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{{Short description|Server hosting independent wikis}}
{{Primary sources|date=February 2023}}
{{internet hosting}}

A '''wiki hosting service''', or '''wiki farm''', is a [[Server (computing)|server]] or an [[Server farm|array of servers]] that offers users tools to simplify the creation and development of individual, independent [[wiki]]s.

Prior to wiki farms, someone who wanted to operate a wiki had to install the software and manage the server(s) themselves. With a wiki farm, the farm's administration installs the core wiki code once on its own servers, centrally maintains the servers, and establishes unique space on the servers for the content of each individual wiki with the shared core code executing the functions of each wiki.

Both commercial and non-commercial wiki farms are available for users and online communities. While most of the wiki farms allow anyone to open their own wiki, some impose restrictions. Many wiki farm companies generate revenue through the insertion of advertisements, but often allow payment of a monthly fee as an alternative to accepting ads.

[[Fandom (website)|Fandom]], created by [[Jimmy Wales]] and [[Angela Beesley Starling]] in 2004 and formerly known as Wikia, is a well-known example of a wiki-hosting service.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://about.fandom.com/about |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Fandom |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714063351/https://about.fandom.com/about |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chmielewski |first=Dawn |date=2016-01-25 |title=Wikia Launches Fandom, a New Place to Get Your Nerd On |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/1/25/11589030/wikia-launches-fandom-a-new-place-to-get-your-nerd-on |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Vox |language=en |archive-date=2022-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312104519/https://www.vox.com/2016/1/25/11589030/wikia-launches-fandom-a-new-place-to-get-your-nerd-on |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Comparison of wiki hosting services==
This '''comparison of wiki hosting services''' or '''wiki farms''' is not comprehensive, it details only those '[[Notability in the English Wikipedia|notable]]' enough (in Wikipedia terms) to be included. A useful comprehensive comparison of wiki farms can be found on [[MediaWiki]]'s site, at [[mw:Hosting services]].

Online services which host [[wiki]]-style editable [[web page]]s. General characteristics of cost, presence of advertising, licensing are compared, as are technical differences in editing, features, wiki engine, multilingual support and syntax support.
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This table compares general information for several of the more than 100 wiki hosting services that exist.<ref name="wikmat">"WikiMatrix - Compare them all" (selectable table),
WikiMatrix, 2007, webpage:
[http://www.wikimatrix.org/ wikimatrix-org-main] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131033544/http://www.wikimatrix.org/ |date=2016-01-31 }}.</ref>

All the mentioned services have [[WYSIWYG]] editing.

