Wiki software (also known as a wiki engine or wiki application) is collaborative software that runs a wiki i.e. a website that allows users to create and collaboratively edit web pages using a web browser. A wiki system is usually a web application that runs on one or more web servers. The content including all current and previous revisions is usually stored in either a file system or a database.

The first wiki application WikiWikiWeb was created by Ward Cunningham in 1994 and launched on c2.com in 1995.1

Some wiki software e.g. MediaWiki stores data in a database. Other wiki software e.g. PMWiki stores data in flat files. The former is more scalable.citation needed

Some factors deemed important to the decision of which wiki software to use in academic settings include cost complexity control clarity common technical framework and features. The fact that most wiki software lacks tools such as an equation editor instant messaging link checking and virtual whiteboard has been described as a limitation in their usefulness for academic work.2 Contents 1 Overview 2 Hybrid wiki software 3 Types 3.1 Semantic wikis 3.2 Enterprise wikis 3.3 Application wikis 3.4 Personal wikis 3.5 Mobile wikis 4 Offline viewing and editing wiki 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Overview

The primary difference among wikis and more complex types of content management systems (CMSes) is that wikis tend to focus on the content at the expense of the more powerful control over layout workflow and publishing technologies such as blogs present in other CMSes.

The majority of wikis are free and open source software developed collaboratively. Many wikis are modular providing application programming interfaces which allow programmers to develop new features without requiring them to be familiar with the codebase.

It is hard to determine which wiki applications are the most popular although a list of lead candidates includes Foswiki MoinMoin Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware XWiki DokuWiki and MediaWiki.3 TWiki Traction TeamPage and Atlassian Confluence are popular on intranets. Hybrid wiki software

Due to the popularity of wikis as well as the growth in complexity of wiki software many applications exist that provide wiki functionality in addition to other standard web functionality. Many applications allow for creating blogs and discussion forums either in addition to wiki pages or using wiki pages. A website that lets users publish blogs using wiki-style editing is known as a bliki. Some applications provide content management system functionality also either in addition to using wiki functionality: Tiki is an example. In addition applications exist that let users edit a spreadsheet in wiki style: WikiCalc is one example. Types Semantic wikis

Semantic wikis allow for storing data within wiki pages in a way that can be queried elsewhere both in other wiki pages and externally. Freebase and Semantic MediaWiki are two examples. Enterprise wikis Enterprise wiki software is software meant to be used internally by corporations with a greater emphasis on features like access control and integration with other software. Examples of proprietary wiki applications that gear themselves specifically to corporate users are SMW+ Confluence and Socialtext. Application wikis An application wiki is an enhanced wiki that gives users the option to do lightweight end-user programming within the wiki and with ease.4 Personal wikis Desktop wikis or personal wikis are not intended for collaborative work but for personal information organizing or content management. Mobile wikis Mobile wiki software is an extension of web-based wikis optimized for mobile devices especially mobile phones. This is done by providing a version of the web site with conservative HTML coding optimized for the limited function browsers on devices like the BlackBerry5 or iPhone.6 Offline viewing and editing wiki Various approaches to providing wiki functionality when the user is not online have been tried. For users who need to simply read the wiki's content when offline a copy of the content can often be made easily; in the case of Wikipedia CD-ROMs and even printed versions have been made of parts of Wikipedia's content. Allowing offline editing however (where the changes are synchronized when the user is back online) is a much more difficult process. One approach to doing this is using a distributed revision control system as a backend of the wiki e.g. ikiwiki. See also List of wiki software Comparison of wiki software List of collaborative software Wiki farm List of wikis References The Wiki Way. Quick collaboration on the Web Addison-Wesley (April 2001) ISBN 020171499X L Schwartz S Clark M Cossarin J Rudolph (2004) Educational Wikis: features and selection criteria The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/163/244  http://www.google.com/insights/search/#qDokuWiki%2C%20MediaWiki%2C%20MindTouch%20Deki%2C%20PhpWiki%2C%20TikiWiki&cmptq C Anslow D Riehle (2007) Lightweight End-User Programming with Wikis SAP Research http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/downloaddoi10.1.1.131.2458&reprep1&typepdf  Socialtext Optimizes Wiki for Mobile Users CIO Magazine April 5 2006 retrieved 2008-09-20 W2: a little iPhone wiki tuaw July 15 2007 retrieved 2008-09-20 External links The Wikibook Wiki Science has a page on the topic of How to start a Wiki WikiMatrix: Comparing Multiple Wiki Engines Side-by-Side Comparison of different wiki software (Article November 2004) Comparison of wiki farms at Wikiversity How to choose a Wiki on WardsWiki Extensive list of wiki software on WardsWiki v d eWikis Types Personal  Bliki  Semantic  Enterprise  Peer-to-peer  Mobile  Wiki farm Components Software  Wikitext  Interwiki links Lists Wikis  Software  markups and parsers Comparisons Software  Wiki farms See also History of wikis  Creole v d eWiki software (comparison) .NET Blogtronix  FlexWiki  MindTouch Deki (backend)  ScrewTurn Wiki  ThoughtFarmer Haskell Gitit Java Confluence  JAMWiki  Jive SBS  JSPWiki  Qontext  Traction TeamPage  XWiki JavaScript Client-side: TiddlyWiki Lisp CLiki (Common Lisp)  Svnwiki (Scheme) Perl ikiwiki  Foswiki  MojoMojo  Oddmuse  Socialtext  TWiki  UseModWiki  WikiBase PHP DokuWiki  MediaWiki  MindTouch Deki (frontend)  PhpWiki  PmWiki  PukiWiki  Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware   WackoWiki  WikkaWiki Python MoinMoin  Trac  Zwiki Ruby on Rails Instiki  Pimki  Redmine  Wagn v d eWebsite management Concepts Overselling  Web document  Web content  Web content lifecycle  Web hosting service  Web server  Webmaster  Website governance Web hosting control panels Comparison of control panels  cPanel  DirectAdmin  Domain Technologie Control  H-Sphere  GNUPanel  SysCP  Froxlor  InterWorx  ISPConfig  ispCP  Kloxo  Plesk  Usermin  Webmin Domain name managers and registrars Afilias  AusRegistry  CZ.NIC  CIRA  CNNIC  DENIC  DNS Belgium  Domainz   ENom  Go Daddy  Melbourne IT  Museum Domain Management Association  Name.com  Network Solutions  NeuStar  OLM.net  Register.com  Tucows  Web.com Web content management system Conference management system  Document management system  Wiki software  Blog software