This is a general, non-technical introduction to the WikiMedia software.
== Revision History (Changelog) ==
* Wikipedia software Phase I - UseMod software [http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/UseMod]. Until early 2002 it was used to run all versions of Wikipedia. Currently it is still used for a number of language versions, including Finnish, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian and Lower Saxon. They are planned to be converted to MediaWiki, see m:Wikipedia software upgrade status [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_software_upgrade_status].
* Wikipedia software Phase II - first implementation in LAMP/AMP by Magnus Manske [http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Magnus_Manske]. It was switched from UseModWiki software ("Phase I") to new software, written especially for Wikipedia using the PHP programming language, on January 25, 2002 ("Phase II").
* Wikipedia software Phase III [http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:PHP_script]
:On Saturday, July 20, 2002, Wikipedia moved to a new high-capacity server and new, hopefully more efficient, software base. The new software was designed to look and behave as similarly to the previous phase II software as possible, but a few new features and changes should be noted:
:* A whole new system for uploading and using images to illustrate your articles.
:* Search function now indexes 2- and 3-letter words.
:* New side-by-side diffs of article changes.
:* "Floating" sidebar option for some modern web browsers.
:* A few minor changes to wikitext syntax (see wikipedia:How does one edit a page)
:* Since anonymous users, while not having user pages, still have user contributions pages, their IP numbers in lists like Recentchanges and article histories link to their contributions.
:* Support for maths formulae using Wikipedia:TeX markup
:* Better support for auto-posting "bots"
:* A new static page caching system has greatly reduced system load
:* The database server and the page server now run on separate machines
:The Phase III software is robust, and under active development. Many more features have been, and are expected to be, added to the Phase III software, together with bug fixes and improvements in stability. You are encouraged to submit bug reports.
* Wikipedia software Phase III = MediaWiki - based on LAMP/AMP. The name "MediaWiki" was coined by Wikipedia contributor Daniel Mayer as a play on Wikimedia.[http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-July/010966.html] Before that, the software was known as "Wikipedia software Phase III"; it was replaced by what is now called MediaWiki in June 2002.
* "Wikipedia software Phase IV" [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Wikipedia:Software_Phase_IV], [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:wikitech-l].
* The next version of the software is Phase IV.
== Where to go from here ==
