Wiki

A wiki is a special website.

Many people work on it together. They can add new facts. They can also fix mistakes.

People use a web browser to edit pages. They can write new things. They can also remove old things. This helps everyone share what they know.

Some wikis are for everyone to see. Other wikis are just for small groups. This helps groups keep their own notes.

One famous wiki is Wikipedia. It is a very large site. It has many pages in many languages.

Working on a wiki is a way to talk. It helps people build things together. It is a great way to learn.

A wiki is a special kind of website.

Many people work on it together. They use a web browser to edit pages. This lets them add, change, or remove facts.

Most wikis do not have one single leader. Instead, the people who use the site make the content. This is a way to work as a team. Some wikis are public for everyone. Other wikis are private for small groups.

Ward Cunningham made the first wiki software. He named it WikiWikiWeb in 1995. The name comes from a Hawaiian word for "quick."

To change a page, you might use a source editor. This uses a markup language. This is a set of simple codes to format text. You can also use a visual editor. This works more like a regular word tool. Many wikis also keep a history of all changes. This is called an edit history. It lets users see old versions of a page. If someone makes a mistake, they can go back.

Wikipedia is the most famous wiki. It is a huge collection of many wikis.

A wiki is a special way to publish things on the internet.

Instead of one person writing everything, a group of people works together. They use a web browser to edit and manage the pages directly. Most wikis do not have one single owner or leader. This allows the structure of the site to grow based on what users need. Some wikis are public for anyone to see. Other wikis are private for use within a specific group or company.

There are different ways to change the content on a wiki page. Many use a source editor with a lightweight markup language. This is a set of simple codes called wikitext or wiki markup. For example, putting asterisks at the start of a line creates a list. Some wikis also have a visual editor. This works more like a standard word processor. It uses JavaScript to turn your clicks into the right code. This makes it easier for people to change pages without learning technical details.

Ward Cunningham created the very first wiki software. He called it WikiWikiWeb and launched it on March 25, 1995. He got the name from a Hawaiian word meaning "quick." He remembered seeing a "Wiki Wiki Shuttle" bus at the Honolulu International Airport.

Cunningham wanted to create a simple online database. He was inspired by a tool called HyperCard. He also wanted to build on ideas from Vannevar Bush. His goal was to help people share their experiences and stories.

Wikis are very useful for keeping track of information. Many systems keep a record of every change made to a page. This is called an edit history or a log. You can see the date, time, and the name of the person who made the change. If someone makes a mistake, the author can revert the page to an older version.

Some wikis also use "diff" tools. These tools highlight the exact differences between two versions. Users can also write short summaries to explain why they made a change. This helps everyone understand the new updates.

The most famous example of a wiki is Wikipedia. It is one of the most popular websites in the world. It has been a top website since at least 2007. Wikipedia is not just one wiki, though. It is actually a collection of hundreds of wikis in different languages. The English version has the largest number of articles. This makes it the largest reference work ever made. Wikis help people connect ideas through easy links between pages.

A wiki is a unique form of hypertext publication on the internet. It allows an audience to collaboratively edit and manage content directly through a web browser. Unlike a blog or a static website, a wiki typically lacks a single defined owner or leader. This characteristic allows the structure of the site to emerge based on the needs of its users. Wikis function as a type of content management system. They can be used by the public or restricted to an organization for an internal knowledge base.

Most wikis are powered by specialized software known as wiki engines. These engines allow users to create content using a lightweight markup language. Some engines also provide a rich-text editor to simplify the process. In a source editor, users write text using specific syntax, such as wikitext or wikicode. For example, starting a line with an asterisk might create a bulleted list.

Alternatively, a visual editor uses JavaScript to translate toolbar commands into markup. This process happens transparently on the server. It shields the user from technical details, making it easier to change page content. This type of interface is often called a WYSIWYG editor.

Wikis offer several ways to organize and navigate information. Users can create hyperlinks between pages to promote meaningful topic associations. In early systems, many used camel case to name pages. This meant removing spaces and capitalizing words, such as "CamelCase." To avoid the spelling issues of camel case, later engines adopted "free links." This allows users to wrap natural language in double square brackets, like [[Kingdom of France]], to create a link.

Users can also organize content through indexes, tables of contents, or taxonomies. Some wikis use tags or categories to help others find specific pages. Some communities even form networks called WikiNodes to link related wikis together.

To protect the quality of information, many wikis maintain a version history. This is often presented as a log or an edit history. The log stores metadata for every revision, including the date, time, and the name of the editor. This allows authors to revert a page to an older version to fix mistakes. It also helps counteract inappropriate or malicious edits.

Many systems include a "diff" feature. A diff highlights the exact differences between two specific revisions. When submitting changes, users can also write edit summaries. These are short notes, such as "Fixed table formatting," that explain the purpose of the update.

The history of the wiki began with Ward Cunningham. He started developing the first wiki software, called WikiWikiWeb, in 1994. He installed it on the domain c2.com on March 25, 1995. The name "wiki" comes from the Hawaiian word for "quick." Cunningham chose this name after seeing a "Wiki Wiki Shuttle" bus at the Honolulu International Airport.

He was inspired by Apple's HyperCard software and the ideas of hypertext inventor Vannevar Bush. Cunningham wanted to create the simplest online database possible. His goal was to allow people to comment on and change each other's text to document shared experiences.

One of the most significant examples of this technology is Wikipedia. Launched in January 2001, it has been one of the most popular websites since at least 2007. Wikipedia is not a single wiki, but a massive collection of hundreds of wikis. Each one is dedicated to a specific language. The English-language Wikipedia contains the largest collection of articles. This makes it the largest reference work in history. Hundreds of thousands of wikis exist today, serving as everything from note-taking tools to corporate intranets.

Wikis connect to many different fields and systems. In the early 2000s, many enterprises adopted wikis as collaborative software. They use them for project communication, documentation, and internal intranets. Some wikis are even integrated into bug tracking systems. Because they allow for constant collaboration, the website landscape of a wiki is always changing. This ongoing process of creation allows the wiki to grow alongside the knowledge of its community.