The Name[]
A Wiki or wiki (pronounced [wɪkiː], [wiːkiː] or [viːkiː]) is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. "Wiki" also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website (see Wiki software). The name was based on the Hawaiian term wiki wiki, meaning "quick" or "super-fast". At Honolulu Airport, the inter-terminal coaches are called the Wiki Wiki Bus for this reason. Sometimes wikiwiki or WikiWiki are used instead of wiki. (Wiki (with an upper case 'W') and WikiWikiWeb are both used to refer specifically to the Portland Pattern Repository, the first-ever wiki. This usage's proponents suggest a lower-case 'w' for wikis in general.)
Functionality[]
A wiki enables documents to be written collectively in a simple markup language using a web browser. A single page in a wiki is referred to as a "wiki page", while the entire body of pages, which are usually highly interconnected via hyperlinks, is called "the wiki." A defining characteristic of wiki technology is the ease with which pages can be created and updated. Generally, there is no review before modifications are accepted, and most wikis are open to the general public—or at least anyone who has access to the wiki server. In fact, even registration of a user account is not always required.
Collaboration[]
Wikis enable a new form of organised collective action sometimes refered to as mass collaboration or large-scale collaboration. Through the act of coauthoring a single document within a wiki (often one of many), collaborators develop a shared understanding of the content to which they are contributing. This process taking place on many pages gives the wiki its power in that not only are shared understandings and shared meanings developed between the users of the wiki, but considerable knowledge repositories can be created and developed.
(For more information see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)