While researching wikis, I came across the very first one, C2.com, which was originally designed to assist in software development. It's mostly defunct these days with the last edit made in December 2014, but it exists as a testament to the program's development. The site's history page serves as an electronic museum and it's worth a read to see how far things have come.
Many of the improvements made to wiki programming over time are immediately evident. All of the links on C2 are done in CamelCase without any covering up to separate the words out. Apparently it didn't have user names until 2000 and page history saves until 2004! Those are some of the most important tools when it comes to using a wiki as an instructional resource and it's strange to think of a time when they weren't present. Additionally, comments are left directly on a page and signed rather than hidden in their own section, which is just odd to see.
Naturally, C2.com also hosted the first wiki edit wars, such as the "WikiMindWipe", in which an editor quit and damaged the community on the way out, both by leaving angrily and by messing with the software. No matter the era, personality clashes will always affect an online community.
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