A wiki is a website designed for collaborative editing, letting many people create, update, and organize content directly in a web browser. Wikis prioritize ease of use and openness: pages can be added or changed without technical expertise, and most track every edit so changes can be reviewed or undone. Main features - **Collaborative editing:** Numerous contributors can work on pages, sometimes simultaneously. - **Edit history:** All edits are stored with timestamps and the author’s name or IP. - **Interlinking:** It’s easy to create links between pages, forming an interconnected knowledge base. - **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:** Talk or discussion pages let contributors debate edits and organization. Typical uses - Crowd-sourced knowledge resources (e.g., Wikipedia) - Project documentation and internal company knowledge repositories - Group writing and collaborative note-taking - Classroom and educational projects Benefits - **Fast collaboration:** Multiple people can add and refine content quickly. - **Openness:** Visibility into edits and discussions shows how decisions were reached. - **Expandable:** They scale organically as users add more pages and topics. Cons - **Vandalism and false information:** Open editing may allow intentional or accidental inaccuracies. - **Inconsistent quality:** Content quality may vary widely between pages. - **Organizational issues:** Lack of structure or rules can lead to disorganization and conflicts. Notable example - **Wikipedia** — a well-known wiki operated by the Wikimedia Foundation and written by volunteers around the globe.