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. Key features - **Collaborative editing:** Multiple people can edit the same pages, occasionally concurrently. - **Edit history:** Every modification is recorded with a timestamp and the editor’s identity or IP address. - **Interlinking:** It’s easy to create links between pages, forming an interconnected knowledge base. - **Lightweight markup:** Formatting is usually handled by lightweight markup languages (e.g., WikiText or Markdown). - **Permission settings:** Access controls vary — from fully open editing to permissions for certain users or groups. - **Discussion pages:** Talk or discussion pages let contributors debate edits and organization. Typical uses - Community knowledge bases such as Wikipedia - Project docs and corporate knowledge repositories - Group writing and collaborative note-taking - 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 expand easily as contributors add and organize content. Cons - **Vandalism and false information:** Open contribution can result in deliberate or accidental misinformation. - **Inconsistent quality:** Content quality may vary widely between pages. - **Organizational issues:** Without clear governance, content may become fragmented or disputed. Notable example - **Wikipedia** — the largest example, maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation and contributed to by volunteers worldwide.</p>