In the simplest of terms a wiki is an editable website. In complicated terms, it is a software program that allows users to create and edit pages that can be saved to the host computer from a web browser and without additional software required.

The term wiki, is a Hawaiian word that means "fast". There is actually a shuttle in Hawaii that is wiki, wiki (fast, fast). The software behind "wiki's" has been around for over a decade and is being used in many different ways and with many different versions. The most popular version is called mediawiki. This is the version that wikipedia uses. It is open source, free to download, and regularly updated by the mediawiki community (heavily influenced by the wikipedia community).

Wiki software tries to simplify the coding needed to develop webpages. Most use a version of coding called wiki-mark-up language. It is usually very simple and easy to learn, although not yet WYSIWYG. In most wiki's, users are able to type in text and save (publish to the web) without using or learning any wiki-mark-up language. Users generally need to learn the wiki language in order to perform more complex features (bold, tables, links, etc.).