Wikis

**__//WHAT IS A WIKI??? //__**

 **__//WIKI 1 : DEFINITION//__**

Wiki is in Ward's original description:     //The simplest online database that could possibly work.// Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly. Wiki is unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself. Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users. http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki  



WIKI 2: DEFINITION:

 A wiki is a website where users can add, remove, and edit every page using a web browser. It's so terrifically easy for people to jump in and revise pages that wikis are becoming known as the tool of choice for large, multiple-participant projects.  http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2006/07/07/what-is-a-wiki. 



WIKI 3 DEFINITION:  A Wiki is a Content Management System: <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #f038c8; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">To understand a wiki, you must understand the idea of a content management system. As complicated as the name might sound, content management systems, sometimes referred to by their initials (CMS), are really quite a simple concept. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Imagine you are the editor of a newspaper and it is your duty to get the newspaper out the door every day. Now, each day, the articles in the newspaper are going to change. One day, a mayor might be elected, the next day, a high school football team wins the state championship, and the next day, a fire destroys two buildings downtown. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">So, every day you have to put new content into the newspaper. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">However, much of the newspaper also stays the same. The name of the newspaper, for example. And, while the date might change, it is going to be the same date on every page for that issue of the newspaper. Even the formats remain the same, with some pages having two columns and other pages having three columns. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Now, imagine if you had to type in the name of the newspaper on every page each day. And you had to type in the date under it. And you had to manually configure those columns. As an editor, you might find yourself with so much work that you don't have time to actually put the good stuff -- the articles -- into the newspaper because you are too busy typing in the name of the newspaper over and over again. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">So, instead, you buy a software program that will let you create a template for the newspaper. This template puts the name at the top of the page, and lets you type in the date a single time and then copies it to each page. It will keep track of page numbers for you, and will even help you format the pages into two columns or three columns with a click of a button. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">That is a content management system. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">The web works the same way. If you notice, most websites are similar to your newspaper. The name of the website and the menu for navigating through it tend to stay the same while the actual content changes from page to page. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Most websites are designed through a content management system that allows the creator to quickly and easily provide content to the user much in the same way that the editor can quickly pull new articles into the newspaper without having to design every single aspect of it by hand each time. <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; color: #ed3bae; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">The simplest of content management systems on the web is the blog. It is about as straight-forward as you can get, which is one of the main reasons why blogs are so popular. You simply type in what you want to say, give it a title, and click publish. The content management system will then stamp a date on it and put it on the main page. <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">http://webtrends.about.com/od/wiki/a/what_is_a_wiki.htm <span style="display: block; font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 80%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> <span style="color: #ffbb00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">

WIKI 4: DEFINITION:

The name comes from the Hawaiian word for "quick," and the term is generally attributed to Ward Cunningham, who, in 1995 set out to create "the simplest database that would work." Devoted to the search for useful and reusable patterns in software development, Cunningham's WikiWikiWeb still remains today a benchmark in wiki development. However, the characteristic that has most strikingly set wikis apart from other web based forums and discussions is that of multiple contributors. Unlike a blog, for example, which has one main identifiable author, a wiki web page may be authored and edited by a number of people. Not only may an individual contributor edit their own work, but also the work of others. Some speak of wiki pages in their purest form as never being finished and always in the process of being edited and expanded.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/wikis/index.htm