Editing WikiWikiWeb

{{Short description|First user-editable website (launched 1995)}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Infobox website
| name             = WikiWikiWeb
| logo             =
| logo_size        = 50px
| logocaption      = The WikiWikiWeb logo
| screenshot       = [[File:WikiWikiWeb screenshot.png|border|200px]]
| caption          = The [[homepage]] of the WikiWikiWeb in 2003
| url              = {{url|https://wiki.c2.com/}}
| location         = [[Portland, Oregon]]
| type             = [[Wiki]] with focus on [[software design pattern]]s
| language         = [[English language|English]]
| registration     = Not implemented; users can edit using any name and optionally create a page about themselves under that name
| owner            = Cunningham & Cunningham, Inc.
| author           = [[Ward Cunningham]]
| launched         = {{start date and age|1995|3|25}}
| current_status   = Active (Read-only indefinitely since February 1, 2015)<ref name="migrate"/>
}}
[[File:Ward Cunningham - Commons-1.jpg|thumb|[[Ward Cunningham]] in 2011]]
The '''WikiWikiWeb''' is the first [[wiki]], or user-editable website.<ref name="migrate"/> It was launched on 25 March 1995 by programmer [[Ward Cunningham]] and has been a read-only archive since 2015. The name ''WikiWikiWeb'' originally also applied to the [[wiki software]] that operated the website, which was later renamed to "WikiBase".

== Description ==
WikiWikiWeb is the first [[wiki]], or user-editable website.<ref name="migrate" /> The site was launched on 25 March 1995 by programmer [[Ward Cunningham]] to accompany the [[Portland Pattern Repository]] website discussing [[software design pattern]]s.

The name ''WikiWikiWeb'' originally also applied to the [[wiki software]] that operated the website, written in the [[Perl]] programming language and later renamed to "WikiBase".

[[Hyperlink]]s between pages on WikiWikiWeb are created by joining capitalized words together, a technique referred to as [[camel case]]. This convention of [[wiki markup]] formatting is still followed by some more recent wiki software, whereas others, such as the [[MediaWiki]] software that powers [[Wikipedia]], allow links without camel case.

== History ==
The software and website were developed in 1994 by Cunningham in order to make the exchange of ideas between programmers easier. This concept was based on the ideas developed in [[HyperCard]] stacks that Cunningham built in the late 1980s.<ref>[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory WikiHistory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020621221535/http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory |date=2002-06-21 }} on c2.com</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=August 9, 2005 |title=Interview: Wikinewsie Kim Bruning discusses Wikimania |url=https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Interview:_Wikinewsie_Kim_Bruning_discusses_Wikimania |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022070311/https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Interview:_Wikinewsie_Kim_Bruning_discusses_Wikimania |archive-date=22 October 2021 |newspaper=Wikinews}}</ref><ref>[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7739076742312910146 Interview with Ward Cunningham] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070507062332/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7739076742312910146 |date=2007-05-07 }} on Google Video</ref> On March 25, 1995, he installed the software on his company's (Cunningham & Cunningham) website: c2.com. The site was frequently referred to by its users as simply "Wiki";  users of the early network of wiki sites that followed in the 1990s and 2000s followed a convention that using the word with a capitalized ''W'' referred exclusively to WikiWikiWeb.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In December 2014, WikiWikiWeb came under the attack of [[Wiki#Security|vandals]], and had to be put into a read-only state.<ref>{{Citation |last = Cunningham |first = Ward |title = WikiWiki System Notice on c2.com |date = February 1, 2015 |url = https://wiki.c2.com/?WikiWikiSystemNotice |access-date = October 5, 2020 |archive-date = October 8, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201008081337/https://wiki.c2.com/?WikiWikiSystemNotice |url-status = live }}</ref> On February 1, 2015, Cunningham announced that the Wiki had been rewritten as a [[single-page application]] and migrated to the new [[Federated Wiki]].<ref name="migrate">{{cite web|last = Cunningham |first = Ward |title = Migrating Wiki on Federated Wiki |date = February 1, 2015 |url = http://forage.ward.fed.wiki.org/view/migrating-wiki |access-date = February 4, 2015 |archive-date = February 3, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150203073828/http://forage.ward.fed.wiki.org/view/migrating-wiki |url-status = live }}</ref>

