Wiki: Pedia

<p>A wiki is a website designed for collaborative editing, letting many people create, update, and organize content directly in a web browser. 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:** 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:** Wikis may allow public editing or restrict changes to registered or authorized users. - **Discussion pages:** Separate talk pages allow contributors to discuss edits and structure. Frequent uses - Community-driven knowledge bases (for example, Wikipedia) - Project documentation and internal company knowledge repositories - Collaborative writing and shared note-taking - Educational and classroom projects Pros - **Fast collaboration:** Multiple people can add and refine content quickly. - **Openness:** Visibility into edits and discussions shows how decisions were reached. - **Expandable:** Wikis can grow naturally as contributors add new topics. Drawbacks - **Vandalism and false information:** Public editing can lead to vandalism or incorrect information. - **Inconsistent quality:** Articles can differ greatly in depth, tone, and reliability. - **Organizational issues:** Poor coordination or governance can cause content fragmentation and disputes. Notable example - **Wikipedia** — a well-known wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation and written by volunteers around the globe.</p>