Wiki: Pedia

<p>Wikis are websites built for collaborative authoring, allowing numerous contributors to add, edit, and structure content online. 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. Main 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:** Creating links among pages is straightforward, which helps interconnect content. - **Lightweight markup:** Formatting is usually handled by lightweight markup languages (e.g., WikiText or Markdown). - **Permission settings:** Wikis may allow public editing or restrict changes to registered or authorized users. - **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 - Cooperative writing and shared notes - School and instructional projects Benefits - **Fast collaboration:** Many people can collaborate and iterate quickly on content. - **Openness:** Transparency through revision histories and discussions. - **Expandable:** Wikis can grow naturally as contributors add new topics. Drawbacks - **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:** Poor coordination or governance can cause content fragmentation and disputes. Illustration - **Wikipedia** — the best-known wiki, run by the Wikimedia Foundation and built by volunteer contributors worldwide.</p>