Wiki hosting service
server(s) providing tools to create and develop independent wikis
A wiki hosting service, or wiki farm, is a server or an array of servers that offers users tools to simplify the creation and development of individual, independent wikis.
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, created by Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley Starling in 2004 and formerly known as Wikicities and Wikia, is a well-known example of a wiki-hosting service.
Comparison of wiki hosting services
This comparison of wiki hosting services or wiki farms is not comprehensive, it details only those '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 pages.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Wiki hosting service” is server(s) providing tools to create and develop independent wikis. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Wiki, hosting and service, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “server(s) providing tools to create and develop independent wikis” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2166013. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2004.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
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- Establish the record: confirm the title “Wiki hosting service”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Wiki hosting service primary sources, Wiki hosting service archive and Wiki research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Wiki hosting service” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.