The first wiki software was designed in 1995 as an open, collaborative community website. A wiki is a software that facilitates collaborative writing of a website dedicated to sharing information on a topic of interest for a community. Wikipedia is by far the most famous example, but the web is scattered with tens of thousands of large and small wikis.
What Makes Wikis Great?
- Wikis Simplify Website Editing: Each wiki page provides an Edit link. To make changes, simply click the link, and the wiki will present a user-friendly editing screen. Once you've made your modifications, submit them with a click, and voila! Your changes are reflected on the website.
- Wikis Use Simple Markup: Even for tech-savvy individuals, dealing with HTML and formatting can hinder clear writing. Wikis tackle this issue by handling HTML for you; you only need to grasp a few straightforward markup rules. These rules are designed to make wiki markup easily understandable for all users. Using Markdown is really the easiest and fastest way to create simple web pages. However, if you prefer to move in a more familiar enviroment a visual editor is available too on AI4AL Wiki.
- Wikis Keep Track of Document Versions (History): Don't fret if you make a mistake. A reliable wiki stores numerous past versions of your pages, allowing you to revert to an earlier iteration. In fact, many wikis display a comparison, revealing the specific changes made to your page over time.
- Creating Links is Effortless with Wikis: Wikis store all your website content in an internal hypertext database. The wiki is aware of every page and link you create. With a wiki, you don't need to worry about file locations or tag formats. Simply name the page, and the wiki will automatically generate a link for you.
- Creating New Pages is Easy with Wikis: Wikis enable you to link to non-existent pages. Click on a link pointing to a page that hasn't been created, and the wiki will prompt you to provide initial content for the page. Once you submit the initial content, the wiki will create the page, and all links to it will direct to the newly created page.