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Wiki
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Awiki( i /wki/
ee)isawebsitethatprovidescollaborativemodificationofitscontentandstructuredirectlyfromtheweb
browser.Inatypicalwiki,textiswrittenusingasimplifiedmarkuplanguage(knownas"wikimarkup"),andofteneditedwith
thehelpofarichtexteditor.[1]
Awikiisrunusingwikisoftware,otherwiseknownasawikiengine.Therearedozensofdifferentwikienginesinuse,both
standaloneandpartofothersoftware,suchasbugtrackingsystems.Somewikienginesareopensource,whereasothersare
proprietary.Somepermitcontroloverdifferentfunctions(levelsofaccess)forexample,editingrightsmaypermitchanging,
addingorremovingmaterial.Othersmaypermitaccesswithoutenforcingaccesscontrol.Otherrulesmayalsobeimposedto
organizecontent.Awikiengineisatypeofcontentmanagementsystem,butitdiffersfrommostothersuchsystems,including
blogsoftware,inthatthecontentiscreatedwithoutanydefinedownerorleader,andwikishavelittleimplicitstructure,
allowingstructuretoemergeaccordingtotheneedsoftheusers.[2]

InterviewwithWardCunningham,
inventorofthewiki

TheencyclopediaprojectWikipediaisbyfarthemostpopularwikibasedwebsite,andisinfactoneofthemostwidelyviewedsitesofanykindoftheworld,having
beenrankedinthetoptensince2007.Wikipediaisnotasinglewikibutratheracollectionofhundredsofwikis,oneforeachlanguage.Thereareatleasttensof
thousandsofotherwikisinuse,bothpublicandprivate,includingwikisfunctioningasknowledgemanagementresources,notetakingtools,communitywebsitesand
intranets.
WardCunningham,thedeveloperofthefirstwikisoftware,WikiWikiWeb,originallydescribeditas"thesimplestonlinedatabasethatcouldpossiblywork".[3]"Wiki"
(pronounced[wiki][note1])isaHawaiianwordmeaning"quick".[4][5][6]

Contents
1 Characteristics
1.1 Editingwikipages
1.2 Navigation
1.3 Linkingandcreatingpages
1.4 Searching
2 History
3 Alternativedefinitionsof"wiki"
4 Implementations
5 Trustandsecurity
5.1 Controllingchanges
5.2 Trustworthiness
5.3 Security
5.3.1 Potentialmalwarevector
6 Communities
6.1 Applications
6.2 Citywikis
6.3 WikiNodes
6.4 Participants
6.5 Growthfactors
7 Conferences
8 Rules
9 Legalenvironment
10 Seealso
11 Notes
12 References
13 Furtherreading
14 Externallinks

Characteristics
WardCunninghamandcoauthorBoLeuf,intheirbookTheWikiWay:QuickCollaborationontheWeb,describedtheessence
oftheWikiconceptasfollows:[7]
AwikiinvitesalluserstoeditanypageortocreatenewpageswithinthewikiWebsite,usingonlyaplainvanillaWeb
browserwithoutanyextraaddons.
Wikipromotesmeaningfultopicassociationsbetweendifferentpagesbymakingpagelinkcreationalmostintuitively
easyandshowingwhetheranintendedtargetpageexistsornot.
Awikiisnotacarefullycraftedsiteforcasualvisitors.Instead,itseekstoinvolvethevisitorinanongoingprocessof
creationandcollaborationthatconstantlychangestheWebsitelandscape.
Awikienablescommunitiestowritedocumentscollaboratively,usingasimplemarkuplanguageandawebbrowser.Asingle
pageinawikiwebsiteisreferredtoasa"wikipage",whiletheentirecollectionofpages,whichareusuallywellinterconnected
byhyperlinks,is"thewiki".Awikiisessentiallyadatabaseforcreating,browsing,andsearchingthroughinformation.Awiki
allowsnonlinear,evolving,complexandnetworkedtext,argumentandinteraction.[8]

WardCunningham,inventorofthe

wiki
Adefiningcharacteristicofwikitechnologyistheeasewithwhichpagescanbecreatedandupdated.Generally,thereisno
reviewbeforemodificationsareaccepted.Manywikisareopentoalterationbythegeneralpublicwithoutrequiringregistration
ofuseraccounts.Manyeditscanbemadeinrealtimeandappearalmostinstantlyonline.However,thisfeaturefacilitatesabuseofthesystem.Privatewikiservers
requireuserauthenticationtoeditpages,andsometimeseventoreadthem.

