What does Wiki mean? Where did Wikis come from, whats the story behind it? Is there more than just Wikipedia? Find out a bit more about what Wikis are, and join the knowledge revolution!

1. A Brief History of
Wikis!

2. Titlewi·ki
/ˈwikē/
Noun
A Web site developed collaboratively by a community of users,
allowing any user to add and edit content.

3. Title
But “wiki” actually means “quick” or “fast” in Hawaiian.
How did this word become so ubiquitous for collaborative
editing?

4. TitleIn 1995, Ward Cunningham created a site to facilitate quick
communication between software developers.
When searching for a name, he remembered the wiki wiki
shuttle at the Honolulu Airport… so the site was named
WikiWikiWeb and the story of Wikis began!

5. TitleBefore the Internet was available, there were those who
envisioned similar collaborative systems, such as:
• Vannevar Bush’s “Memex” - 1945
• The collaborative hypertext database ZOG -1972
• Apple hypertext system HyperCard - 1987

6. TitleThe WikiWikiWeb was an instant hit, quickly growing into a
dynamic community of programmers embracing the “wiki
culture”, contributing ideas and suggesting software
improvements.
From 1995 to 2000, Wikis across a variety of fields (WikiWiki
Clones) began to emerge.

7. In 2001, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger decided to create
Nupedia, a web-based collaborative encyclopedia with a seven-
step approval process by experts and PhDs to control the
content of articles before being posted.
With 21 articles approved the first year, the project failed.

8. TitleWikipedia was a side-project of Nupedia. But, being a wiki, it
had 18,000 articles the first year compared to Nupedia’s meager
21.

9. The Internet allows for massive collaboration, to a degree never
imaginable before, wikis are just one aspect of it. The potential
to change the world collectively is at our reach.
Knowledge wants to be free, not controlled.

10. Inspired?
Read the entire post at the WikiBrains
blog
Follow us @WikiBrains, and join the
Knowledge Revolution!