What is a wiki?
A wiki is, in essence, an editable website designed to make the mechanics of sharing knowledge secondary to the actual dissemination of knowledge. Consider the internet as a whole: each site a different format and each resource governed by different people. Plus, the flashier websites require many man-hours to be implemented. Now consider Wikipedia or any of the other wikis you may have used: formatting and citation guidelines are enforced and editing a page is as easy as clicking the “edit” button and typing text. It takes about as much time to create a webpage as it takes to determine exactly what you want to say. For a large, multi-user project such as Dahliapedia and countless others on the internet, the wiki format is ideal.
The simplest online database that could possibly work. –Ward Cunningham Different people have different ideas about what a wiki really is, but whatever angle you look at it, a wiki is software that handles complex problems with simple solutions. Cunningham and Bo Leuf designed WikiWikiWeb, the first wiki in 1995, to be an open, collaborative community Website where anyone can contribute. Since then, programmers have created many wiki-inspired programs and wiki Websites. Most of these stay true to the goal of simplicity. Wikis can be used for a large variety of tasks, from personal note-taking to collaborating online, creating an internal knowledge base, assembling an online community, and managing a traditional website. The possibilities might make wikis seem like a daunting system, but commitment to simplicity makes wiki tools a breeze.