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MagedN.KamelBoulos,CitoMarambaandSteveWheelerwritethattheopenwikisproduceaprocessofSocialDarwinism."'Unfit'sentencesandsectionsare
ruthlesslyculled,editedandreplacediftheyarenotconsidered'fit',whichhopefullyresultsintheevolutionofahigherqualityandmorerelevantpage.Whilesuch
opennessmayinvite'vandalism'andthepostingofuntrueinformation,thissameopennessalsomakesitpossibletorapidlycorrectorrestorea'quality'wikipage."[9]

Editingwikipages
Somewikishavean"edit"buttonorlinkdirectlyonthepagebeingviewed,iftheuserhaspermissiontoeditthepage.Thisleadstoaneditingpagewhereparticipants
structureandformatwikipageswithasimplifiedmarkuplanguage,sometimesknownaswikitext.Forexample,startinglinesoftextwithasteriskscreatesabulleted
list.Thestyleandsyntaxofwikitextscanvarygreatlyamongwikiimplementations,someofwhichalsoallowHTMLtags.Wikisfavourplaintextediting,withfewer
andsimplerconventionsthanHTML,forindicatingstyleandstructure.AlthoughlimitingaccesstoHTMLandCascadingStyleSheets(CSS)ofwikislimitsuser
abilitytoalterthestructureandformattingofwikicontent,therearesomebenefits.LimitedaccesstoCSSpromotesconsistencyinthelookandfeel,andhaving
JavaScriptdisabledpreventsauserfromimplementingcodethatmaylimitotherusers'access.
MediaWikisyntax

EquivalentHTML

"Take some more [[tea]]," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

<p>"Take some more <a href="/wiki/Tea" title="Tea">tea</a>," the Marc

"I've had '''nothing''' yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more."

<p>"I've had <b>nothing</b> yet," Alice replied in an offended tone,

"You mean you can't take ''less''?" said the Hatter. "It's very easy to take ''more'' than nothing." <p>"You mean you can't take <i>less</i>?" said the Hatter. "It's very

WikiscanmakeWYSIWYGeditingavailabletousers,usuallybymeansofJavaScriptcontrolthattranslatesgraphicallyenteredformattinginstructionsintothe
correspondingHTMLtagsorwikitext.Inthoseimplementations,themarkupofanewlyedited,markedupversionofthepageisgeneratedandsubmittedtotheserver
transparently,shieldingtheuserfromthistechnicaldetail.AnexampleofthisistheVisualEditoronWikipedia.However,WYSIWYGcontrolsdonotalwaysprovide
allofthefeaturesavailableinwikitext,andsomeusersprefernottouseaWYSIWYGeditor.Hence,manyofthesesitesoffersomemeanstoeditthewikitextdirectly.
Somewikiskeeparecordofchangesmadetowikipagesoften,everyversionofthepageisstored.Thismeansthatauthorscanreverttoanolderversionofthepage,
shoulditbenecessarybecauseamistakehasbeenmadeorthepagehasbeenvandalized.Manyimplementations,likeMediaWiki,allowuserstosupplyanedit
summarywhentheyeditapagethisisashortpieceoftextsummarisingthechanges.Itisnotinsertedintothearticle,butisstoredalongwiththatrevisionofthepage,
allowinguserstoexplainwhathasbeendoneandwhythisissimilartoalogmessagewhenmakingchangestoarevisioncontrolsystem.

Navigation
Withinthetextofmostpages,thereareusuallyalargenumberofhypertextlinkstootherpages.Thisformofnonlinearnavigationismore"native"toawikithan
structured/formalizednavigationschemes.Userscanalsocreateanynumberofindexortableofcontentspages,withhierarchicalcategorizationorwhateverformof
organizationtheylike.Thesemaybechallengingtomaintainbyhand,asmultipleauthorscreateanddeletepagesinanadhocmanner.Wikiscanprovideoneormore
waystocategorizeortagpagestosupportthemaintenanceofsuchindexpages.
Somewikis,includingtheoriginal,haveabacklinkfeature,whichdisplaysallpagesthatlinktoagivenpage.Itisalsotypicallypossibleinawikitocreatelinksto
pagesthatdonotyetexist,asawaytoinviteotherstosharewhattheyknowaboutasubjectnewtothewiki.

