Mushure mekunge Wikipedia yatanga kushanda muna 2002, Wikipedia yakatanga kushanda paPHP wiki ine database engine; iyi software yakagadzirirwa nePHP uye yakavakirwa paMySQL database system. Iyo software inosanganisira zvirongwa zvekuronga zvakadai semutauro we macro, variables, transclusion system for templates, uye URL redirection. MediaWiki ine rezinesi pasi peGNU General Public License uye inoshandiswa nemapurojekiti ese eWikimedia, pamwe nemamwe akawanda mapurojekiti ewiki. Pakutanga, Wikipedia yakamhanyira paUseModWiki yakanyorwa muPerl naClifford Adams (Chikamu I), iyo pakutanga yaida CamelCase yezvinyorwa hyperlinks; iyo yazvino kaviri bracket maitiro yakabatanidzwa. Gare gare kutanga muna 2002 (Chikamu II), Wikipedia yakatanga kumhanya paPHP wiki ine database injini; iyi software yakagadzirirwa Wikipedia naMagnus M. Iyo Phase II software yakagadziridzwa kakawanda kuti igone exponentially kuwedzera kudiwa kweSoftware. MuJanuary 2002, iyo software yakatanga kunyorwa naDaniel Lee Crocker (Chikamu III), yakachinjirwa kuWiki MediaWiki.
macro mutauro, variables, a transclusion system for templates, uye URL redirection