The word "wiki" is a shortened form of "WikiWikiWeb." Since 1995 it has been used to describe a website on which many people collaborate, which we refer to here as a "Non-Federated Wiki" or "Original Wiki Model." Since about 2010, the term "wiki" has also been used to describe websites, each built by one person, which connect to one another in substantial ways, i.e. a "Federated Wiki." The descriptions and graphs below aim to illuminate the difference between these terms.
Original Wiki Model
In the original WikiWikiWeb and derivatives (e.g., Wikipedia), many people work on one thing (called a "wiki"). The collaboration happens inside, and in relation to, the "one thing".
digraph { layout=neato rankdir=BT overlap=false concentrate=false bgcolor=lightblue // splines=" " Serena -> "The Wiki\n(e.g.\nWikipedia)" Venus -> "The Wiki\n(e.g.\nWikipedia)" Rafael -> "The Wiki\n(e.g.\nWikipedia)" }
Federated Wiki Model
In Federated Wiki, each of many people works on their own website (called a "wiki"). The collaboration happens among the "many things," and they way people choose to link to one another's work.
digraph { layout=neato rankdir=BT overlap=false concentrate=false bgcolor=lightblue // splines=" " Serena -> "Serena's\nWiki" Venus -> "Venus's\nWiki" Rafael -> "Rafael's\nWiki" "Rafael's\nWiki" -> "Venus's\nWiki" "Venus's\nWiki" -> "Serena's\nWiki" "Rafael's\nWiki" -> "Serena's\nWiki" "Serena's\nWiki" -> "Rafael's\nWiki" "Venus's\nWiki" -> "Rafael's\nWiki" "Serena's\nWiki" -> "Venus's\nWiki" }