Linkingandcreatingpages
Linksarecreatedusingaspecificsyntax,thesocalled"linkpattern".Originally,mostwikisusedCamelCasetonamepagesandcreatelinks.Theseareproducedby
capitalizingwordsinaphraseandremovingthespacesbetweenthem(theword"CamelCase"isitselfanexample).WhileCamelCasemakeslinkingeasy,italsoleads
tolinksinaformthatdeviatesfromthestandardspelling.Tolinktoapagewithasinglewordtitle,onemustabnormallycapitalizeoneofthelettersintheword(e.g.
"WiKi"insteadof"Wiki").CamelCasebasedwikisareinstantlyrecognizablebecausetheyhavemanylinkswithnamessuchas"TableOfContents"and
"BeginnerQuestions."Itispossibleforawikitorenderthevisibleanchorofsuchlinks"pretty"byreinsertingspaces,andpossiblyalsorevertingtolowercase.
However,thisreprocessingofthelinktoimprovethereadabilityoftheanchorislimitedbythelossofcapitalizationinformationcausedbyCamelCasereversal.For
example,"RichardWagner"shouldberenderedas"RichardWagner",whereas"PopularMusic"shouldberenderedas"popularmusic".Thereisnoeasywayto
determinewhichcapitallettersshouldremaincapitalized.Asaresult,manywikisnowhave"freelinking"usingbrackets,andsomedisableCamelCasebydefault.

Searching

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Mostwikisofferatleastatitlesearch,andsometimesafulltextsearch.Thescalabilityofthesearchdependsonwhetherthewikiengineusesadatabase.Somewikis,
suchasPmWiki,useflatfiles.[10]MediaWiki'sfirstversionsusedflatfiles,butitwasrewrittenbyLeeDanielCrockerintheearly2000s(decade)tobeadatabase
application.Indexeddatabaseaccessisnecessaryforhighspeedsearchesonlargewikis.Alternatively,externalsearchenginessuchasGoogleSearchcansometimes
beusedonwikiswithlimitedsearchingfunctionsinordertoobtainmorepreciseresults.

History
WikiWikiWebwasthefirstwiki.[11]WardCunninghamstarteddevelopingWikiWikiWebinPortland,Oregon,in1994,and
installeditontheInternetdomainc2.comonMarch25,1995.ItwasnamedbyCunningham,whorememberedaHonolulu
InternationalAirportcounteremployeetellinghimtotakethe"WikiWikiShuttle"busthatrunsbetweentheairport'sterminals.
AccordingtoCunningham,"Ichosewikiwikiasanalliterativesubstitutefor'quick'andtherebyavoidednamingthisstuff
quickweb."[12][13]
Cunninghamwas,inpart,inspiredbyApple'sHyperCard,whichhehadused.Hypercard,however,wassingleuser.[14]Apple
haddesignedasystemallowinguserstocreatevirtual"cardstacks"supportinglinksamongthevariouscards.Cunningham
developedVannevarBush'sideasbyallowingusersto"commentonandchangeoneanother'stext."[1][15]Cunninghamsayshis
goalsweretolinktogethertheexperiencesofmultiplepeopletocreateanewliteraturetodocumentprogrammingpatterns,and
toharnesspeople'snaturaldesiretotalkandtellstorieswithatechnologythatwouldfeelcomfortabletothosenotusedto
"authoring".[14]

WikiWikiShuttleatHonolulu
InternationalAirport

Wikipediabecamethemostfamouswikisite,enteringthetoptenmostpopularwebsitesin2007.Intheearly2000s(decade),wikiswereincreasinglyadoptedin
enterpriseascollaborativesoftware.Commonusesincludedprojectcommunication,intranets,anddocumentation,initiallyfortechnicalusers.Somecompaniesuse
wikisastheironlycollaborativesoftwareandasareplacementforstaticintranets,andsomeschoolsanduniversitiesusewikistoenhancegrouplearning.Theremay
begreateruseofwikisbehindfirewallsthanonthepublicInternet.OnMarch15,2007,thewordwikiwaslistedintheonlineOxfordEnglishDictionary.[16]

