WikiWikiWeb

The WikiWikiWeb is the first wiki, or user-editable website.[1] It was

launched on 25 March 1995 by programmer Ward Cunningham and it has
been a read-only archive since 2015. The name WikiWikiWeb originally
also applied to the wiki software that operated the website, which was
later renamed to "WikiBase".

WikiWikiWeb

The homepage of the WikiWikiWeb

in 2003

Type of site Wiki with focus

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 on software
design patterns

Available in English

Headquarters Portland, Oregon

Owner Cunningham &

Cunningham,
Inc.

Created by Ward
Cunningham

URL wiki.c2.com (htt

ps://wiki.c2.co
m/)

Registration Not
implemented;

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 users can edit
using any name
and optionally
create a page
about
themselves
under that name

Launched March 25, 1995

Current status Active (Read-

only indefinitely
since February 1,
2015)[1]

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 Ward Cunningham in 2011

Description
WikiWikiWeb is the first wiki, or user-editable website.[1] The site was
launched on 25 March 1995 by programmer Ward Cunningham to
accompany the Portland Pattern Repository website discussing software
design patterns.

The name WikiWikiWeb originally also applied to the wiki software that
operated the website, written in the Perl programming language and later
renamed to "WikiBase".

Hyperlinks between pages on WikiWikiWeb are created by joining

capitalized words together, a technique referred to as camel case. This
convention of wiki markup formatting is still followed by some more recent
wiki software, whereas others, such as the MediaWiki software that
powers Wikipedia, allow links without camel case.

History

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 The software and website were developed in 1994 by Cunningham in order
to make the exchange of ideas between programmers easier. This concept
was based on the ideas developed in HyperCard stacks that Cunningham
built in the late 1980s.[2][3][4] On March 25, 1995, he installed the software
on his company's (Cunningham & Cunningham) website: c2.com. The site
was frequently referred to by its users as simply "Wiki"; users of the early
network of wiki sites that followed in the 1990s and 2000s followed a
convention that using the word with a capitalized W referred exclusively to
WikiWikiWeb.

In December 2014, WikiWikiWeb came under the attack of vandals, and

had to be put into a read-only state.[5] On February 1, 2015, Cunningham
announced that the Wiki had been rewritten as a single-page application
and migrated to the new Federated Wiki.[1]

When moved to read-only, the WikiWikiWeb's WelcomeVisitors page

contained the following description in the first two paragraphs:[6]

Welcome to WikiWikiWeb, also known as "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 usefulness
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!

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 Etymology
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 "quick".[7] 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".

See also

History of wikis

References

1. Cunningham, Ward
(February 1, 2015).
"Migrating Wiki on

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 Federated Wiki" (http://fora
ge.ward.fed.wiki.org/view/
migrating-wiki) . Archived (
https://web.archive.org/we
b/20150203073828/htt
p://forage.ward.fed.wiki.or
g/view/migrating-wiki)
from the original on
February 3, 2015.
Retrieved February 4,
2015.
2. WikiHistory (http://c2.com/
cgi/wiki?WikiHistory)
Archived (https://web.archi

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 ve.org/web/20020621221
535/http://c2.com/cgi/wik
i?WikiHistory) 2002-06-
21 at the Wayback Machine
on c2.com
3. "Interview: Wikinewsie Kim
Bruning discusses
Wikimania" (https://en.wiki
news.org/wiki/Interview:_W
ikinewsie_Kim_Bruning_dis
cusses_Wikimania) .
Wikinews. August 9, 2005.
Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20211022070

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 311/https://en.wikinews.or
g/wiki/Interview:_Wikinewsi
e_Kim_Bruning_discusses_
Wikimania) from the
original on 22 October
2021.
4. Interview with Ward
Cunningham (http://video.g
oogle.com/videoplay?docid
=-773907674231291014
6) Archived (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20070507
062332/http://video.googl
e.com/videoplay?docid=-7

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 739076742312910146)
2007-05-07 at the
Wayback Machine on
Google Video
5. Cunningham, Ward
(February 1, 2015),
WikiWiki System Notice on
c2.com (https://wiki.c2.co
m/?WikiWikiSystemNotic
e) , archived (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20201008
081337/https://wiki.c2.co
m/?WikiWikiSystemNotice)
from the original on

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiWikiWeb 10/12/24, 12 17
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 October 8, 2020, retrieved
October 5, 2020
6. "Welcome Visitors" (http
s://wiki.c2.com/) .
wiki.c2.com. Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/2
0200423133530/http://wi
ki.c2.com/) from the
original on 2020-04-23.
Retrieved 2020-04-23.
7. Andrews, Lorrin (1865), A
dictionary of the Hawaiian
language to which is
appended an English-

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 Hawaiian vocabulary and a
chronological table of
remarkable events (https://
archive.org/details/dictiona
ryofhawa00andrrich/page/
n519) , Henry M. Whitney,
p. 514

External links

WikiWikiWeb (Archived (http

s://web.archive.org/web/2016
0305010029/http://c2.com/c
gi/wiki) March 5, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine)

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 The WikiBase software
(Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20160820070250/ht
tp://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiBase)
August 20, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine)
Wiki design principles
(Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20020430181259/ht
tp://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesig
nPrinciples) April 30, 2002, at
the Wayback Machine)
The history of WikiWikiWeb,
including comments by Ward

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 Cunningham (Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/2002
0621221535/http://c2.com/cg
i/wiki?WikiHistory) June 21,
2002, at the Wayback
Machine)
Correspondence on the
Etymology of Wiki (http://c2.co
m/doc/etymology.html)
(Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20211022221132/htt
p://c2.com/doc/etymology.htm
l) October 22, 2021, at the
Wayback Machine)

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 Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=WikiWikiWeb&oldid=1229222691
"

This page was last edited on 15 June

2024, at 15:32 (UTC). •
Content is available under CC BY-SA
4.0 unless otherwise noted.

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