The famous Wikipedia encyclopedia is based on the wiki format.
Wiki is a concept that is used in the Internet field to refer to web pages whose contents can be edited by multiple users through any browser . These pages, therefore, are developed from the collaboration of Internet users, who can add, modify or delete information.
The term wiki comes from the Hawaiian wiki wiki , meaning "fast" , and was proposed by Ward Cunningham . The notion became popular with the rise of Wikipedia , a free and open encyclopedia that has become one of the most visited sites on the Web .
Features of the wiki format
The wiki format is very useful for the dissemination of knowledge and teamwork. It is common for wikis to include a history of changes : this way it is possible to return to a previous state (in case the modifications made are not correct) and corroborate who made each change to the information.
One of the great advantages of a wiki is the ease of creating pages instantly, without having to worry about the design and other issues related to aesthetics and the organization of information. Many wikis create hyperlinks and pages automatically when the user types a word or phrase in a certain way (in capital letters and without space, between two square brackets, etc.).
The different ways to display a wiki for editing include source code (plain text), HTML (rendered from the source code), and template (which establishes how common elements are arranged across all pages). .
A wiki is developed collaboratively, with the contribution of multiple users.
Main advantages
* They are very useful as they give their users the ability to create and optimize pages instantly, giving them a lot of flexibility and freedom. Thanks to this, they have become a very popular format , which benefits from the infinite contributions of the community;
* It is expected that the content of the wikis is current, although this depends on several factors, such as the popularity of the subject they cover;
* they make reviewing the work before publication very simple;
* in a student environment, they encourage students by combining learning with the use of technology, and motivate them to work in groups;
* since several authors can collaborate in writing the same article, wikis put the content in the foreground, leaving less room for divisiveness ;
* It is a platform that is simple to use, but powerful enough to redefine the way in which knowledge is studied and shared;
* depending on the project, they are inexpensive to create and maintain;
* offer the possibility of writing each article in different languages. Once published, users from all over the world can easily access the version of their interest, since each one can display links to the rest.
Disadvantages of a wiki
* given that this is a service available free of charge to any Internet user, giving them the possibility of creating and modifying the information as they wish, the veracity of the articles is affected. However, despite the constant acts of vandalism to sites like Wikipedia, there are various control techniques, a task in which the community can also get involved;
* many times, the content infringes the rights of another author (for example, quoting verbatim phrases without permission);
* multiple authorship leads to differences in literary style , in the focus of the text (which may be related to cultural issues) and in the quality of the writing: it is common to find articles that consist of well-written paragraphs combined with authentic spelling and grammatical nightmares .