Alternativedefinitionsof"wiki"
Inthelate1990sandearly2000s,theword"wiki"wasusedtorefertobothusereditablewebsitesandthesoftwarethatpowersthemthelatterdefinitionisstill
occasionallyinuse.[2]
WikiinventorWardCunninghamwrotein2014[17]thattheword"wiki"shouldnotbeusedtorefertoasinglewebsite,butrathertoamassofusereditablepagesand
orsites,sothatasinglewebsiteisnot"awiki"but"aninstanceofwiki".Hewrotethattheconceptofwikifederation,inwhichthesamecontentcanbehostedand
editedinmorethanonelocationinamannersimilartodistributedversioncontrol,meantthattheconceptofasinglediscrete"wiki"nolongermadesense.[18]

Implementations
Wikisoftwareisatypeofcollaborativesoftwarethatrunsawikisystem,allowingwebpagestobecreatedandeditedusinga
commonwebbrowser.Itmaybeimplementedasaseriesofscriptsbehindanexistingwebserver,orasastandaloneapplication
serverthatrunsononeormorewebservers.Thecontentisstoredinafilesystem,andchangestothecontentarestoredina
relationaldatabasemanagementsystem.AcommonlyimplementedsoftwarepackageisMediaWiki,whichrunsWikipedia.See
thelistofwikisoftwareforfurtherinformation.Alternatively,personalwikisrunasastandaloneapplicationonasingle
computer.WikidPadisanexample.Oneapplication,TiddlyWiki,simplymakesuseofanevensinglelocalHTMLfilewith
JavaScriptinside.
Wikiscanalsobecreatedona"wikifarm",wheretheserversidesoftwareisimplementedbythewikifarmowner.PBwiki,
Socialtext,andWikiaarepopularexamplesofsuchservices.Somewikifarmscanalsomakeprivate,passwordprotectedwikis.
Notethatfreewikifarmsgenerallycontainadvertisingoneverypage.Formoreinformation,seeComparisonofwikifarms.

Trustandsecurity
Controllingchanges
Wikisaregenerallydesignedwiththephilosophyofmakingiteasytocorrectmistakes,ratherthanmakingitdifficulttomake
them.Thus,whilewikisareveryopen,theyprovideameanstoverifythevalidityofrecentadditionstothebodyofpages.The
mostprominent,onalmosteverywiki,isthe"RecentChanges"pageaspecificlistnumberingrecentedits,oralistofedits
madewithinagiventimeframe.[19]Somewikiscanfilterthelisttoremoveminoreditsandeditsmadebyautomaticimporting
scripts("bots").[20]
Fromthechangelog,otherfunctionsareaccessibleinmostwikis:therevisionhistoryshowspreviouspageversionsandthediff
featurehighlightsthechangesbetweentworevisions.Usingtherevisionhistory,aneditorcanviewandrestoreaprevious
versionofthearticle.Thedifffeaturecanbeusedtodecidewhetherornotthisisnecessary.Aregularwikiusercanviewthe
diffofaneditlistedonthe"RecentChanges"pageand,ifitisanunacceptableedit,consultthehistory,restoringaprevious
revisionthisprocessismoreorlessstreamlined,dependingonthewikisoftwareused.[21]

HomepageofWikipedia

Historycomparisonreportshighlight
thechangesbetweentworevisionsof
apage.

Incaseunacceptableeditsaremissedonthe"recentchanges"page,somewikienginesprovideadditionalcontentcontrol.Itcan
bemonitoredtoensurethatapage,orasetofpages,keepsitsquality.Apersonwillingtomaintainpageswillbewarnedof
modificationstothepages,allowinghimorhertoverifythevalidityofneweditionsquickly.[22]Awatchlistisacommonimplementationofthis.

Somewikisalsoimplement"patrolledrevisions",inwhicheditorswiththerequisitecredentialscanmarksomeeditsasnotvandalism.A"flaggedrevisions"system
canpreventeditsfromgoingliveuntiltheyhavebeenreviewed.[23]

Trustworthiness
Criticsofpubliclyeditablewikisystemsarguethatthesesystemscouldbeeasilytamperedwith,whileproponentsarguethatthecommunityofuserscancatch
maliciouscontentandcorrectit.[1]LarsAronsson,adatasystemsspecialist,summarizesthecontroversyasfollows:

