The '''Bitcoin.it Wiki''', usually just the '''Bitcoin Wiki''', is a MediaWiki repository of Bitcoin-related knowledge. It was founded by [[Martti Malmi]] in 2010 on dokuwiki, and then later reinstated by [[Mark Karpelès]] on MediaWiki. Malmi's and Karpelès's wikis both existed simultaneously for a short time while the contents of the old wiki were transferred to the new one. The dokuwiki revisions are visible on some old pages, highlighted green.
Unlike Wikipedia, the Bitcoin Wiki is not an encyclopedia, and includes things like non-encyclopedia details (e.g., exact specifications on service fees, product performance, etc), how-to manuals, protocol specifications, original research, etc. There are also no notability requirements beyond the requirement that the material be of general interest to some segment of the Bitcoin community or the Bitcoin-curious general public.
[[File:BitcoinWiki2010.png|thumb|The Bitcoin Wiki in 2010]]In early 2011, the wiki offered a Contributor's Award which was to be shared by all members depending on work contributed. 500 bitcoins were collected, but were never distributed. They were presumed lost in the [[Mt. Gox]] hack.
Because this resource is open to editing by the general public, readers should be aware that the material presented here often does not reflect the views of the entire Bitcoin community and may be outdated, incorrect, or outright malicious at times.
== Some advice for editing ==
Content on the Wiki should generally be factual in nature where possible, but because Bitcoin is relatively new, many important subjects are not yet completely understood and are sometimes best described by opinion. When there is controversy, the Bitcoin wiki should teach it and explain all the major views. Editors should refrain from asserting ownership over an article and seek compromise where possible. Opinion pieces that are of general community interest can be posted under the user's personal namespace. Generally, if you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
While the Wiki doesn't exist to promote any particular businesses or commercial activity, such things are important parts of the Bitcoin ecosystem and get discussed here, but biased editing with a strong pecuniary interest is frowned upon and spamming up the wiki with referral links is prohibited. Non-Bitcoin alternatives may, at times, be discussed here, especially for comparison purposes or to illustrate a point but this wiki is a Bitcoin community resource and edits which promote competing systems may be frowned on by the community.
To prevent unnecessary drama, editors should refrain from adding material which they believe may be unlawful for them or other editors to post. Bitcoin Wiki respects your freedom to communicate but since this is a shared resource you should respect other people's right to be free from the association with your views and their consequences.
As a small community resource, the Bitcoin Wiki is often less formal than generic references like Wikipedia and because it addresses a broad community of interests, not all pages will be suitable for all readers: Some pages are written for a technical audience about a technical subject and wouldn't serve their intended audience if simplified for the layman. In cases where audience goals conflict and can't be resolved, we should ExpandSpace and create new pages to cover the subject from different angles if we need to. Editors should be mindful, however, of the work it takes to maintain pages and try to avoid an excessive proliferation of pages which will not be well maintained.
== Internationalization ==
This wiki uses a multi-lingual scheme similar to Wikipedia's, which means a translated article get links to its translation in the menu (in the left column from the [[Main Page]]).
If you feel one language is missing and are ready to start translating a lot of pages, you can request the creation of the language of your choice.
* [[Main Page|English]]
* French: [http://fr.bitcoin.it Français]
* Chinese: [http://zh-cn.bitcoin.it 中文(中国大陆)]
* German: [http://de.bitcoin.it Deutsch]
* Hebrew: [http://he.bitcoin.it עברית]
* Russian: [http://ru.bitcoin.it Русский]
* Spanish: [http://es.bitcoin.it Español]
* Italian: [http://it.bitcoin.it Italiano]
* Polish: [http://pl.bitcoin.it/wiki/Strona_g%C5%82%C3%B3wna Język Polski]
* Lithuanian: [[Talk:Bitcoin.it Wiki#Lithuanian|Lietuvių kalba (preparation)]]
== Backups ==
'''Note: This is temporarily offline.'''
Backups are generated daily at 00:00 GMT, and can be downloaded from [https://dump.bitcoin.it/ the backup repository]. Setting up a mirror is easy enough, as many websites explain how to restore a MediaWiki xml dump into a fresh installation.
== Contact ==
Staff and some other editors can be contacted in [irc://irc.freenode.net/bitcoin-wiki the #bitcoin-wiki freenode IRC channel].
Please avoid contacting us to ask questions already answered on this wiki.
== License ==
When Bitcoin.it wiki was opened (on December 16th 2010), the initial license was [[wikipedia:WTFPL|WTFPL]]. It has been brought up that CC-by would be more appropriate as content from the previous wiki is under CC-by.
== Acceptable Use ==
The [http://en.bitcoin.it/w/index.php?title=Special:ListUsers&group=sysop administrators] of this group maintain a list of [[BitcoinWiki:Rules|rules]].
The Bitcoin.it Wiki, usually just the Bitcoin Wiki, is a MediaWiki repository of Bitcoin-related knowledge. It was founded by Martti Malmi in 2010 on dokuwiki, and then later reinstated by Mark Karpelès on MediaWiki. Malmi's and Karpelès's wikis both existed simultaneously for a short time while the contents of the old wiki were transferred to the new one. The dokuwiki revisions are visible on some old pages, highlighted green.
The Bitcoin Wiki in 2010
In early 2011, the wiki offered a Contributor's Award which was to be shared by all members depending on work contributed. 500 bitcoins were collected, but were never distributed. They were presumed lost in the Mt. Gox hack.
