A website is a collection of related web pages containing hyperlinks and provided online by an individual, company, educational institution, government, or organization. A wiki is a website that users can modify or contribute to. American computer programmer Ward Cunningham created the first wiki in 1995, naming it WikiWikiWeb after the Hawaiian term for "quick". Wiki software allows users to comment on and alter each other's text. A well-known example is Wikipedia , an online encyclopedia where individuals write and post articles that the community of readers can then vet and edit.

What do you need to visit a web site?

To visit a website, including a wiki , you need a device with an Internet connection . You'll also need a Web browser to view the HTML pages. Every page has its own online address, called a URL . The URL consists of a domain name and sometimes a path to a specific file.

What are some common types of web sites?

A wiki is a website that users can modify or contribute to. American computer programmer Ward Cunningham created the first wiki in 1995, naming it WikiWikiWeb, from the Hawaiian term for "quick". The best-known example of a wiki is Wikipedia , an online encyclopedia that uses open-source software development. Wikipedia articles are written and posted by individuals, then vetted and edited by the community of Wikipedia readers, rather than by a single editor and fact-checker. The principles of Wikipedia include neutrality, good faith from contributors, and flexibility. The site relies on its users to monitor and correct articles, with trusted contributors gaining administrator privileges to address issues like web graffiti and misleading information.

How do web sites display information to users?

Websites use a combination of languages to display information to users. HTML (hypertext markup language) gives websites their structure and content by using markup tags to specify document elements such as headings, paragraphs, and tables. CSS is used for the stylistic rendering of web content, controlling elements such as layout, text font, size and color. JavaScript enables dynamic and interactive elements. A web server uses the HTTP protocol to send web pages to a client's computer when requested.

What is the role of a web browser when using web sites?

A web browser is essential for accessing and viewing content on the World Wide Web. It acts as a client that requests documents from servers, which are programs that store and transmit documents. Web browsers interpret HTML tags to display text, graphics, and other media on a computer monitor. They also handle hyperlinks, allowing users to navigate between web pages. Furthermore, web browsers can run scripts that add information to a page or enable user interaction, enhancing the functionality and interactivity of websites. They communicate with web servers using HTTP , a protocol that standardizes communication between clients and servers.

How are web sites created and kept online?

Creating and maintaining a website, such as a wiki , involves several key steps. Initially, you'll need to handle the technical setup, which includes selecting a web hosting service, registering a domain name, and configuring the hosting environment. Next is the design phase, where you create layouts for the homepage and interior pages, choose a color scheme and typography, and design interactive elements like menus and buttons. Coding is essential for implementing interactive elements, which may require learning coding languages. CSS, along with HTML and JavaScript, is one of the three main languages used to design Web content. Content development involves writing text and gathering images and videos. Finally, testing ensures the website functions correctly across different browsers and devices, and debugging resolves any issues or inconsistencies. Wikis rely on community users to correct errors, operating on the assumption of the goodness of people.

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Also known as: WikiWikiWeb

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Michael Aaron Dennis

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Top Questions

What is a web site?
A website is a collection of related web pages containing hyperlinks and provided online by an individual, company, educational institution, government, or organization.

A wiki is a website that users can modify or contribute to. American computer programmer Ward Cunningham created the first wiki in 1995, naming it WikiWikiWeb after the Hawaiian term for "quick". Wiki software allows users to comment on and alter each other's text. A well-known example is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia where individuals write and post articles that the community of readers can then vet and edit.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do you need to visit a web site?
To visit a website, including a wiki, you need a device with an Internet connection. You'll also need a Web browser to view the HTML pages. Every page has its own online address, called a URL. The URL consists of a domain name and sometimes a path to a specific file.
6 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are some common types of web sites?
A wiki is a website that users can modify or contribute to. American computer programmer Ward Cunningham created the first wiki in 1995, naming it WikiWikiWeb, from the Hawaiian term for "quick".

The best-known example of a wiki is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that uses open-source software development. Wikipedia articles are written and posted by individuals, then vetted and edited by the community of Wikipedia readers, rather than by a single editor and fact-checker.