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Mostpeople,whentheyfirstlearnaboutthewikiconcept,assumethataWebsitethatcanbeeditedbyanybodywouldsoonberendereduselessby
destructiveinput.Itsoundslikeofferingfreespraycansnexttoagreyconcretewall.Theonlylikelyoutcomewouldbeuglygraffitiandsimpletagging,
andmanyartisticeffortswouldnotbelonglived.Still,itseemstoworkverywell.[11]
Higheditorialstandardsinmedicinehaveledtotheideaofexpertmoderatedwikis.[24]Somewikisallowonetolinktospecificversionsofarticles,whichhasbeen
usefultothescientificcommunity,inthatexpertpeerreviewerscouldanalysearticles,improvethemandprovidelinkstothetrustedversionofthatarticle.[25]
Noveckpointsoutthat"participantsareaccreditedbymembersofthewikicommunity,whohaveavestedinterestinpreservingthequalityoftheworkproduct,onthe
basisoftheirongoingparticipation."Oncontroversialtopicsthathavebeensubjecttodisruptiveediting,awikimayrestricteditingtoregisteredusers.[26]

Security
Theopenphilosophyofwikiallowinganyonetoeditcontent,doesnotensurethateveryeditor'sintentionsarewellmannered.Forexample,vandalism(changing
wikicontenttosomethingoffensive,addingnonsenseordeliberatelyaddingincorrectinformation)canbeamajorproblem.Onlargerwikisites,suchasthoserunby
theWikimediaFoundation,vandalismcangounnoticedforsomeperiodoftime.Wikis,becauseoftheiropenaccessnature,aresusceptibletointentionaldisruption,
knownas"trolling".Wikistendtotakeasoftsecurity[27]approachtotheproblemofvandalism,makingdamageeasytoundoratherthanattemptingtoprevent
damage.Largerwikisoftenemploysophisticatedmethods,suchasbotsthatautomaticallyidentifyandrevertvandalismandJavaScriptenhancementsthatshow
charactersthathavebeenaddedineachedit.Inthiswayvandalismcanbelimitedtojust"minorvandalism"or"sneakyvandalism",wherethecharacters
added/eliminatedaresofewthatbotsdonotidentifythemandusersdonotpaymuchattentiontothem.[28]AnexampleofabotthatrevertsvandalismonWikipediais
ClueBotNG.ClueBotNGcanrevertedits,oftenwithinminutes,ifnotseconds.Thebotusesmachinelearninginlieuofheuristics.[29]
Theamountofvandalismawikireceivesdependsonhowopenthewikiis.Forinstance,somewikisallowunregisteredusers,identifiedbytheirIPaddresses,toedit
content,whileotherslimitthisfunctiontojustregisteredusers.Mostwikisallowanonymouseditingwithoutanaccount,[30]butgiveregisteredusersadditionalediting
functionsonmostwikis,becomingaregistereduserisashortandsimpleprocess.Somewikisrequireanadditionalwaitingperiodbeforegainingaccesstocertain
tools.Forexample,ontheEnglishWikipedia,registereduserscanrenamepagesonlyiftheiraccountisatleastfourdaysoldandhasmadeatleasttenedits.Other
wikissuchasthePortugueseWikipediauseaneditingrequirementinsteadofatimerequirement,grantingextratoolsaftertheuserhasmadeacertainnumberofedits
toprovetheirtrustworthinessandusefulnessasaneditor.VandalismofWikipediaiscommon(thoughpolicedandusuallyreverted)becauseitisextremelyopen,
allowinganyonewithacomputerandInternetaccesstoeditit,althoughthismakesitgrowrapidly.Incontrast,Citizendiumrequiresaneditor'srealnameandshort
autobiography,affectingthegrowthofthewikibutsometimeshelpingstopvandalism.
Editwarscanalsooccurasusersrepetitivelyrevertapagetotheversiontheyfavor.Somewikisoftwareallowsanadministratortostopsucheditwarsbylockinga
pagefromfurthereditinguntiladecisionhasbeenmadeonwhatversionofthepagewouldbemostappropriate.[8]
Somewikisareinabetterpositionthanotherstocontrolbehaviorduetogovernancestructuresexistingoutsidethewiki.Forinstance,acollegeteachercancreate
incentivesforstudentstobehavethemselvesonaclasswikitheyadministerbylimitingeditingtologgedinusersandpointingoutthatallcontributionscanbetraced
backtothecontributors.Badbehaviorcanthenbedealtwithinaccordancewithuniversitypolicies.[10]
Potentialmalwarevector
Malwarecanalsobeproblem,asuserscanaddlinkstositeshostingmaliciouscode.Forexample,aGermanWikipediaarticleabouttheBlasterWormwaseditedto
includeahyperlinktoamaliciouswebsite.UsersofvulnerableMicrosoftWindowssystemswhofollowedthelinkwouldbeinfected.[8]Acountermeasureistheuseof
softwarethatpreventsusersfromsavinganeditthatcontainsalinktoasitelistedonablacklistofmalwaresites.[31]

