What is a wiki? Well, if you don’t know, let’s look at what the most famous wiki, Wikipedia, has to say.
A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.[1][2] Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. The collaborative encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is one of the best-known wikis.[2] Wikis are used in business to provide intranets and Knowledge Management systems. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as “the simplest online database that could possibly work”.[3]
“Wiki” (/wiːkiː/) is originally a Hawaiian word for “fast”. It has been suggested that “wiki” means “What I Know Is”.[citation needed] However, this is a backronym. “Wiki Wiki” is a reduplication of the same word.
Seem simple enough? If not, here is one more great visual explanation:
It’s part of the Plain English Series:
If they are not already, wikis are the wave of the future in many settings because of their collaborative ability. While most organiziations (i.e. businesses, churches, etc.) are still only using email, many others have embraced the power of the wiki and are really harnessing it’s power in creative ways.
As I’m still fairly new to wikis (I have 2 that I have created, 1 that I’m a part of, and I joined Wikipedia as a user–though still too nervous to create content yet, or correct).
But let me give you just one example of where I didn’t use it, and how I wish I did and why.
