I took a look at the following 3 wikis from a user/reader perspective: Wikitravel (MediaWiki), The Elemenstor Saga Wiki (PBWiki), and Tudors Wiki (Wetpaint).

Wikitravel looks the most polished to me, though that could be just due to the fact that I am so used to seeing Wikipedia, so the MediaWiki software is the most familiar to me. The top and side menus are clear, and there is a navigation menu along the side, though it certainly doesn't list all the pages (probably because there are too many). There is a search bar, which is very sophisticated and seems easy to use, and there are also links from the main page to the main travel regions. This wiki is very user-friendly and clear.

The Elemenstor Saga Wiki uses PBWiki. This wiki seems much more simple and amateur than Wikitravel, though this is not necessarily due to the software programs, but could be due to the number of users & the time spent developing and designing the wiki. However, there is no side navigation menu. There is a menu on the main page as part of its content, and the great thing about this menu is that it shows hierarchical relationships between pages. Very useful to see all the pages and their relationships to each other. There are comments at the bottom of the page, which go on forever, and start with the earliest, which makes no sense because you have to scroll to the bottom to see the latest discussions (and it is a long scroll!).

The Tudors Wiki on Wetpaint has an easy navigation menu (but no hiearchies) and also has a thorough menu along the top, which seems very easy to navigate. There are a lot of pictures, videos, and RSS feeds, and it seems like a lot of time and effort went into the design of this Wiki. Looking at some other Wetpaint wikis, there are many that are more simply designed, which just goes to show that Wetpaint is flexible in terms of customizing design. I find this wiki easy to use, but a little overwhelming with content and links. 

I would have to say out of these three that Wikitravel is the most user-friendly, providing many links without overloading the user with too many options and too much content competing for attention. 

-Erin

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