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:** Multiple people can edit the same pages, occasionally concurrently.
- **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:** Formatting is usually handled by lightweight markup languages (e.g., WikiText or Markdown).
- **Permission settings:** Some wikis are open to anyone; others limit edits to registered users or specific groups.
- **Discussion pages:** Talk or discussion pages let contributors debate edits and organization.

Frequent uses
- Community knowledge bases such as Wikipedia
- Project documentation and internal company knowledge repositories
- Collaborative writing and shared note-taking
- Classroom and educational projects

Benefits
- **Fast collaboration:** Multiple people can add and refine content quickly.
- **Openness:** Edit histories and talk pages reveal how content decisions were made.
- **Expandable:** Wikis expand easily as contributors add and organize content.

Cons
- **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:** Lack of structure or rules can lead to disorganization and conflicts.

Illustration
- **Wikipedia** — the best-known wiki, run by the Wikimedia Foundation and built by volunteer contributors worldwide.</p>