Wiki: Pedia

<p>Wikis are websites built for collaborative authoring, allowing numerous contributors to add, edit, and structure content online. Simplicity and openness are central to wikis: anyone can often add or change pages without technical knowledge, and edits are usually logged for review or rollback. Main features - **Collaborative editing:** Several contributors can edit pages, sometimes at the same time. - **Edit history:** Every modification is recorded with a timestamp and the editor’s identity or IP address. - **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:** 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. Frequent uses - Crowd-sourced knowledge resources (e.g., Wikipedia) - Internal documentation and company knowledge bases - Collaborative writing and shared note-taking - School and instructional projects Pros - **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:** Open contribution can result in deliberate or accidental misinformation. - **Inconsistent quality:** Content quality may vary widely between pages. - **Organizational issues:** Lack of structure or rules can lead to disorganization and conflicts. Notable example - **Wikipedia** — the largest example, maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation and contributed to by volunteers worldwide.</p>