Viget.org was started in March 2007 by Michael Greene, Paul Wittenbraker, and George Wietor. It was formed with the idea of becoming a place to share the citizens of Grand Rapids' collective knowledge about what is a part of our fair city as well as to dream and theorize about what could be. As a wiki, it was built to authentically reflect the citizens of Grand Rapids. It's very name–Viget–takes from the motto of the City of Grand Rapids, Motu Viget.

Viget was built on the older MediaWiki and has not seen much development or growth in the past few years. We've moved Viget to the LocalWiki platform to reinvigorate it and begin its next stage of growth.

Why does Grand Rapids need a wiki when there are already many media outlets? The answer is twofold: longevity and sustainability. 

Grand Rapids needs a way to document itself. Media outlets by there very nature are constantly producing new content. They may feature an event or person, but that content will quickly be pushed aside for even fresher content. Viget can be the central archive for that kind of information. It can be the glue that connects all the coverage of an event.

Since Viget is citizen–powered, it does not solely rely on one particular organization or person. Thus, even if a prominent contributor leaves, Viget does not go away. Everyones work lives on to be built upon by others.