A wiki is a collaborative content management system where users can add, edit or remove content. Essentially, a wiki is a web page with an open-editing system. Wikis usually have different pages that are dedicated to different topics or themes. They’re powered by technology known as a wiki engine or wiki software. The word wiki stands for “quick” in the Hawaiian language. Ward Cunningham, who was the first wiki software developer and inventor of the 1995 Wiki Wiki Web, chose this term to describe it because he dubbed wiki wiki as “the simplest online database that could possibly work.”
The main difference between wiki and Wikipedia is that the former is actually a type of website or a website format. In contrast, Wikipedia is just a website that adheres to the Wiki format. The website Wikipedia, a free content encyclopedia, was launched in January 2001, and quickly became the most popular wiki, which it remains to this day. Its meteoric rise in popularity (it entered the top ten most popular sites in 2007) played a large part in introducing wikis to the general public.
This compilation contains a list of notable websites that use a wiki model. A total of 87 of the top wikis on the internet today from various topics and languages are listed down. You’ll find wikis on music, mathematics, parodies, gaming, genealogy, pop culture, place, gardening, and many many more. The content within all of these wikis carry different licenses, so please do verify on their licensing terms should you wish to extract certain piece of information from them.
87 of the Top Wikis on the Internet Today
- AboutUs.com – Internet directory
Initially pre-populated with information about many different websites. Uses MediaWiki software, but now largely with Ruby on Rails - Arch Linux – Computers (Linux)
Wiki about Arch Linux and various software for it. - Astrodatabank – Encyclopedic
Astrological wiki project, with birth details for notable people of the world. - Baidu Baike – Encyclopedic/Simplified Chinese
Simplified Chinese encyclopedia - Baike.com – Encyclopedic
Simplified Chinese encyclopedia - Ballotpedia – Informative
Interactive almanac of United States politics. - Base de datos – Encyclopedic/Spanish
Spanish language encyclopedia, with own wiki software. - Catawiki – Catalogues
Originally in Dutch, with English version. Collectors specific for comics, coins, stamps, trading cards, board games, model cars, model trains, bank notes, books, watches, Disney memorabilia, clocks and other. - Citizendium – Encyclopedic
Requires writers to use real names rather than usernames; guided by expert input while allowing edits from the general public - Conservapedia – Encyclopedic
Information and articles are written from a Conservative Christian viewpoint aimed at correcting the alleged liberal bias of Wikipedia. - Copyright Evidence – Copyright studies
Exists to inform public debate and policy development on copyright related issues based on categorising empirical studies. Funded and maintained by CREATe at the University of Glasgow. - Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) – Music
Wiki library of free typeset musical scores - DavisWiki – Place – Davis, California
City wiki dedicated solely to Davis; at one point the largest city wiki - EcuRed – Cuban perspective on global issues, in Spanish
Run by Cuba’s Youth Computer Club, an affiliate of the Communist Youth Union. - Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español – Encyclopedic/Spanish
Spanish language fork of Wikipedia - Encyclopedia of Mathematics – Mathematics
MediaWiki using MathJax extension. - Encyclopedia Dramatica – Parody of Internet memes
Parody-themed wiki - Everipedia – Encyclopedic
- Fallout Wiki – Fiction/Gaming – Fallout series
Wiki about the Fallout video game series. Ongoing merger with “Nukapedia” (Fandom) and “The Vault” (Curse/Gamepedia). - Family History Research Wiki – Genealogy research
Reference information and research guidance. In 11 languages. - Familypedia – Genealogy
Family trees and history - Fandom.com – Pop culture and media franchises
Formerly known as Wikia, it is a collection of many encyclopedias each focusing on different subjects - Fanlore – Fandom
Fandom and transformative works, with a focus on fannish history and activities. Powered by MediaWiki. - Galaxiki – Fictional galaxy
Dedicated to the creation of a fictional galaxy - Gardenology.org – Gardening
Meant as a “complete plant and garden wiki encyclopedia” - GeoNames – Places
Geographical database that links specific names with unique features - Glottopedia – Linguistics – Multilingual
A Wiki on linguistics and languages - Heraldry of the World – Encyclopedic – Multilingual
A wiki dealing with non personal heraldry - Hitchwiki – Encyclopedic – Multilingual
a database on hitchhiking that includes an interactive world map showing the best and worst places to catch a ride. - International Music Score Library Project – Music
Wiki library of public domain musical scores - Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDb) – Firearm usage in Film, Television and Videogames
Runs on MediaWiki - JurisPedia – Government – Law
Multi-lingual academic encyclopedia, including Arabic, Chinese (Simplified Chinese), English, French, German and Spanish - Know Your Meme – Fiction – website and video series
- Lostpedia – Fiction – Lost
Articles about episodes, characters, themes, etc. in the television show. - MeatballWiki – Communities – Online communities
- Memory Alpha – Fiction – Star Trek
