A wiki farm is a server or an array of servers that provides hosting for multiple wikis. Wiki farms are also known as "hosted wiki service providers."
Before wiki farms were available, users who wanted to share information on-line through a Wiki devoted to their own subject, had to install a Wiki server of their own, configure it, connect it to the Internet and maintain it. With wiki farms this process is greatly simplified. In order to operate a wiki on a wiki farm nowadays, there is no need to get a private web server and to install Wiki software.
Non-commercial and 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.
The Wikis on the wiki farms are normally provided with a standard layout, or a choice of layouts, usually known as skins. Some wiki farms allow the layout to be customised using cascading style sheets (css).
The following tables compare general information for several wiki farms; however, more than 100 wiki farms have been created.[1] Further information can be found at the websites themselves, or in the linked article for some of the more notable ones. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up to date. It does not review or endorse any wiki farm, nor does it include any advertising hyperbole. See the external links at the end for more info, reviews, forums, etc.
Project management, permissioning, administration and support for multiple domains.
eTouch CMS (custom, powered by)
HelpingStudents.org
Yes
Java server pages, scripts and plugin wiki options for school administrators and teachers that provide parental information resources WikiText and HTML editing, metasearch, factoring, permissioning, SSL Encryption, Private Intranet implementation with public integration administration and support.
3-pane drag-and-dropAjax-based interface similar to email and newsfeed readers, private secure wiki spaces (including invitation-only and a domain security option based on validated email domains, i.e. "Everybody with email@domain.com"), tags, blog, bliki, "What's New" views, draft autosaving, discussion, attachments with version history, SSL, unlimited spaces, pages, edits, versions, storage, and bandwidth.
Offers a wide collection of services for multi-purpose free/libre projects (not only free software: free knowledge), including wikis, mailing lists, forums, FTP, subdomains, hosting, ddbb...
Password-protected wikis on .pbwiki.com subdomain (higher-level paid plans allow use of a custom URL). No page limits, SSL, RSS & Atom, ZIP backups, diffs, six wiki "skins", file uploads, page hiding, page locking. Over 490,000 wikis hosted. One level of folders used to organize pages. Folder- and page-level access controls available to paying customers and business users. Free accounts limited to 10 MB, paying accounts get up to 10 GB.
Focused on providing software development tools as a service. Wiki features include Unlimited document storage, Custom access profiles for partners, customers, and managers, Support for attachments on documents, Privacy Commitment - Your Data is Yours Alone, Secure access via SSL, RAID 1 redundant storage of all data, Nightly backups, 24/7 Server Monitoring
[?] (custom)
Referata
No
A semantic wiki hosting site. Uses MediaWiki, along with Semantic MediaWiki and related extensions, to enable wikis to serve as collaborative databases, with custom forms, result tables, calendars, maps, etc. Every wiki gets a subdomain of referata.com, although some paid service levels also allow for custom domains.
cross-platform WYSIWYG editing, stylesheets, subdomains.seedwiki.com, wiki-mode, subscriptions; paid option for having one's own domain that the wiki-owner can tag on to his wiki
[?] (custom)
All HTML,[1]
JavaScript and Seedwiki widgets
Plugin formulas
Simple and straight-forward interface for creating and editing private or public wikis. Create wikis using HTML markup instead of a special wiki language.
Free version is ad-supported, paid version has option of using own domain, attach files, no limit on number of pages and backups, max 5GB (pain version)[8]
Wiki hosting service created in 2004, formerly known as Wikicities. All wikis have common login and preferences. Single sign-on to multiple projects. Database download available. Creation of a wiki is subject to approval; must have a large potential audience and be likely to attract enough editors. Projects which overlap existing Wikia or Wikimedia are not accepted. No means to close an inactive wiki, even if the community has moved elsewhere. Wikia domains, names and identifiers owned by Wikia Inc, not the respective communities. There is also a "Scratchpad" wiki subdivided into categories, which welcomes all content.
Each site gets a subdomain on .wikidot.com (like mywiki.wikidot.com). Also there is possibility to map a custom domain (like mywiki.com -- if previously registered by the wiki owner) for free. One can optionally allow Wikidot to display ads on their wiki and get 80% of revenue. RSS import/export, private RSS feeds for Users (notifications and watched items), RSS for page changes and forum, customizable themes (every item can be styled with CSS), advanced forum for each Site. Custom page hierarchies, searching, advanced page (full/section/append) edit locking, blocking users and IP addresses. Private messages between users. Uses Ajax for clean and fast (no browser page-reload) interface. SEO-friendly. No limits on site size. Public and private wikis. Lots of widgets, that allow to embed a video from YouTube, GoogleVideo, photos from Flickr, chats from Meebo and many more). Each user can create up to 20 wiki sites and be a member of an unlimited number of wikis.
100 MB space, File and Image upload, User authentication, Private wikis, Subdomains for wikis larger than 30 pages, RSS, Edit locking, Fulltext search, Email notifications, Complete wiki export, Unlimited pages, Unlimited Revisions, Diff function, Revert of old revisions
GeboGebo
Wiki-site.com
Yes
Wiki farm with unlimited pages and users, wiki spam protection, user rights control for paid accounts. Interface in 150 languages. A free *.wiki-site.com domain is offered. Google text-ads added to the right sidebar for free accounts.
Clean easy to use interface, users get a subdomain on wikispaces.com. Free version supported by Google ads - Wikispaces ads can be turned off for a fee. No limits on numbers of pages, spaces, or members. Full RSS support; easy space backups in zip and tgz. Blog import function/ integration with Blogger.com and Typepad. Themes and stylesheets can be customized. Private label service available.
No advertising, user accounts work on all wikis, use bookmarks and track changes across multiple wikis. Customizable CSS by wiki and user CSS. Simple, intuitive syntax. No limits on pages/disk space. RSS feeds available on all pages. Easy to create a wiki and configure settings.