Wiki

13 July 2005

A Wiki is a Internet based system that allows users to add content, but also change the existing entries. Through this websites are created around a community spirit with direct input from members of the Internet community.
The open edit philosophy means that if you disagree with something that is written, or believe you can change it to make it better then you can just go ahead and update the entry. Then if someone believes they can improve on what you'd created then they can go in and edit your comments. Whilst this may sound like anarchy in the making, in many cases it has been shown to work really well.
It's quite a hard concept to explain so the best way is to take a look at some of the existing wikis on the Internet.

www.wikipedia.org - Probably the most used of the wiki websites is the wikipedia. This is a encyclopaedia based upon entries added by the Internet community. Many languages are catered for, but the largest number of entries are in English. You can of course find more information on wikis themself by searching for wiki in wikipedia.
www.wikinews.org - A wiki news website

I'm looking at implementing a wiki for a group of friends. Generally a wiki runs on a webserver using PHP and a database such as MySQL. My server will run Mandrake Linux, with PHP and MySQL and most likely MediaWiki which is an open source project. MediaWiki is the same engine that is used for Wikipedia and other sites.

I will post more information as it progresses.