Wiki: Pedia

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:** Simple markup languages (such as WikiText or Markdown) are used to format pages.
- **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.

Typical uses
- Community-driven knowledge bases (for example, Wikipedia)
- Internal documentation and company knowledge bases
- Cooperative writing and shared notes
- Classroom and educational projects

Benefits
- **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:** 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.

Illustration
- **Wikipedia** — a well-known wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation and written by volunteers around the globe.