OStatic

Wikidbase combines the functionalities of a database system and a wiki web application. WikidBASE aims to allow non-technical users of a database system to create and evolve their database model over time.

In a conventional DBMS, the schema and queries are created and optimized based on a data model that is difficult for non-technical users to change and maintain.

A wiki, on the other hand, is relatively easy to modify and manage, even by non-technical users, and can be likened to an unstructured database, since there is no predetermined modle for the information that will be stored, However, unlike a structured database, information held in a wiki cannot be treated like that found in a database, and structured information from a wiki is not easy to retrieve. The main data retrieval interface tends to be the text-search interface.

Wikidbase can be thought of as more than just a database, as a rich groupware application that will be capable of storing and organizing all sorts of information (e.g. fully relational data, plain old information pages, files, images, media, semi-structured data, shared calendar type information, etc.). It is targeted at a non-technical audience, including people working with non-profit and charity organizations, who might not have a database administrator on staff.