Pipedia: the Shared Archive of Pipe Knowledge

Pipedia is an English-language online reference, open to contributions from anyone, on tobacco pipes, pipe brands, and pipe makers. It runs on the same MediaWiki software used by Wikipedia, which keeps page history, discussion pages, and the file archive under one roof. Today it is regarded as the pipe community's largest shared knowledge base.

Founding and How Contributions Work

The site is reported to have been founded in 2007 by American pipe maker Scott Thile. According to the founder's interviews, the idea grew out of the thought that a site introducing Danish makers could just as well be built for American makers; aside from two interviews, no document confirms this detail.

Articles move forward through direct editing by registered users. Automatic account creation was closed for a period because of heavy spam attempts, and account requests are now taken by email. A collector who does not want to edit directly can instead pass along their information and photographs to an active contributor, and this is an accepted route; many brand pages in the archive have grown this indirect way.