Editing Wiki software (section)

== Types of usage ==
There are essentially three types of usage for wiki software: public-facing wikis with a potentially large community of readers and editors, private [[enterprise wiki]]s for [[data management]] by corporations and other organizations, and [[personal wiki]]s, meant to be used by a single person to manage notes, and usually run on a [[Desktop computer|desktop]]. Some types of wiki software are specifically designed for one of the usage types, while other types can be used for all three, but contain functionality, either in their core or through plugins, that help with one or more of the usage types.

=== Public wikis ===

Public wikis are usually open to the public to read, edit and comment on some or all of the article space of each wiki. Many offer registration to offer further access and controls to each user and a few have, in-part commercialised aspects or further access, such as the popular wiki farm, [[Wikia|Fandom]].

[[MediaWiki]] is by far the most dominant software as it powers [[Wikipedia]], consistently and by a large margin, the most visited public wiki,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alexa.com/topsites|title=Alexa Top 500 Global Sites |website=Alexa |access-date=11 April 2017|archive-date=2 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302173920/http://www.alexa.com/topsites|url-status=dead}}</ref> it also powers many other public wikis as well.<ref name="wikiindex">{{Cite web |title=Browse data: All |url=http://wikiindex.org/Special:BrowseData/All?_single&Status%5B0%5D=Active&Status%5B1%5D=New&Status%5B2%5D=Vibrant |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725180037/https://wikiindex.org/Special:BrowseData/All?_single&Status%5B0%5D=Active&Status%5B1%5D=New&Status%5B2%5D=Vibrant |archive-date=Jul 25, 2021 |website=WikiIndex}}</ref> Other wiki engines used regularly for public wikis include [[MoinMoin]] and [[PmWiki]], [[List of wiki software|along with many others]].<ref name="wikiindex" />

Other Internet websites, based on wiki software, include [[Encyclopedia|encyclopedias]] such as [[Sensei's Library]], [[Parlia]], and  [[WikiTree]].

=== Enterprise wikis ===

[[Enterprise software|Enterprise]] wiki software is software intended to be used in a corporate (or organizational) context,<ref>"[http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/year-enterprise-wiki-305 Year of the enterprise Wiki: Lightweight Web collaboration gets down to business]", Jon Udell, ''[[InfoWorld]]'', December 30, 2004.</ref> especially to enhance internal [[knowledge sharing]]. It tends to have a greater emphasis on features like access control, integration with other software, and [[document management system|document management]]. Most proprietary wiki applications specifically market themselves as enterprise solutions, including [[Socialtext]], [[Jive (software)|Jive]], [[Traction TeamPage]] and [[Notion (productivity software)|Notion]].

Increasingly offerings appear which use the name 'wiki' but do not offer basic elements common to established wikis, like Wiki Markup and Link-first workflow as in [[Confluence (software)|Confluence]] (since 2018),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFCLOUD-67129|title = &#91;CONFCLOUD-67129&#93; Link to an undefined page (A page that doesn't exist yet) |website=Jira Software - Atlassian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130210831/https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFCLOUD-67129 |archive-date= Nov 30, 2022 }}</ref>, [[Full-text search|Full Text Search]] as in [[Microsoft Teams]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/555103-public/suggestions/33575167-wiki-search|title=Fulltextsearch for Wiki |website=Microsoft Teams UserVoice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112012012/https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/555103-public/suggestions/18623599-fulltextsearch-for-wiki|archive-date=2020-11-12}}</ref> or Version Control.

In addition, some open source wiki applications also describe themselves as enterprise solutions, including [[XWiki]], [[Foswiki]],<ref>"[http://foswiki.org/ Foswiki - The free enterprise collaboration platform]".</ref> [[TWiki]],<ref>"[http://twiki.org/ TWiki - the Open Source Enterprise Wiki and Web Application Platform]".</ref> and [[BlueSpice MediaWiki|BlueSpice]].<ref>"[https://bluespice.com/ BlueSpice - The Wiki and Knowledge Base Software]".</ref> Some open-source wiki applications, though they do not specifically bill themselves as enterprise solutions, have marketing materials geared for enterprise users, like [[Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tiki.org/Enterprise|title=Enterprise |website=Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware |date=11 August 2022 |access-date=11 April 2017}}</ref> and [[MediaWiki]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Enterprise_hub|title=Enterprise hub |website= MediaWiki|access-date=11 April 2017}}</ref> Many other wiki applications have also been used within enterprises.

Among the many companies and government organizations that use wikis internally are [[Adobe Systems]], [[Amazon.com]], [[Intel]], [[Microsoft]], and the [[Intellipedia|United States intelligence community]].

Within organizations, wikis may either add to or replace centrally managed content management systems. Their decentralized nature allows them, in principle, to disseminate needed information across an organization more rapidly and more cheaply than a centrally controlled knowledge repository. Wikis can also be used for [[document management]], [[project management]], [[customer relationship management]], [[enterprise resource planning]], and many other kinds of data management.

Features of wikis which can serve an enterprise include:
* Entering information into quick and easy-to-create pages, including hyperlinks to other corporate information systems like people directories, [[Content management system|CMS]], applications, and thus to facilitate the buildup of useful knowledge bases.
* Reduces [[e-mail]] overload. Wikis allow all relevant information to be shared by people working on a given project. Conversely, only the wiki users interested in a given project need look at its associated wiki pages, in contrast to high-traffic mailing lists which may burden subscribers with many messages, regardless of their relevance. It is also very useful for the project manager to have all the communication stored in one place, which allows them to link the responsibility for every action taken to a particular team member.
* Organizes information. Wikis help users structure information into discoverable and searchable categories. These may arise from users in a bottom-up way.  Users can create lists, tables, timelines and other ways of expressing order.
* Builds consensus. Wikis allow structuring the expression of views, on a topic being considered by authors, on the same page. This feature is very useful when writing documentation, preparing presentations, when author opinions differ, and so on.
* Access levels by rights and roles. Users can be denied access to view and/or edit given pages, depending upon their department or role within the organization.
* Knowledge management with comprehensive searches. This includes document management, project management, and knowledge repositories useful during times of employee turnover or retirement.

=== Personal wikis ===
Software that is specifically designed for running personal wikis includes [[PmWiki]], [[Tomboy (software)|Tomboy]], and [[ConnectedText]] (now discontinued). Other, more general, wiki applications have components geared for individual users, including [[MoinMoin]] (which offers a "DesktopEdition"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moinmo.in/DesktopEdition|title=DesktopEdition |website= MoinMoin |date=2016-12-01 |access-date=11 April 2017}}</ref>), and [[TiddlyWiki]].