Communities
Applications
TheEnglishWikipediahasthelargestuserbaseamongwikisontheWorldWideWeb[32]andranksinthetop10amongallWeb
sitesintermsoftraffic.[33]OtherlargewikisincludetheWikiWikiWeb,MemoryAlpha,WikivoyageandSusning.nu,a
Swedishlanguageknowledgebase.MedicalandhealthrelatedwikiexamplesincludeGanfyd,anonlinecollaborativemedical
referencethatiseditedbymedicalprofessionalsandinvitednonmedicalexperts.[9]
Manywikicommunitiesareprivate,particularlywithinenterprises.Theyareoftenusedasinternaldocumentationforinhouse
systemsandapplications.Somecompaniesusewikistoallowcustomerstohelpproducesoftwaredocumentation.[34]Astudyof
corporatewikiusersfoundthattheycouldbedividedinto"synthesizers"and"adders"ofcontent.Synthesizers'frequencyof
contributionwasaffectedmorebytheirimpactonotherwikiusers,whileadders'contributionfrequencywasaffectedmoreby
beingabletoaccomplishtheirimmediatework.[35]fromastudyof1000sofwikideployments,JonathanGrudinconcluded
carefulstakeholderanalysisandeducationarecrucialtosuccessfulwikideployment.[36]

Visualizationofthecollaborative
workintheGermanwikiproject
MathefrNichtFreaks

In2005,theGartnerGroup,notingtheincreasingpopularityofwikis,estimatedthattheywouldbecomemainstreamcollaborationtoolsinatleast50%ofcompanies
by2009.[37]Wikiscanbeusedforprojectmanagement.[38][39]
Wikishavealsobeenusedintheacademiccommunityforsharinganddisseminationofinformationacrossinstitutionalandinternationalboundaries.[40]Inthose
settings,theyhavebeenfoundusefulforcollaborationongrantwriting,strategicplanning,departmentaldocumentation,andcommitteework.[41]Inthemid2000s
(decade),theincreasingtrendamongindustriestowardcollaborationwasplacingaheavierimpetusuponeducatorstomakestudentsproficientincollaborativework,
inspiringevengreaterinterestinwikisbeingusedintheclassroom.[8]
Wikishavefoundsomeusewithinthelegalprofession,andwithingovernment.ExamplesincludetheCentralIntelligenceAgency'sIntellipedia,designedtoshareand
collectintelligence,dKospedia,whichwasusedbytheAmericanCivilLibertiesUniontoassistwithreviewofdocumentspertainingtointernmentofdetaineesin
GuantnamoBay[42]andthewikioftheUnitedStatesCourtofAppealsfortheSeventhCircuit,usedtopostcourtrulesandallowpractitionerstocommentandask
questions.TheUnitedStatesPatentandTrademarkOfficeoperatesPeertoPatent,awikitoallowthepublictocollaborateonfindingpriorartrelevanttoexamination
ofpendingpatentapplications.Queens,NewYorkhasusedawikitoallowcitizenstocollaborateonthedesignandplanningofalocalpark.CornellLawSchool
foundedawikibasedlegaldictionarycalledWex,whosegrowthhasbeenhamperedbyrestrictionsonwhocanedit.[26]

Citywikis
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Acitywiki(orlocalwiki)isawikiusedasaknowledgebaseandsocialnetworkforaspecificgeographicallocale.[43][44][45]Theterm'citywiki'oritsforeign
languageequivalent(e.g.German'Stadtwiki')issometimesalsousedforwikisthatcovernotjustacity,butasmalltownoranentireregion.Acitywikicontains
informationaboutspecificinstancesofthings,ideas,peopleandplaces.MuchofthisinformationmightnotbeappropriateforencyclopediassuchasWikipedia(e.g.,
articlesoneveryretailoutletinatown),butmightbeappropriateforawikiwithmorelocalizedcontentandviewers.Acitywikicouldalsocontaininformationabout
thefollowingsubjects,thatmayormaynotbeappropriateforageneralknowledgewiki,suchas:
Detailsofpublicestablishmentssuchaspublichouses,bars,accommodationorsocialcenters
Ownername,openinghoursandstatisticsforaspecificshop
Statisticalinformationaboutaspecificroadinacity
Flavorsoficecreamservedatalocalicecreamparlor
Abiographyofalocalmayorandotherpersons

