  WIKI WIKI is not a form of wicker furniture found at Ikea,  it has nothing to do with outdoors Hawaiian barbecues,  and it is not that threatening dance the New Zealand Rugby team does at the beginning of their games.  To discover exactly what this term is,  read below and be fascinated.  Definition provided by Shannon Brown.
 What is wiki?  The idea of Wiki,  as explained by the wiki. org site,  is deceptively simple:  “
Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser.  1 Of course,  “ wiki”  has come to refer to much more than this server software— it has become identified with the activity this server software makes possible.
 Ward Cunningham created and christened the first “ wiki”  in 1995,  naming it “ wiki- wiki,
 which means “ super fast”  in Hawaiian,  in order to avoid the blander “ quick- web.
 2 The wiki was created so that anyone,  regardless of his or her previous experience with computer languages,  could contribute to the web publishing community.  More importantly,  though,  the wiki software and wikis themselves were created to be used by everyone,
 all together,  as described in the entry for wiki in the Wikipedia:  “ AWikiWikiWeb enables documents to be authored collectively in a simple markup language using a web browser .  Because most wikis are web- based,
 the term 'wiki' is usually sufficient.  A single page in a wiki is referred to as a 'wiki page, ' while the entire body of pages,  which are usually highly interconnected,  is called 'the wiki. '”
 3 So,  a wiki page,  in theory at least,  has no single author.  Anyone can contribute,  everyone on equal footing.
 The word usage distinction between single pages ( wiki pages)  and an entire group of pages ( the wiki)  is significant:  the software is designed to support an entire body of interconnected pages,
 of which individual pages are only parts.  What makes wiki different?  Probably the most unique aspect of wiki,  however,  is its emphasis on collective authorship.  Although several web-
publishing methods offer interconnected communities of easy- to- author pages of content,  only the wiki opens up the authoring privilege for every page to every visitor.  The ISP Webopedia notes wiki’ s crucial difference from blogs in this respect:
 “ Similar to a blog in structure and logic,  a wiki allows anyone to edit,  delete or modify content that has been placed on the Web site using a browser interface,  including the work of previous authors.  In contrast,
 a blog,  typically authored by an individual,  does not allow visitors to change the original posted material,  only add comments to the original content.  4 Likewise,  although the wiki’
s approach to community ownership might appear to make it a kind of message board,  the epowiki site,  in a page with text attributed to Randy Karamer,  explains the differences between the two publishing methods:  “ Compared to a plain vanilla message board,
 a Wiki's advantage is in DocumentMode.  In a message board,  somebody writes,  somebody answers,  somebody else answers,  somebody asks a follow up question,
 .  You end up with a whole lot of messages but not an integrated story.  On a wiki,  somebody can start a wiki page by asking a question.  Someone can come along and edit that page to answer the question.  Somebody else can come along and edit the answer to cover an additional point,
 or clarify a point,  or whatever.  If somebody edits the page by adding a follow- up question,  it can be left on that page and then answered.  Maybe it makes more sense to move it to its own page.
 5 Comparing a wiki to a physical message board reveals how radical the wiki’ s approach to authorship really is.  Imagine that each person who wants to can not only add new messages to the board,  he or she can edit,  reorganize,  even merge and delete messages that are already there.
 Of course,  since anyone can edit,  reorganize,  merge,  or delete wiki pages,  a wiki is vulnerable to the whims of users with less-
than- honorable intents.  Vandals can lay waste to months of collaborative work in a matter of hours.  Ward Cunningham,  the creator of the first wiki,  describes this as the wiki’
s inherent “ fragility.  6 The wiki,  however,  can fight back,  as The Humaine Portal (
itself a wiki)  explains:  “ Vandalism is prevented through an uneditable document history -  if anyone vandalizes the current version of a document,  it is easy to restore a previous version and ban that user.
 7 This unalterable change history,  since it is normally accessible to any visitor,  allows law- abiding contributors to a wiki to police their community.  Violators can be permanently exiled for their transgressions.  Open,
 semi- open,  private Naturally,  not all wikis are the same.  While there are many large wikis that still hold to the original wiki precepts of collective,  egalitarian authorship,
 other communities have leveraged the wiki idea without completely agreeing to the wiki ideals.  The Humaine Portal explains a fundamental difference in wiki culture:  “ At the core of the wiki principle is the idea that the obstacle for contributing to a document should be lowered.  In open wikis,  anyone can edit a web page.
 In semi- open wikis,  as the HUMAINE know- how melting pot,  users must register before they can contribute.  8 The Wikipedia is perhaps the largest open wiki in existence,
 with nearly 300, 000 articles/ entries.  9 On the other end of the spectrum is a category the above quote from the The Humaine Portal wiki ignores:  the private wiki,  housed on private servers.
 Obviously,  since all that’ s needed to start a wiki is a server,  a piece of database server software,  and a network of users,  the wiki technology holds promise for many different collaborative teams,
 not just the public at large.  Several companies are already offering their wiki services to private groups or individuals,  including Altassian and Project Forum among many,  many others.  Sources 1 “ What is Wiki?
 wiki. org,  2004.  2 “ Wiki History,  Portland Pattern Repository Wiki,
 2004.  3 “ Wiki,  Wikipedia,  the Free Encyclopedia,  2004.
 4 “ Wiki,  ISP Webopedia,  2004.  5 “ What is wiki,
 epowiki,  2004.  6 Rupley,  Sebastian.  “ What’
s a Wiki?  PC Magazine ( May 9,  2003)  Available online at pcmag. com.
 7 “ What is wiki,  The Humaine Portal,  2004.  8 Ibid.  9 “
Main page,  Wikipedia,  the Free Encyclopedia,  2004.  ( as viewed on June 30,
 2004)
