# Wiki A wiki is a website that allows collaborative editing of its content by users through a web browser. The concept was invented by [[Ward Cunningham]] in 1995 when he created WikiWikiWeb to host the Portland Pattern Repository. The name comes from Hawaiian "wiki wiki" meaning "quick," reflecting the ease and speed of editing. Wikis revolutionized collaborative knowledge creation by allowing anyone to contribute and edit content without needing technical skills. Wikipedia, launched in 2001, became the most famous wiki and demonstrated the power of mass collaboration. ## Key Characteristics - **Easy editing**: Anyone can create or modify content - **Hyperlinks**: Pages interconnect through internal links - **Version history**: All changes are tracked and reversible - **Collaborative**: Multiple contributors work on the same content - **Open**: Typically low barriers to participation ## Common Uses - **Documentation**: Software docs, internal knowledge bases - **Encyclopedias**: Wikipedia and similar projects - **Corporate wikis**: Internal company knowledge sharing - **Community sites**: Fan wikis, gaming wikis - **Personal knowledge**: Note-taking and PKM systems ## Wiki Software - **MediaWiki**: Powers Wikipedia; open source - **Confluence**: Atlassian's enterprise wiki - **[[Notion]]**: Modern wiki-style workspace - **Wiki.js**: Modern open source wiki - **TiddlyWiki**: Personal wiki in a single HTML file ## Wiki vs Traditional Websites | Aspect | Wiki | Traditional Site | |--------|------|------------------| | Editing | Anyone/many users | Webmaster only | | Structure | Emergent, linked | Hierarchical | | Updates | Continuous | Periodic | | Authorship | Collaborative | Individual/team | ## References - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki - http://c2.com/cgi/wiki (original WikiWikiWeb) ## Related - [[Ward Cunningham]] - [[Knowledge Management (KM)]]