WikiNodes
WikiNodesarepagesonwikisthatdescriberelatedwikis.Theyareusuallyorganizedasneighborsanddelegates.Aneighborwikiissimplyawikithatmaydiscuss
similarcontentormayotherwisebeofinterest.Adelegatewikiisawikithatagreestohavecertaincontentdelegatedtothatwiki.[46]
OnewayoffindingawikionaspecificsubjectistofollowthewikinodenetworkfromwikitowikianotheristotakeaWiki"bustour",forexample:Wikipedia's
TourBusStop.

Participants
Thefourbasictypesofuserswhoparticipateinwikisarereader,author,wikiadministratorandsystemadministrator.Thesystemadministratorisresponsiblefor
installationandmaintenanceofthewikiengineandthecontainerwebserver.Thewikiadministratormaintainswikicontentandisprovidedadditionalfunctions
pertainingtopages(e.g.pageprotectionanddeletion),andcanadjustusers'accessrightsby,forinstance,blockingthemfromediting.[47]

Growthfactors
Astudyofseveralhundredwikisshowedthatarelativelyhighnumberofadministratorsforagivencontentsizeislikelytoreducegrowth[48]thataccesscontrols
restrictingeditingtoregistereduserstendstoreducegrowththatalackofsuchaccesscontrolstendstofuelnewuserregistrationandthathigheradministrationratios
(i.e.admins/user)havenosignificanteffectoncontentorpopulationgrowth.[49]

Conferences
Activeconferencesandmeetingsaboutwikirelatedtopicsinclude:
AtlassianSummit,anannualconferenceforusersofAtlassiansoftware,includingConfluence[50]
OpenSym(calledWikiSymuntil2014),anacademicconferencededicatedtoresearchaboutwikisandopencollaboration
SMWCon,abiannualconferenceforusersanddevelopersofSemanticMediaWiki.[51]
TikiFest,afrequentlyheldmeetingforusersanddevelopersofTikiWikiCMSGroupware.[52]
Wikimania,anannualconferencededicatedtotheresearchandpracticeofWikimediaFoundationprojectslikeWikipedia.
Formerwikirelatedeventsinclude:
RecentChangesCamp(20062012),anunconferenceonwikirelatedtopics
RegioWikiCamp(20092013),asemiannualunconferenceon"regiowikis",orwikisoncitiesandothergeographicareas.[53]

Rules
Wikistypicallyhaveasetofrulesgoverninguserbehavior.Wikipedia,forinstance,hasalabyrinthinesetofpoliciesandguidelinessummedupinitsfivepillars:
WikipediaisanencyclopediaWikipediahasaneutralpointofviewWikipediaisfreecontentWikipediansshouldinteractinarespectfulandcivilmannerand
Wikipediadoesnothavefirmrules.Manywikishaveadoptedasetofcommandments.Forinstance,Conservapediacommands,amongotherthings,thatitseditorsuse
"B.C."ratherthan"B.C.E."whenreferringtoyearspriortoA.D.1andrefrainfrom"unproductiveactivity."[54]Oneteacherinstitutedacommandmentforaclasswiki,
"Wikiuntoothersasyouwouldhavethemwikiuntoyou."[10]

