Defining wikis including basic terminology

Table of Contents

What is a wiki?

A wiki is a Web-based application that allows people to add, remove, edit and change content through a browser. The ease of interaction makes wikis an effective tool for collaboration. Wikis can be considered a content management system.

First wiki

Ward Cunningham created the first Wiki in March 25, 1995 Portland Pattern Repository (c2.com/cgi/wiki) and named it for the Hawaiian term meaning "quick" which is WikiWiki.

Why use wikis?

Wikis are online collaborative communities that lend themselves well to continuous editing and refinement of content. They are best at aggregating and distilling shared knowledge (including article evolution). Content reflects a blend of voices. Wikis can work well in organizational cultures where there is a high level of trust.

The organic nature of wikis is both its strength and weakness: By allowing anyone to add or edit anything there is a risk that this can lead to a chaotic information space. At National Geographic, we require contributors to create a username/login before they can contribute. For consistency, Wiki authors and editors usually develop norms and conventions for naming pages and adding content.

Wiki uses

Basic terminology

Some of the terminology in the world of wikis can be confusing. Below are some basic definitions that will hopefully clarify a few things before getting started with wikis. For a more detailed list, please see the glossary of terms.

Wikis: A generic term

Wikis are a class of applications. Wiki is a generic term that refers to a particular type of Web-based application sharing similar functionality:

• Collaborative model for aggregating and distilling information/knowledge
• Collaborative software (or wiki engine). This is what powers a wiki. MediaWiki is an example of a wiki engine.
• Seed wiki around particular topic(s)/focus to facilitate collaboration
• Easy to use/edit content - no HTML editors/FTP clients required
• Content management system. Maintains revision history/archive of changes
• Blog-like areas for "talking" (e.g., comments, discussion pages)

Application: Confluence

• Confluence: a wiki application developed by Atlassian. It is the application the Special Libraries Association selected for its members.

Application: MediaWiki

• MediaWiki: an open source wiki application (also referred to as a wiki engine), that powers a Wikimedia Foundation's site. MediaWiki is just one of many wiki software packages but was initially developed for Wikimedia Foundation's projects.
• Wikimedia Foundation: A non-profit, charitable organization that operates several collaborative projects such as, Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, etc.
• Wikipedia: An encyclopedic wiki, which is powered by MediaWiki and maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation.