Wikis

Consider these questions as you review the examples below. Try the quiz from the left menu: What Have You Learned? after you’ve spent some time with this section.

Video created by Common Craft.

You’ve probably experienced the frustration of trying to organize a project or event by sending out multiple emails to everyone involved. It can be really inefficient and time-consuming to always rely on email, especially if you’re trying to connect with a lot of other people who all have different ideas or plans.

The word ‘wiki’ means ‘quick’ in Hawaiian. Wikis are websites that you and other people can edit – that’s how they’re different from normal websites. You can set usernames and passwords to control who has access. Everyone can edit the same document as needed, similar to Google docs. For example, if you’re helping to plan a student conference or working on a group project, you could set up a wiki for everyone on your committee to brainstorm ideas, sort out details, and delegate tasks.

If you are using a wiki to collaborate with others, here are some things to think about:

• anyone who has access to your wiki can edit it
• most wikis are publicly accessible through the internet (you can find it with a google search)
• avoid sharing personal details (phone numbers, address/location details, etc) unless you want them to be public

Wiki.ubc.ca is UBC’s wiki service using Mediawiki as the platform. PB Wiki is a popular free wiki site, check it out! Some examples of wikis in use might be helpful. Here is a partial list from the Godfather of all wikis, Wikipedia.