In the simplest terms:

• Someone creates a wiki
• People add content
• People edit content

This short video "Wikis in Plain English" by Commoncraft provides a good description.



If everyone can edit the content in a wiki, why doesn't it just turn into a jumbled mess?

• Most people (particularly if their grade is depending on it) try to improve the content. In cases where that is not true and/or someone vandalizes the site, the moderator/administrator can easily revert the page back to what it was before the damage was done.
• You can view details of the latest update to the page.
• You can view the entire edit history for a page and compare one version to another.
• The site moderator/administrator can lock pages. For example, you might lock the page that describes the course assignment.

How are edits tracked in a wiki?

You can see the name of the last person who made an edit at the bottom of the page and click on it to see details of the edit, including date and time. You can click on "complete history" to see all edits.

Who can edit a wiki?

With many wikis, you set the parameters. These range from:

• Allowing everyone to edit pages. In this case, edits can be made anonymously.
• Allowing only people who join the wiki to edit or add a page. This gives you the ability to know the username of the person who made the edit.

Who can see a wiki?

With many wikis, you can set it up to be as public or as private as you would like. You can open it up to everyone on the web or only invited members.

Who can join a wiki?

Again, in most cases, it depends on how the wiki is set up. You can set it up so that anyone can join or you can set it so that only people you invite may join.

Remember, most wiki farms (including wetpaint) are blocked in your school's filter. If you are setting up a new wiki, you will need to create it off-site or use an authorized override. Once it is set up, send a request for the the url to be unblocked to support@ena.com.