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"What is MediaWiki?" you ask. Formally it is free server-based software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). MediaWiki is a powerful, scalable, and feature-rich wiki implementation that uses PHP to process and display data stored in a database, such as MySQL.
Pages use MediaWiki's wikitext format, allowing users not versed in the use of XHTML or CSS to more readily edit wiki content. When a user submits an edit to a page, MediaWiki writes it to the database, but without deleting the previous versions of the page, thus allowing easy reverts in case of vandalism or spamming. MediaWiki can also manage and store image and multimedia files within the file system.
MediaWiki is also wiki software. So what is a wiki?
A wiki is typically a web application which allows people to add, modify, or delete content in collaboration with others. A wiki also may act as a type of content management system, though it differs from a blog or most other such systems in that the content is created without any defined owner or leader. Additionally, wikis have little implicit structure, emerging according to the needs of the users. Wikis can serve many different purposes, utilized by both public and private entities. Wikis may act as knowledge management systems, notetaking software, community websites, and intranets. Some allow varying levels of access to different functions. For example, editing rights may permit changing, adding, or removing material. Others may permit access without enforcing access control.
For more about what a wiki is, view the following video:
Wikipedia is one of the most well-known public wikis, and it also uses MediaWiki software. LIMSwiki bases many of its policies off of the Wikipedia model.
For more about what Wikipedia is and how it's used, view the following video:
Increasingly, both students and their professors see the challenges facing the world as multidisciplinary, and the need for collaboration great. Over the past few years, the emergence of a raft of new (and often free) tools has made collaboration easier than at any other point in history.[1]
Why would I choose a wiki?
Academic uses
Professional uses
Above are five LIMSwiki articles using different structures to provide information. The first covers a type of software tool, while the second lists vendors of that tool. The third article describes a not-for-profit organization, the fourth a commercial software vendor, and the fifth an open-source clinical laboratory program. Briefly examine each article.
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