The principles of Wikipedia include neutrality, good faith from contributors, and flexibility. The site relies on its users to monitor and correct articles, with trusted contributors gaining administrator privileges to address issues like web graffiti and misleading information.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do web sites display information to users?
Websites use a combination of languages to display information to users. HTML (hypertext markup language) gives websites their structure and content by using markup tags to specify document elements such as headings, paragraphs, and tables. CSS is used for the stylistic rendering of web content, controlling elements such as layout, text font, size and color. JavaScript enables dynamic and interactive elements. A web server uses the HTTP protocol to send web pages to a client's computer when requested.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What is the role of a web browser when using web sites?
A web browser is essential for accessing and viewing content on the World Wide Web. It acts as a client that requests documents from servers, which are programs that store and transmit documents.

Web browsers interpret HTML tags to display text, graphics, and other media on a computer monitor. They also handle hyperlinks, allowing users to navigate between web pages.

Furthermore, web browsers can run scripts that add information to a page or enable user interaction, enhancing the functionality and interactivity of websites. They communicate with web servers using HTTP, a protocol that standardizes communication between clients and servers.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How are web sites created and kept online?
Creating and maintaining a website, such as a wiki, involves several key steps. Initially, you'll need to handle the technical setup, which includes selecting a web hosting service, registering a domain name, and configuring the hosting environment.

Next is the design phase, where you create layouts for the homepage and interior pages, choose a color scheme and typography, and design interactive elements like menus and buttons.

Coding is essential for implementing interactive elements, which may require learning coding languages. CSS, along with HTML and JavaScript, is one of the three main languages used to design Web content.

Content development involves writing text and gathering images and videos. Finally, testing ensures the website functions correctly across different browsers and devices, and debugging resolves any issues or inconsistencies.

Wikis rely on community users to correct errors, operating on the assumption of the goodness of people.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

wiki, website that can be modified or contributed to by users. Wikis can be dated to 1995, when American computer programmer Ward Cunningham created a new collaborative technology for organizing information on websites. Using a Hawaiian term meaning “quick,” he called this new software WikiWikiWeb, attracted by its alliteration and also by its matching abbreviation (WWW).

Wikis were inspired in part by Apple’s HyperCard program, which allowed users to create virtual “card stacks” of information with a host of connections, or links, among the various cards. HyperCard in turn drew upon an idea suggested by Vannevar Bush in his 1945 Atlantic Monthly article “As We May Think.” There Bush envisioned the memex, a machine that would allow readers to annotate and create links between articles and books recorded on microfilm. HyperCard’s “stacks” implemented a version of Bush’s vision, but the program relied upon the user to create both the text and the links. For example, one might take a musical score of a symphony and annotate different sections with different cards linked together.

Bush also had imagined that memex users might share what he called “trails,” a record of their individual travels through a textual universe. Cunningham’s wiki software expanded this idea by allowing users to comment on and change one another’s text. Perhaps the best-known use of wiki software is Wikipedia, an online encyclopaedia using the model of open-source software development. Individuals write articles and post them on Wikipedia, and these articles are then open for vetting and editing by the community of Wikipedia readers, rather than by a single editor and fact-checker. Just as open-source software—such as the Linux operating system and the Firefox Web browser—has been developed by nonprofit communities, so too is Wikipedia a nonprofit effort.

For those who challenge this model of development, Cunningham and his followers adopted an interesting position. It is always going to be the case that certain individuals will maliciously attempt to thwart open-source websites such as Wikipedia by introducing false or misleading content. Rather than worrying about every user’s actions and intentions, proponents of wiki software rely on their community of users to edit and correct what are perceived to be errors or biases. Although such a system is certainly far from foolproof, wikis stand as an example of the origin of an Internet counterculture that has a basic assumption of the goodness of people.

In addition to encyclopaedias, wiki software is used in a wide variety of contexts to facilitate interaction and cooperation in projects at various scales. Manuals have been written using the wiki model, and individuals have adapted wiki software to serve as personal information organizers on personal computers.

Michael Aaron Dennis

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