WikiWikiWeb

WikiWikiWeb

WikiWikiWeb HomePage from 15 November 2010 (edit front page or Search Wiki)
URL	c2.com/cgi/wiki
Type of site	Wiki (Main Focus: People Projects & Patterns in Software Development)
Registration	None Needed ("Membership" requires this web browser cookie & this userpage template)
Available language(s)	English
Owner	Portland Pattern Repository, Cunningham & Cunningham, Inc.
Created by	Ward Cunningham
Launched	25 March 1995
Current status	Active

WikiWikiWeb is a term that has been used to refer to four things: the first wiki, or user-editable website, launched on 25 March 1995 by Ward Cunningham as part of the Portland Pattern Repository (the website was also later known as "WardsWiki"); the Perl-based application that was used to run it, also developed by Cunningham, which was the first wiki software (it was later renamed "WikiBase"); the original general term for wikis; and the original term for wiki software.

The software and website were developed in 1994 by Cunningham in order to make the exchange of ideas between programmers easier. The concept was based on the ideas developed in HyperCard stacks that Cunningham built in the late 1980s.^[1][2][3] He installed the software on his company's (Cunningham & Cunningham) website, c2.com, on March 25, 1995. 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 shuttle bus line that runs between the airport's terminals. "Wiki Wiki" is a reduplication of "wiki", a Hawaiian language word for fast. 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".

The WikiWikiWeb's current WelcomeVisitors page contains the following description:

Welcome to WikiWikiWeb, also known as Ward's wiki or just 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 CultureShock. The beauty of Wiki is in the freedom, simplicity, and power it offers. This site's primary focus is PeopleProjectsAndPatterns in SoftwareDevelopment. However, it is more than just an InformalHistoryOfProgrammingIdeas. It started there, but the theme has created a culture and DramaticIdentity all its own. All Wiki content is 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 WikiPedia; WikiIsNotWikipedia! (last updated 17 October 2010)

Some words are written in CamelCase because this is the markup used to create inter-page links by WikiWikiWeb's software, WikiBase. Later wiki engines, such as MediaWiki, dropped this convention.

WikiWikiWeb and its designated sister sites

Site	Pages	Founder
WikiWikiWeb	34226	Ward Cunningham
WhyClublet	4782	Richard Drake
MeatBallWiki	5122	Clifford Adams, Sunir Shah
GreenCheese	(dead)	Peter Merel
TheReformSociety	(dead)	Peter Merel
The Adjunct	737	Earle Martin
WikiBase	359	Ward Cunningham
FitWiki	225	Ward Cunningham

WikiWikiWeb's Wikibase "Welcome Visitors" Page, Last Edited 3 November 2003

WikiWikiWeb's homepage (31 July 2003).

See also

• History of wikis
• Wiki

References

1. ^ WikiHistory on c2.com
2. ^ Interview: Wikinewsie Kim Bruning discusses Wikimania on WikiNews
3. ^ Interview with Ward Cunningham on Google Video

External links

• WikiWikiWeb (c2.com/cgi/wiki)
• Search the wiki
• Edit The Front Page Of Wiki
• WikiWikiWeb:WikiBase — the Wiki Base software
• WikiWikiWeb:WikiDesignPrinciples
• WikiWikiWeb:WikiHistory, including comments by Ward Cunningham
• WikiWikiWeb:WelcomeVisitors
• Correspondence on the Etymology of Wiki — Ward Cunningham