Wikipedia…not just any old funny word.

Most people have heard about Wikipedia.com by now. Search just about anything on Google and Wikipedia pops up to the top. What you may not know is that Wikipedia = wiki + encyclopedia. But what’s a wiki?

Wiki, wiki, what?

Of course, Wikipedia has a lot to say about wikis. But, just as a summary, a wiki is an online resource that allows users to add and edit content collectively. Wiki comes from the Hawaiian word meaning “quick” or “fast.” A wiki is basically a set of website pages that can be quickly edited by multiple people. They can be public, such as Wikipedia, and edited by anyone. You don’t even need to know HTML, it can be edited right through the browser.

Wikis can also be private and only edited by people that have been granted access. Here at the Playnormous studio, we use an open source program called Trac to keep, well, track of what we’re working on for the Playnormous website. Having a Playnormous wiki helps keep the entire team on the same page. One person can make a change on the wiki and everyone can see it. No need to send out twelve emails just because the title for one of our health games changed.

I’m all about anything that avoids overwhelming my inbox. Hurray for the Playnormous Wiki!