Collaborative editing:** Multiple people can edit the same pages, occasionally concurrently.
- **Edit history:** Each change is logged with a time and the editor’s name or IP.
- **Interlinking:** It’s easy to create links between pages, forming an interconnected knowledge base.
- **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:** Dedicated discussion pages enable contributors to coordinate and discuss content.

Common uses
- Community-driven knowledge bases (for example, Wikipedia)
- Project documentation and internal company knowledge repositories
- Cooperative writing and shared notes
- School and instructional projects

Benefits
- **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:** 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.</p>