What is the Swiki?

Quite simply, a Swiki is a Web site where users can easily create, edit, or link between pages in the system. It is based on the wiki, originally conceptualized by Ward Cunningham. Swiki is a Wiki implementation based on Squeak (Squeak + Wiki = Swiki). The Swiki is designed and maintained by the Collaborative Software Laboratory at Georgia Tech.

The power of the Swiki lies in its simplicity. Any user can edit any page (from within a Web browser) and can create Web documents with a minimum of HTML. This Web site was constructed using a custom formatting engine based on the Swiki.

I have used the Swiki as a kind of collaboratively constructed Web workspace. In classes that I've taught, the course Web site becomes a dynamic entity to which instructors and students contribute. The Swiki's flexibility makes it easy for students to come up with spontaneous uses of the technology. In my own research projects, we have used Swikis as a project workspace. Because the Swiki handles multiple users and keeps track of every change, it becomes a running log of the history of the project.

In the course of using Swikis, I have made extensive modifications to the core Swiki technology. These changes include

• automatic user registration and logging
• support for semi-formalized information
• a dynamic system for creating navigation templates
• an enhanced help guide
• a set of templates for use in classrooms
• features to generate printer-friendly output

and many other small but significant usability tweaks.

Downloading the Swiki

I am working on creating a Swiki distribution that includes the modifications described above. Until this is available, I encourage you to download the base distribution from the swiki home page.

For More Information

For more information about Swikis and their use at Georgia Tech, visit the Collaborative Software Laboratory home page.

Chapter 4 of my thesis describes in detail the use of the Swiki in a University course. A shorter version of this can be found in my publications.