Legalenvironment
Jointauthorshipofarticles,inwhichdifferentusersparticipateincorrecting,editing,andcompilingthefinishedproduct,canalsocauseeditorstobecometenantsin
commonofthecopyright,makingitimpossibletorepublishwithoutpermissionofallcoowners,someofwhoseidentitiesmaybeunknownduetopseudonymousor
anonymousediting.[8]However,wherepersonscontributetoacollectiveworksuchasanencyclopedia,thereisnojointownershipifthecontributionsareseparateand
distinguishable.[55]Despitemostwikis'trackingofindividualcontributions,theactionofcontributingtoawikipageisstillarguablyoneofjointlycorrecting,editing,
orcompiling,whichwouldgiverisetojointownership.
Somecopyrightissuescanbealleviatedthroughtheuseofanopencontentlicense.Version2oftheGNUFreeDocumentationLicenseincludesaspecificprovisionfor
wikirelicensingCreativeCommonslicensesarealsopopular.Whennolicenseisspecified,animpliedlicensetoreadandaddcontenttoawikimaybedeemedto
existonthegroundsofbusinessnecessityandtheinherentnatureofawiki,althoughthelegalbasisforsuchanimpliedlicensemaynotexistinallcircumstances.
Wikisandtheiruserscanbeheldliableforcertainactivitiesthatoccuronthewiki.Ifawikiownerdisplaysindifferenceandforgoescontrols(suchasbanning
copyrightinfringers)thathecouldhaveexercisedtostopcopyrightinfringement,hemaybedeemedtohaveauthorizedinfringement,especiallyifthewikiisprimarily
usedtoinfringecopyrightsorobtainsdirectfinancialbenefit,suchasadvertisingrevenue,frominfringingactivities.[8]IntheUnitedStates,wikismaybenefitfrom
Section230oftheCommunicationsDecencyAct,whichprotectssitesthatengagein"GoodSamaritan"policingofharmfulmaterial,withnorequirementonthe
qualityorquantityofsuchselfpolicing.[56]However,ithasalsobeenarguedthatawiki'senforcementofcertainrules,suchasantibias,verifiability,reliablesourcing,
andnooriginalresearchpolicies,couldposelegalrisks.[57]Whendefamationoccursonawiki,theoreticallyallusersofthewikicanbeheldliable,becauseanyof
themhadtheabilitytoremoveoramendthedefamatorymaterialfromthe"publication."Itremainstobeseenwhetherwikiswillberegardedasmoreakintoan
internetserviceprovider,whichisgenerallynotheldliableduetoitslackofcontroloverpublications'contents,thanapublisher.[8]
Ithasbeenrecommendedthattrademarkownersmonitorwhatinformationispresentedabouttheirtrademarksonwikis,sincecourtsmayusesuchcontentasevidence
pertainingtopublicperceptions.JoshuaJarvisnotes,"Oncemisinformationisidentified,thetrademarkownercansimplyedittheentry."[58]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

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Wiki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seealso
Comparisonofwikisoftware
Contentmanagementsystem
CURIE
Dispersedknowledge
Listofwikis
Masscollaboration

Masscollaboration
UniversalEditButton
Wikisandeducation

Notes
1.TherealizationoftheHawaiian/w/phonemevariesbetween[w]and[v],andtherealizationofthe/k/phonemevariesbetween[k]and[t],amongotherrealizations.Thus,the
pronunciationoftheHawaiianwordwikivariesbetween['wiki],['witi],['viki],and['viti].SeeHawaiianphonologyformoredetails.

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Furtherreading
Ebersbach,Anja(2008),Wiki:WebCollaboration,SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,ISBN3540351507
Leuf,BoCunningham,Ward(April13,2001),TheWikiWay:QuickCollaborationontheWeb,AddisonWesley,ISBN020171499X
Mader,Stewart(December10,2007),Wikipatterns,JohnWiley&Sons,ISBN0470223626
Tapscott,Don(April17,2008),Wikinomics:HowMassCollaborationChangesEverything,PortfolioHardcover,ISBN1591841933

Externallinks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

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Wiki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiki(https://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Groupware/Wiki/)atDMOZ
ExploringwithWiki(http://www.artima.com/intv/wiki.html),aninterviewwithWardCunninghambyBillVerners
WikiIndexandWikiApiary(https://wikiapiary.com),directoriesofwikis
WikiMatrix(http://www.wikimatrix.org/),awebsiteforcomparingwikisoftwareandhosts
WikiPapers(http://wikipapers.referata.com/wiki/Main_Page),awikiaboutpublicationsaboutwikis
WikiTeam(https://github.com/WikiTeam/wikiteam),avolunteergrouptopreservewikis
Murphy,Paula(April2006).TopsyturvyWorldofWiki(https://web.archive.org/web/20110709101821/http://www.ucop.edu/tltc/news/2006/04/wiki.html).
UniversityofCalifornia.
WardCunningham'scorrespondencewithetymologists(http://c2.com/doc/etymology.html)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wiki&oldid=736765850"
Categories: Wikis Hawaiianwordsandphrases Hypertext Selforganization Socialinformationprocessing
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon29August2016,at18:13.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

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