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:** Each change is logged with a time and the editor’s name or IP.
- **Interlinking:** Creating links among pages is straightforward, which helps interconnect content.
- **Lightweight markup:** Simple markup languages (such as WikiText or Markdown) are used to format pages.
- **Permission settings:** Access controls vary — from fully open editing to permissions for certain users or groups.
- **Discussion pages:** Separate talk pages allow contributors to discuss edits and structure.

Typical uses
- Community-driven knowledge bases (for example, Wikipedia)
- Project docs and corporate knowledge repositories
- Cooperative writing and shared notes
- School and instructional projects

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

Drawbacks
- **Vandalism and false information:** Public editing can lead to vandalism or incorrect information.
- **Inconsistent quality:** Content quality may vary widely between pages.
- **Organizational issues:** Poor coordination or governance can cause content fragmentation and disputes.

Example
- **Wikipedia** — the largest example, maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation and contributed to by volunteers worldwide.