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.wiki is a
top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...
name. Its purpose is to denote websites that are
wiki A wiki ( ) is a form of hypertext publication on the internet which is collaboratively edited and managed by its audience directly through a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages that can either be edited by the public or l ...
s. It was proposed in
ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...
's New generic top-level domain (gTLD) Program, and became available to the general public on May 26, 2014. Registry Services LLC (owned by
GoDaddy GoDaddy Inc. is an American publicly traded Internet Domain name registry, domain registry, Domain name registrar, domain registrar and web hosting company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and incorporated in Delaware. GoDaddy is the world's fif ...
) is the
domain name registry A domain name registry is a database of all domain names and the associated registrant information in the top level domains of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet that enables third party entities to request administrative control of a d ...
for the gTLD.


History

In June 2012, Top Level Design submitted an application to ICANN for the .wiki gTLD. On November 7, 2013,
ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...
and Top Level Design entered into a "Registry Agreement", officially allowing the company to operate as the registry for .wiki. Following the acquisition, Ray King,
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Top Level Design, stated many people "from within he domainindustry tell me that .wiki is their dark horse for a successful LD," because ".wiki" describes the site format. "So, when I go to craftbeer.wiki, I can expect a vibrant site with passionate folks discussing all things relevant to brewing beer. This is not the case with craftbeer.com or craftbeer.guru, where you could be accessing a storefront, a blog, a brewery tourguide or any number of things." In January 2014, ClickZ named .wiki one of the "Top 10 gTLDs to Watch in 2014" for having the "potential to provide great secure, shared workspaces for companies large and small". The application was delegated to the
DNS root zone The DNS root zone is the top-level DNS zone in the hierarchical namespace of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Before October 1, 2016, the root zone had been overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ...
on February 19, 2014. By mid-March, Top Level Design had signed agreements with more than 120
domain name registrar A domain name registrar is a company, person, or office that manages the reservation of Internet domain names. A domain name registrar must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) Domain name registry, registry or a country code top-l ...
s to retail .wiki names. It was announced in May that the
Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...
, the non-profit organization mostly known for hosting
Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
, would use "w.wiki" as a
URL shortener URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) may be made substantially shorter and still direct to the required page. This is achieved by using a redirect which links to the web page that has a ...
. The Foundation also endorsed Top Level Design's proposal to ICANN's Registry Services Evaluation Process to unblock 179 two-letter strings representing language codes (all two-character strings are blocked under ICANN's standard Registry Agreement). .wiki domain registrations were available to only trademark holders until May 5; they became available to the general public on May 26, 2014. According to Domain Name Wire, more than 3,000 .wiki domains were registered on the first day of general availability. As part of the gTLD's launch, Top Level Design and
YouGov YouGov plc is a international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. History 2000–2010 Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim ...
released a report which concluded that nearly half of consumers in the United Kingdom and the United States have "little to no opportunity" to collaborate with their favorite brands online, and prefer brands that make online collaboration available to them. An additional fifteen percent of U.K. consumers wished they could collaborate with their favorite brands on future products. Finally, the report said nearly a quarter of U.K. and U.S. consumers want companies to solicit their ideas for future products and would contribute to a branded
wiki A wiki ( ) is a form of hypertext publication on the internet which is collaboratively edited and managed by its audience directly through a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages that can either be edited by the public or l ...
"if they could make a difference to an organisation, brand, service or community they feel passionately about". King acknowledged his interest in promoting collaboration between companies and consumers, given the collaborative nature of wikis and Top Level Design's acquisition of the .wiki gTLD. He said of the study's findings: In July 2015, .wiki was included in a list of the "Top 20 Best New gTLDs Based on Quality", based on data gathered from more than 20,000 developed websites on new gTLD domains, as part of Globe Runner's New gTLD SEO Power Rankings Index. In June 2023, the .wiki registry was transferred from Top Level Design to GoDaddy Registry.


Purpose

In its 2012 application, Top Level Design stated that the purpose of the .wiki top-level domain would be "to create a designated Internet space for wikis. This
TLD A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...
will clearly identify wikis from among the millions of other websites populating the Internet, and allow Internet users to easily find wikis relevant to their interests. Wiki websites are a growing phenomenon on the Internet and an innovative, easy-to-use peer-production method of creating and presenting information. They are generally open and editable and often community-driven; furthermore, individual wikis and the wiki platform are in constant flux in much the same way that the Internet as a whole is in flux. Wikis, like the broader Internet, are repositories of information that depend on each individual user to create value; they are meeting points and revolutionary ways to share ideas and knowledge; and they are both set to be expanded through the implementation of ICANN's New gTLD Program, and a .wiki
TLD A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...
specifically. We believe a .wiki
TLD A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...
is an intuitive and necessary addition to the collection of new gTLDs to be added as a result of the New gTLD Program." Note: User must click on "download public portion of application" under "String: WIKI".


See also

* .design, another top-level domain operated by Top Level Design *
List of Internet top-level domains This list of Internet top-level domains (TLD) contains top-level domains, which are those domains in the DNS root zone of the Domain Name System of the Internet. A list of the top-level domains by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) ...


References


External links


Delegation Record for .WIKI
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, Autonomous system (Internet), autonomous system number allocation, DNS root zone, root zone management in the Domain Name Syste ...
(IANA) * by
ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...
(November 15, 2013) {{wikis Internet properties established in 2014
Wiki A wiki ( ) is a form of hypertext publication on the internet which is collaboratively edited and managed by its audience directly through a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages that can either be edited by the public or l ...
Wikis