Wiki software is a type of collaborative software that runs a Wiki system. It is usually implemented as a server-side script that runs on one or more web servers, with the content generally stored in a relational database management system, although some implementations use the server's file system instead. Collaborative software, also known as groupware, is application software that integrates work on a single project by several concurrent users at separated workstations (see also Computer supported cooperative work). ... A Wiki or wiki (pronounced , or ; see Pronunciation below) is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. ... The term web server can mean one of two things: a computer responsible for serving web pages, mostly HTML documents, via the HTTP protocol to clients, mostly web browsers; a software program that is working as a daemon serving web documents. ... A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a database management system (DBMS) that is based on the relational model as introduced by Edgar F. Codd. ... In computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. ...

The first such software was created by Ward Cunningham in 1995, but given the relative simplicity of the wiki concept, a large number of implementations now exist, ranging from very simple "hacks" implementing only core functionality to highly sophisticated content management systems. The primary difference between wikis and more complex types of content management systems is that wiki software tends to focus on the content, at the expense of the more powerful control over layout seen in CMS's like Drupal and WebGUI. Ward Cunningham in a good mood! Ward Cunningham (born May 26, 1949) is a computer programmer and the inventor of the WikiWiki concept. ... A hack in progress in Lobby 7 at MIT. Hack is a term in the slang of the technology culture which has come into existence over the past few decades. ... A content management system (often shortened to CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate collaborative content creation. ... Drupal is a PHP-based content management framework, content management system and blogging engine which was originally written by Dries Buytaert and is the software used to power Debian Planet [1], Terminus1525 [2], Spread Firefox [3] and Kernel Trap [4]. Drupal is the English spelling for the Dutch word druppel... WebGUI is an open source content management system written in Perl and released under the General Public License. ...

"Wiki software" could be interpreted as comprising all of the software required to run a wiki, which might include a web server such as Apache, in addition to the "Wiki engine" itself, which implements the wiki technology. In some cases, such as ProjectForum, EddiesWiki or some WikiServers, the web server and wiki engine are bundled together as one self-contained system, which can often make them easier to install. The term web server can mean one of two things: a computer responsible for serving web pages, mostly HTML documents, via the HTTP protocol to clients, mostly web browsers; a software program that is working as a daemon serving web documents. ... Apache HTTP Server is an open source HTTP web server for Unix-like systems (BSD, Linux, and UNIX systems), Microsoft Windows, and other platforms. ... ProjectForum is a commercial Wiki offering a mix of power and ease-of-use. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... WikiServer is a WikiEngine that is completely self-contained - it includes its own HTTP server, and so does not require CGI support, Perl, or even a separate Web server such as Apache or IIS. As such, it is one of the easiest ways to install and run a wiki; even...

The majority of wiki engines are open source, often available under the GNU General Public License (GPL); large projects such as TWiki and the Wikipedia engine, MediaWiki, are developed collaboratively. Many wikis are highly modular, providing APIs which allow programmers to develop new features without requiring them to be familiar with the entire codebase. Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ... The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project (a project to create a complete free software operating system). ... TWiki is a WikiWiki. ... MediaWiki is a Wiki software package licensed under the GNU General Public License. ... API with 3 clients, using the Unified Modeling Language notation An application programming interface (API) is a set of definitions of the ways one piece of computer software communicates with another. ...

It is hard to determine which wiki engines are the most popular, although a list of leading candidates might include UseMod, TWiki, MoinMoin, PmWiki and MediaWiki. A list of some of those available is included below, and another can be found at. Wiki:WikiEngines. UseModWiki is wiki software written by Clifford Adams in the Perl programming language. ... TWiki is a WikiWiki. ... MoinMoin is a wiki engine implemented in Python. ... PmWiki is free wiki software written by Patrick Michaud in the PHP programming language. ... MediaWiki is a Wiki software package licensed under the GNU General Public License. ...

How to choose a wiki engine

When choosing a wiki engine, criteria to consider might include:

• Who is developing it? A single person or a growing team?
• Under what license is it distributed?
• Who is using it? A good wiki engine is likely to have a large group of existing users, and this is helpful if you need support running it.
• Features for editors: easy to write (and powerful) formatting rules, WYSIWYG capabilities, sectional editing, easy to roll back to earlier versions, file upload, insert image, able to write complex formulae etc.
• Features for readers: table of contents, search, navigation bar, access statistics, article rating, high quality printable version.
• User management: user personal page, personalized toolbar and preferences.
• Groupware features: forum, gallery, message system.
• Access controls: This is important for company intranet with security consideration.
• Be able to import external files (HTML, Word document), export to external files (Word document, PDF)
• Customizable interface: Including main page, topbar, bottombar, sidebar; skins.
• Multilingual support.
• Extensibility: What third-party plugins exist, and what mechanisms are there for creating them.
• Portability: Are you locked into a particular package or wikitext format? Is it possible to export your text to other systems?
• Scalability: Is it suitable for large amount of pages or is it just light-weight wiki software? Most scalable wiki software need a back end database to store pages.

WYSIWYG (pronounced wizzy-wig or wuzzy-wig) is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, and is used in computing to describe a seamlessness between the appearance of edited content and final product. ... In computing, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages and other information viewable in a browser. ... Microsoft Word is a word processor program from Microsoft. ... Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. ... In computing, skins and themes are custom graphical appearances (GUIs) that can be applied to certain software and websites in order to suit the different tastes of different users. ... Extensibility is a system design principle where the current implementation takes into consideration future growth. ... In computer science, porting is the adaptation of a piece of software so that it will function in a different computing environment to that for which it was originally written. ... Wikitext or wiki markup is a markup language that offers a simplified alternative to HTML and is used to write pages in wiki websites. ... In telecommunications and software engineering, scalability indicates the capability of a system to increase performance under an increased load when resources (typically hardware) are added. ...

See also

• List of wiki software
• Comparison of wiki software

This is a list of wiki software applications. ... The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of wiki software. ...

External links

• Wiki engines (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines)
• How to start a Wiki (http://wikibooks.org/wiki/Wiki_science_HowToStartAWiki) (on Wikibooks)
• How to choose a Wiki (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ChoosingaWiki)
• Top ten wiki engines (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TopTenWikiEngines)
• Comparison of different Wiki software (http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/11/04/which_wiki.html)
• Wikitext Standard (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikitext_standard) Meta discussion on a proposed standard wikitext format
• Wiki Review (http://www.spack.org/wiki/WikiReview)