site reference—wiki

A wiki is a type of web site that allows anyone visiting the site to add, remove, or otherwise edit content quickly and easily, often without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative writing.

The term wiki is a shortened form of wiki wiki, which is taken from Hawaiian, where it denotes something quick or fast. In connection with the Internet, wiki is sometimes defined as "What I know is," which is shorthand for a collaborator's knowledge contribution. The term also may refer to the collaborative software that makes possible the operation of a wiki website, as in the term wiki engine.

The first wiki, called WikiWikiWeb, was named after the "Wiki Wiki" line of Chance Route 52 buses at Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii. (Apparently, the bus line features quick service to town.) It was created in 1994 and installed on the web in 1995 by an individual named Ward Cunningham.

In essence, a wiki is little more than a simplified system for creating web pages combined with a system that records and catalogs revisions in such a way that a previous entry can be reverted to its former state. A wiki system may also include various tools that provide users with an easy way to monitor the constantly changing state of the wiki's pages as well as a way to discuss and resolve issues. (Among the most common issues are those involving disagreement over wiki content.)

Wiki content can be misleading, as users tend to add incorrect information to a wiki page. Some wikis allow completely unrestricted access so that people are able to contribute without necessarily having to undergo a process of registration, as has often been required by various other types of interactive websites such as Internet forums or chat sites.

One of the most important examples of its class is the wiki known as Wikipedia.

• To see an example of a wiki, visit the Wikipedia web site: click here.
• Access Wikipedia from Electricka's Resource Shelf: click here.
• Visit the first wiki and see what it looks like: click here.
• About Chance Route 52 buses. Visit Wikipedia: click here.
• About Honolulu Airport and its bus service. Visit Wikipedia: click here.
• Visit Ward Cunningham's web site: click here.