{{mw-datatable}}{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-datatable sticky-header" style="font-size:90%;" width=100%
|+ Wiki hosting services
|- style=vertical-align:bottom;
! {{vert header|Hosting service}}
! {{vert header|Start}}
! {{vert header|Cost}}
! {{vert header|Ad supported}}
! {{vert header|Content license}}
! {{vert header|[[Subdomain]]}}
! {{vert header|Custom themes}}
! {{vert header|Download, backup}}
! {{vert header|Other Features}}
! {{vert header|Base wiki engine}}
! {{vert header|Language}}
! {{vert header|Syntax support}}
|-
| '''[[Confluence (software)|Confluence]]'''
| {{center|2004}}
| {{Nonfree}}{{efn|Confluence has no free hosted option,  but offers free software for charitable nonprofits and open source projects.}}
| {{dunno}}
|
| {{No}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
|  Plugins, SSL, file storage, permissioning, WebDAV.
|
|
| WYSIWYG Rich-text editor<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/insert-confluence-wiki-markup/|title=Confluence wiki markup syntax &#124; Confluence Cloud|access-date=2024-02-01|archive-date=2023-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201232149/https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/insert-confluence-wiki-markup/|url-status=live}}</ref><br />script plugin<br />No&nbsp;formulas
|-
| '''[[Central Desktop]]'''
| {{center|2005}}
| {{Nonfree}}
| {{dunno}}
|
| {{No}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| Access control, full-text search, calendaring, single sign-on to multiple projects, project templates, [[RSS]] enabled.
| [?] (custom)
|
| HTML,<ref name="wikmat" /><br />CSS/templating<br />No&nbsp;formulas
|-
| '''[[Ourproject.org]]'''
| {{center|2002}}
| {{Free}}
| {{Yes|No}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ourproject.org/docman/view.php/1/19/file19.html#bases |title=Ourproject.org Manifesto |date=July 2006 |publisher=[[Ourproject.org]] |access-date=2019-11-25 |archive-date=2019-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204211344/http://ourproject.org/docman/view.php/1/19/file19.html#bases |url-status=live }}</ref>
| [[Copyleft]] (choice of [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons]], [[GNU FDL]], other licenses)
| {{Yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| {{dunno}}
| Mailing lists, FTP, SSH,  ddbb, email alias, backups, CVS/SVN, forums, task management.
| [[MoinMoin]] by default; custom supported
| Supports English, Spanish, French, and many other languages.
|
|-
| '''[[PBworks]]'''
| {{center|2005}}
| {{Nonfree}}
| {{Yes|No}}
|
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{dunno}}
| No page limits, SSL, RSS & Atom, email notifications, file management, page access settings. 
| [?] (custom)
|
| All HTML,<ref name="wikmat" /><br />[[JavaScript]],<br />[[LaTeX]] formulas
|-
| '''[[Fandom (website)|Fandom]]'''
| {{center|2004}}
| {{Free}}
| {{No|Yes}}
| [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons]]
| {{sometimes|Yes, but not for multilingual wikis}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| Common login and common preferences to all wikis of FANDOM for the same user. Blog, User Page, and User Talk pages for users.
| [[MediaWiki]]
| All languages Wikipedia supports (and some more); Community Support in English, Chinese, German, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and several other languages.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
| [[Wikitext]] as used by MediaWiki,<br />Some HTML,<ref name="wikmat" /> JavaScript,<br />Math&nbsp;formula,<br />Lua
|-
| {{Visible anchor|Miraheze|text='''Miraheze'''}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-16 |title=Monster Girl Encyclopedia Wiki Will Be Sacked By Host Due To ‘Fetish’ Content |url=https://kotaku.com/monster-girl-encyclopedia-wiki-will-be-sacked-by-host-d-1848068972 |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=Kotaku |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bak |first=Jesica |date=2022-11-01 |title=Student-created Huskypedia aims to provide resources, information to students |url=https://huntnewsnu.com/69493/campus/student-created-huskypedia-aims-to-provide-resources-information-to-students/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=The Huntington News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Build Your Own Wiki Platform And Grow Your Community With Miraheze |url=https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/miraheze-interview/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620154605/https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/miraheze-interview/ |archive-date=2023-06-20 |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Website Planet |language=en}}</ref>
| {{center|2015}}
| {{Free}}
| {{Yes|No}}
| [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons]]
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| Common login, custom extensions and skins and custom domains
| [[MediaWiki]]
| All languages Wikipedia supports (and some more)
| WYSIWYG Rich-text editor<br />script plugin
|}

=== Deprecated wiki hosts ===
This section is for hosts that were previously in the list above but no longer available:
* [[Wikispaces]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.curlie.org/Computers/Software/Groupware/Wiki/Wiki_Farms/ Computers/Software/Groupware/Wiki/Wiki Farms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005141739/https://www.curlie.org/Computers/Software/Groupware/Wiki/Wiki_Farms/ |date=2022-10-05 }} at [[DMOZ|Curlie]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160131033544/http://www.wikimatrix.org/ Wikimatrix, with interactive selection of wikifarms based on user preference], now only available through the [[Wayback Machine]].

{{Wiki topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiki Farms}}
[[Category:Wiki farms| ]]
[[Category:Web hosting]]