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A wiki farm is a site | {{TOC right}}A '''wiki farm''' is a website, which may or may not itself also be a [[wiki]] site, that allows for [[:Category:Free wiki farm|free]] and / or pay creation ''<u>and</u>'' {{tag|Web hosting|hosting}} of wiki. | ||
==Wiki farms vs. commercial web hosts== | |||
The structure of a {{tag|wiki farm}} offers a 'ready-to-go' turn-key solution, which may be convenient for operators of small [[WhatIsWiki|wiki sites]] with limited intentions to expand. | |||
===Advantages=== | |||
*Being as the [[:Category:Web|web]] [[:Category:Server|server]] and [[:Category:Wiki engine|wiki software]] is already configured for you, you avoid the tasks of technical [[:Category:System administration|system administration]]. In some cases, this may enable you to get your initial [[wiki]] site online more quickly. It also relieves you of the responsibility of updating the [[:Category:Software|software]] to protect against vulnerabilities. | |||
*Wiki farms tend to group a large number of [[Special:Random|different]] wiki communities on different [[:Category:Wiki Topic|topics]] under one 'roof', which may prove to be of use in drawing traffic to a small project that might otherwise be difficult to obtain. | |||
*Cost often appears nominally to be lower, as the task of obtaining [[:Category:Advertising|advertising]] revenue has already been handled by the wiki farm. | |||
*Wiki-specific technical support tends to be available, although response time may vary considerably between host providers. This is often preferred to [[:Category:Commercial|commercial]] hosts, whose role is solely to provide [[:Category:Server|server]] space; and not to support specific [[:Category:Database|database]] (and other user software) applications (such as a wiki). | |||
*Some wiki farms provide automatic [[:Category:Wiki database backup|backup]] of individual wiki sites, with said backup 'dumps' available to download, store and use the file elsewhere ([[mirror]] or [[fork]]). | |||
===Limitations=== | |||
*In many cases, you are <u>not</u> free to switch an existing project from one {{tag|wiki farm}} to another, or from a wiki farm to a [[:Category:Commercial|commercial]] web host, without great difficulty. | |||
*Your project is not a separate, independent site; but merely (usually) a sub-domain of the wiki farm's main domain. This is an issue if your once-small project grows large enough to stand on its own merit. | |||
*Depending on the wiki farm, you may or may not be able to choose the [[:Category:Wiki license|license]] terms for your content. Ability to download content and [[:Category:Database|database]] also varies widely. | |||
*In most cases, the choice of whether to depend on [[:Category:Advertising|advertising]] revenue to fund a site, or to pay your own way is taken away from you. Where [[:Category:Server|servers]] are funded by advertising, you have little or no control over the source ''or'' content of advertisements; some of which may be inappropriate. This may mean that your gaming community could be sponsored by vendors of tools to cheat at those games, or that your kids-oriented site is exposed to age-inappropriate sales pitches. | |||
*Using a wiki farm can cost <u>you</u> control of <u>your</u> {{tag|wiki idea|ideas}}, your project, and your intellectual property. <u>Read the fine print</u>; while the owners of <u>some</u> wiki farms talk as if the project is 'owned by the community', you may find that any domain names, project names, and [[:Category:WikiLogo|logos]] are the property not of the individual project, but automatically become the property of the [[:Category:Wiki company|company]] that runs the wiki farm. The license on the content of your wiki is also likely to be one in which the wiki farm either [[:Category:Wiki Site retains copyright|takes control itself]], or licenses your content for [[:Category:Wiki Proprietary license|commercial for-profit distribution]] elsewhere on the internet. This can lead to problems where websites [[mirror]] incomplete or outdated copies of your content in order to draw traffic away from your project, and to a copy on which outside advertisers keywords, advertisements, and links have been placed. | |||
*In many cases, your project does not have your own [[user list]] if your wiki is one among many in a wiki farm environment. This both limits your choice (and future community members) of [[username]] (as many may already be in use elsewhere on the site), and poses an obstacle should you later wish to move your project to some other host. | |||
*Wiki farms typically do <u>not</u> provide the ability to seamlessly mix wikis with non-wiki applications, such as message boards, [[:Category:Portal|portals]], [[:Category:Blog|blogs]], [[:Category:Internet forum|forums]], and galleries (though there are now some wiki farms which include some of these functions). The configuration is typically a predefined one used across all wiki sites on the farm, meaning this does not afford you the same levels of access to [[:Category:Custom skin|customisation]] as would installing the wiki software of your choice on a regular commercial wiki-capable web-host. | |||
