| A wiki (IPA: [ˈwi¢°.ki¢°] <wee-kee> or [ˈwɪ.ki¢°] <wick-ey>[1]) is a type of website that allows anyone visiting the site to add, remove, or otherwise edit all 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 from the native language of Hawaii (Hawaiian), where it is commonly used as an adjective to denote something "quick" or "fast" (Hawaiian dictionary). |
| The term Wiki can also refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a website (see wiki software). |
| In essence, a wiki is nothing more than a simplified system of creating HTML web pages, combined with a system which records and catalogues all revisions, so that at any time, an entry can be reverted to a previous state. A wiki system may also include various tools, designed to provide users with an easy way to monitor the constantly changing state of the wiki as well as a place to discuss and resolve the many inevitable issues, namely, the inherent disagreement over wiki content. Wiki content can also be misleading, as users are bound to add incorrect information to the wiki page. |
