A wiki is a website designed for collaborative editing, letting many people create, update, and organize content directly in a web browser. Simplicity and openness are central to wikis: anyone can often add or change pages without technical knowledge, and edits are usually logged for review or rollback. Common features - **Collaborative editing:** Multiple people can edit the same pages, occasionally concurrently. - **Edit history:** Each change is logged with a time and the editor’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:** Some wikis are open to anyone; others limit edits to registered users or specific groups. - **Discussion pages:** Talk or discussion pages let contributors debate edits and organization. Frequent uses - Crowd-sourced knowledge resources (e.g., Wikipedia) - Project documentation and internal company knowledge repositories - Group writing and collaborative note-taking - Educational and classroom projects Advantages - **Fast collaboration:** Contributors can rapidly create and improve content. - **Openness:** Visibility into edits and discussions shows how decisions were reached. - **Expandable:** Wikis can grow naturally as contributors add new topics. 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:** Lack of structure or rules can lead to disorganization and conflicts. Illustration - **Wikipedia** — the best-known wiki, run by the Wikimedia Foundation and built by volunteer contributors worldwide.