Contains canon-only material - Metapedia – Encyclopedia
White nationalist and extreme right-wing online encyclopedia. - MyWikiBiz – Misc – Business directory
Allows people and enterprises to write about themselves - Namuwiki – Encyclopedic/Korean
- NLab – Math, physics and philosophy wiki
For research-level notes, expositions and collaborative work, including original research, especially if from the n-categorical point of view - OpenStreetMap – Places – Maps
Uses GPS, aerial photography and other free sources of images to create a map of the world - OpenWetWare – Science – Biology
Promotes sharing and dissemination of knowledge related to biological research - PCGamingWiki – Games – Video games
Attempts to provide fixes and information on all PC games
- PlanetMath – Misc – Mathematics
Free wiki-style mathematical encyclopedia - Proteopedia – Science – Chemistry
A 3D encyclopedia of proteins and other molecules - RationalWiki – Encyclopedic
Information and articles are written from a liberal, skeptical and secular point of view as a response to Conservapedia - Rangjung Yeshe Wiki – Himalayan Buddhism, Tibetan Dictionary
Tibetan-English Dictionary, Buddhist Glossaries, Biographies of Buddhist Teachers, and Resources - riscos.info – Computers—RISC OS
Hosts C programming resources and projects - Rosetta Code – Computers—computer code
Powered by MediaWiki - Scholarpedia – Encyclopedic
Written exclusively by professionals focusing on their field of expertise; subject to peer review - School wiki – Encyclopedic
Written by students and teachers of Kerala; subject to peer review - Scratch Wiki – Computers—Scratch (programming language)
Contains articles about Scratch, an educational programming language, and subjects related to it - Sensei’s Library – Misc – Go (game)
WikiWiki Web site running on GoWiki, a custom wiki based on PHPWiki. - SKYbrary – Aviation safety information
Runs on MediaWiki. - SNPedia – Science – Biology
Database of research and information about single-nucleotide polymorphisms, including medical consequences for people who have DNA info about themselves - Stadtwiki Karlsruhe – Encyclopedic
Multilingual city wiki for Karlsruhe - Supernatural Wiki – Fiction – Supernatural
The wiki for the hit TV show Supernatural - Travellerspoint – Places – Travel
Social networking site dedicated to sharing stories and recommendations about travel - TV Tropes – Encyclopedic
Focuses on documenting tropes in various media - UK LGBT Archive – LGBT history, United Kingdom
Building towards a comprehensive history of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) life in the United Kingdom. Previously the LGBT History Project. Runs on MediaWiki. - Uncyclopedia – Satire – Parody
Satirical encyclopedia dedicated to parody, notably parodying Wikipedia - Veropedia – selected English Wikipedia articles
a free, advertising-supported Internet encyclopedia project - Vienna History Wiki – History of the city of Vienna, Austria.
The main content of the wiki are persons, buildings, topographical objects (streets, parks, waters, districts…), organisations, events and other items (such as special German expressions used in Vienna) - WikiAnswers – General knowledge
Compiles answers to questions posed - WikiArt – Art, paintings
Project aims to create high-quality, complete and well-structured online repository of fine art. - Wikibooks – General – textbooks
Wikimedia project - Wikidata –
Wikimedia project - WikiEducator – Open educational resources
Open educational resources which anyone may use, adapt, and share - WikEM – Emergency Medicine
Rapid reference for practical point-of-care clinical knowledge with a popular linked point-of-care phone application. Intended for clinicians only and not directly for patients. - wikiHow – How-to articles
A wiki how-to manual - WikiIslam – Criticism of Islam
- Wikimapia – Places – Map
Combines Google Maps with a wiki system for polygonally defined areas; currently supports 35 languages - Wikimedia Commons – Misc – Electronic media
repository of free electronic media; a Wikimedia project - Wikinews – General – News
Collaborative news service, a Wikimedia project - Wikipedia – Encyclopedic
Multilingual Wikimedia project that uses MediaWiki - Wikiquote – Reference – Quotations
Quote repository; a Wikimedia project - WikiShia – Shi’a Islam
Online encyclopedia focusing on Shi’a, the second major denomination in Islam. It has articles in 8 languages. Persian has the most articles which is more than 3500. - Wikisource – Reference – Primary sources
Digital library of free content textual sources; a Wikimedia project - Wikispecies – Science – Biology
Directory of species; a Wikimedia project - Wikitravel – Places – Travel
Travel guide using Wikimedia’s software, but unconnected to the Wikimedia Foundation (which hosts Wikivoyage). 20 supported languages - WikiTree – Genealogy
Free global family tree using MediaWiki software, but unconnected to the Wikimedia Foundation. - Wikiversity – General – Self-directed learning
Supports free learning communities, projects, materials, and learners; a Wikimedia project - Wikivoyage – Places – Travel
Multilingual travel guide of the Wikimedia Foundation. - WikiWikiWeb – Computer programming, specifically design patterns
World’s oldest wiki (began circa 1995) - Wiktionary – Multilingual dictionary
Online dictionary; a Wikimedia project - Wookieepedia – Fiction – Star Wars
Science fiction encyclopedia - Wowpedia / WoWWiki – Gaming – Warcraft
Contains in-universe material
