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. Common features - **Collaborative editing:** Numerous contributors can work on pages, sometimes simultaneously. - **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:** Access controls vary — from fully open editing to permissions for certain users or groups. - **Discussion pages:** Dedicated discussion pages enable contributors to coordinate and discuss content. Common uses - Community knowledge bases such as Wikipedia - Project documentation and internal company knowledge repositories - Group writing and collaborative note-taking - School and instructional projects Advantages - **Fast collaboration:** Contributors can rapidly create and improve content. - **Openness:** Transparency through revision histories and discussions. - **Expandable:** They scale organically as users add more pages and topics. Drawbacks - **Vandalism and false information:** Open contribution can result in deliberate or accidental misinformation. - **Inconsistent quality:** Entries may vary in accuracy, style, and completeness. - **Organizational issues:** Poor coordination or governance can cause content fragmentation and disputes. Example - **Wikipedia** — a well-known wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation and written by volunteers around the globe.</p>