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.

Common 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:** 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:** 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
- Group writing and collaborative note-taking
- Classroom and educational projects

Benefits
- **Fast collaboration:** Multiple people can add and refine content quickly.
- **Openness:** Transparency through revision histories and discussions.
- **Expandable:** They scale organically as users add more pages and topics.

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:** 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>