*[[:Category:ScribbleWiki|ScribbleWiki]] went [[:Category:Dead|offline]] without warning in early Autumn 2008, and [[:Category:ElWiki|ElWiki]] went down in 2007, [[:Category:Wikkii|Wikkii]] subsequently met a similar fate. There is absolutely no guarantee that such disasters will not recur again to other wiki farms. | |||
===Key questions to ask=== | |||
*Who [[Owner|owns]] any domain names? Can you use your own domain registration (<u>and keep it</u>), without handing over the domain ownership to the wiki farm? | |||
*Who owns the content? Under what [[:Category:Wiki license|license]], and does that license allow unrestricted [[:Category:Commercial|commercial]] use of your content by others? | |||
*Who owns the project name, [[:Category:WikiLogo|logo]], and any other identifiers? Can you be confident that the wiki farm doesn't plan to take them from you and claim ownership for them themselves? | |||
*What happens if you attempt to move (aka [[fork]]) your wiki project to another host? Do you have access to [[:Category:Wiki database backup|download]] both your database ''and'' your [[user list]]? Will that original wiki farm continue to operate your old wiki site (as a '[[spoon]]') in direct competition with your wiki site on your new provider (as [[:Category:Wikia|Wikia]] have always done)? | |||
*What is the response time, and capacity of the [[:Category:Server|server]] (or servers)? Wiki (and dynamic content in general) are [[:Category:Database|database]]-intensive, leading wiki farms to often be much slower than the average for most other [[:Category:Internet|internet]] sites. | |||
*What is the quality of technical support? Are existing wiki farm [[user]]s getting speedy resolution of any problems, or waiting months for resolution of minor issues? As a wiki farm typically does not provide the same [[Sysop|sysadmin]]-level access as an ordinary commercial web-host, you are relying on others to maintain your server for you; how do they rate? | |||
*Where are the [[:Category:Wiki database backup|backups]] of your project-critical data? Are you free to download a copy as a precaution, and will that copy be up-to-date and [[List of wiki backups|complete]]? | |||
*What [[:Category:Software|software]], [[:Category:Plugin|plugins]], [[:Category:Extension|extensions]], and [[:Category:Skins|skins]] are available (if any)? If the setup is a bog-standard 'cookie-cutter' duplicate of every other wiki on the farm, is the choice of wiki software one that totally meets your needs? | |||
*What are the restrictions on [[:Category:Wiki Topic|topics]] or content on each site? Is the wiki farm willing to operate your wiki as you originally envisioned it, or will they reject your topic outright (or even worse, reject <u>after</u> you start building your content) for any number of arbitrary reasons, varying from your choice of name and license to overlap with other existing projects on the site? | |||
==See also== | |||
*[[:Category: Wiki farm]] — list of all known wiki farms indexed here on [[WikiIndex]] | |||
*[[Template: Wiki farm]] — the standard infobox template for wiki farm articles or categories | |||
==External links== | |||
*[[Wiki:WikiFarms|Wiki farms]] — at [[WikiWikiWeb]], aka Wards Wiki, Cunningham & Cunningham, Inc. | |||
*{{Wp|Comparison of wiki farms}} — at the [[English Wikipedia]], not comprehensive, it details only those 'notable' enough (in Wikipedia terms) to be included. | |||
*{{mw|Hosting services}} - at MediaWiki, a useful comprehensive comparison of wiki farms. | |||
*{{Wv|Wiki farm}} — at the [[English Wikiversity]] | |||
*{{Wb|Starting and Running a Wiki Website|Starting and Running a Wiki Website}} — at [[Wikibooks (English)|English Wikibooks]] (formerly known as 'Wiki Science: How to start a Wiki') | |||
**{{Wb|Starting and Running a Wiki Website/Hosted Wikis|List of free / paid / limited wiki providers}} — at English Wikibooks | |||
*[[Archive.org:20160505124923/http://pascal.vanhecke.info/2005/10/30/free-hosted-wikis-comparison-of-wiki-farms/|Free hosted wikis: comparison of wiki farms]] — by [https://www.Google.com/search?q=%22Pascal+Van+Hecke%22 Pascal Van Hecke], 30 October 2005, with 9 January 2006 update, (archived) | |||
*[http://OpenDirectoryProject.org/Computers/Software/Groupware/Wiki/Wiki_Farms Directory of Wiki Farms Resources] — at the [[Open Directory Project]] (ODP) | |||
*[http://www.PmWiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/WikiFarms Wiki farms] — an article at [[PmWiki]] | |||
*[[WikiApiary:Farm:Farms|List of MediaWiki farms]] — on [[WikiApiary]] | |||
*[[WikiApiary:Category:Farm|Category of MediaWiki farms]] — on WikiApiary | |||
[[Category:Wiki farm| ]] | |||
[[Category:Glossary]] | |||
[[Category:Wiki concept]] | |||