When moved to read-only, the WikiWikiWeb's ''[[c2:WelcomeVisitors|Welcome Visitors]]'' page contained the following description in the first two paragraphs:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome Visitors |url=https://wiki.c2.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423133530/http://wiki.c2.com/ |archive-date=2020-04-23 |access-date=2020-04-23 |website=wiki.c2.com}}</ref>

{{quotation|Welcome to [[c2:WikiWikiWeb|WikiWikiWeb]], also known as "Wiki". A lot of people had their first wiki experience here. This community has been around since 1995 and consists of many people. We always accept newcomers with valuable contributions. If you haven't used a wiki before, be prepared for a bit of [[c2:CultureShock|CultureShock]]. The usefulness of Wiki is in the freedom, simplicity, and power it offers.<br />
This site's primary focus is [[c2:PeopleProjectsAndPatterns|PeopleProjectsAndPatterns]] in [[c2:SoftwareDevelopment|SoftwareDevelopment]]. However, it is more than just an [[c2:InformalHistoryOfProgrammingIdeas|InformalHistoryOfProgrammingIdeas]]. It started there, but the theme has created a culture and [[c2:DramaticIdentity|DramaticIdentity]] all its own. All Wiki content is [[c2:WorkInProgress|WorkInProgress]]. Most of all, this is a forum where people share ideas! It changes as people come and go. Much of the information here is subjective. If you are looking for a dedicated reference site, try [[c2:WikiPedia|WikiPedia]]; [[c2:WikiIsNotWikipedia|WikiIsNotWikipedia]]!|author=|title=|source=}}

== Etymology ==
Cunningham came up with the name WikiWikiWeb because he remembered a [[Honolulu International Airport]] counter employee who told him to take the [[Wiki Wiki Shuttle]], a [[Public transport|shuttle bus]] line that runs between the airport's terminals. "Wiki Wiki" is a [[reduplication]] of "wiki", a [[Hawaiian language]] word for "quick".<ref>{{Citation |last=Andrews |first=Lorrin |title=A dictionary of the Hawaiian language to which is appended an English-Hawaiian vocabulary and a chronological table of remarkable events |page=514 |year=1865 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhawa00andrrich/page/n519 |publisher=Henry M. Whitney}}</ref> Cunningham's idea was to make WikiWikiWeb's pages quickly editable by its users, so he initially thought about calling it "QuickWeb", but later changed his mind and dubbed it "WikiWikiWeb".<ref name="cunningham">{{cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Ward |author-link=Ward Cunningham |date=November 1, 2003 |title=Correspondence on the Etymology of Wiki |url=https://c2.com/doc/etymology.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317120823/https://c2.com/doc/etymology.html |archive-date=March 17, 2007 |access-date=March 9, 2007 |website=WikiWikiWeb |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="history">{{cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Ward |author-link=Ward Cunningham |date=February 25, 2008 |title=Wiki History |url=https://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020621221535/https://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory |archive-date=June 21, 2002 |access-date=March 9, 2007 |website=WikiWikiWeb}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[History of wikis]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [[WikiWikiWeb:FrontPage|WikiWikiWeb]] ({{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010029/http://c2.com/cgi/wiki |date=March 5, 2016}})
* [[WikiWikiWeb:WikiBase|The WikiBase software]] ({{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820070250/http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiBase |date=August 20, 2016 |nolink=y}})
* [[WikiWikiWeb:WikiDesignPrinciples|Wiki design principles]] ({{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020430181259/http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples |date=April 30, 2002 |nolink=y}})
* [[WikiWikiWeb:WikiHistory|The history of WikiWikiWeb]], including comments by Ward Cunningham ({{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020621221535/http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory |date=June 21, 2002 |nolink=y}})
* [http://c2.com/doc/etymology.html Correspondence on the Etymology of Wiki] ({{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022221132/http://c2.com/doc/etymology.html |date=October 22, 2021 |nolink=y}})

{{Wiki software}}

[[Category:Wiki communities]]
[[Category:Perl software]]
[[Category:Free wiki software]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1995]]
[[Category:American websites]]
[[Category:1995 in computing]]