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:** Numerous contributors can work on pages, sometimes simultaneously. - **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:** Pages are typically formatted with lightweight markup like WikiText or Markdown. - **Permission settings:** Wikis may allow public editing or restrict changes to registered or authorized users. - **Discussion pages:** Dedicated discussion pages enable contributors to coordinate and discuss content. Frequent uses - Community-driven knowledge bases (for example, Wikipedia) - Project docs and corporate knowledge repositories - Group writing and collaborative note-taking - Classroom and educational projects Benefits - **Fast collaboration:** Contributors can rapidly create and improve content. - **Openness:** Edit histories and talk pages reveal how content decisions were made. - **Expandable:** Wikis can grow naturally as contributors add new topics. Cons - **Vandalism and false information:** Open contribution can result in deliberate or accidental misinformation. - **Inconsistent quality:** Articles can differ greatly in depth, tone, and reliability. - **Organizational issues:** Without clear governance, content may become fragmented or disputed. Notable example - **Wikipedia** — the best-known wiki, run by the Wikimedia Foundation and built by volunteer contributors worldwide.</p>