Wiki content

Collaborative wiki contents

See also the wiki entry.

My considerations are based on Wikipedia definition: A wiki is any website based on any kind of Wiki software which enables users to add to, edit and delete from the site's content quickly. (Wikipedia).

According to this definition, a wiki is a database that allows people to create, edit or search for web pages by means of a browser. Every user can create his/her own documents and change or re-edit the pages of the others. For this reason, a wiki is considered to be a tool for collaborative writing.

This type of writing refers to projects created by many people together, sharing their abilities and correcting each other's knowledge. In some wikis work might be overseen by an editor, but this depends on the structure and purpose of the wiki. If you want to obtain the maximum result from collaboration, a team's efforts must be geared towards a common aim which has to be manifest for everyone.

Editing scheme

All the editing operations can be done easily because of the support given by wiki software and the quickness of the technology itself.

Quickness and collaborative possibilities might be summed up in the word wiki, a shorter form of "wiki wiki" which means "fast" in the Hawaiian language but also refers to the acronym “What I Know Is”.

One important feature of wikis is that users do not need to know HTML language in order to write their articles because all their comments will be automatically translated by the software. Many public wikis allow users to write without preliminary registration. This can be due do to the fact that the first rule of wikis concerns the good faith required for all users. This is not the case of private wikis in which the registration is compulsory, sometimes even to read pages: the measure has been taken to avoid vandalism related to a wrong use of the system and concerning the large number of misleading information given intentionally or the damages caused to the whole wiki.

Wiki etiquette

Even if wikis follow up the specific philosophy of freedom in writing, the users should comply with an etiquette which is called . “Wikiquette”. This does not contain strict instructions but suggestions in order to facilitate civil collaboration and grant respect for different points of view.