A new Wikipedia fork, Citizendium, will be launched within the next few weeks, according to project coordinator, Wikipedia co-founder, and "chief organizer" Larry Sanger.
The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), a "citizens' compendium of everything," will be an experimental new wiki project that combines public participation with gentle expert guidance. It will begin life as a "progressive fork" of Wikipedia. But we expect it to take on a life of its own and, perhaps, to become the flagship of a new set of responsibly-managed free knowledge projects. We will avoid calling it an "encyclopedia," because there will probably always be articles in the resource that have not been vouched for in any sense.
The project would be editable only by creating an account and providing a real name. "Authors" (as Citizendium "editors" are called) would be able to edit the site. "Editors" are experts who must provide credentials, and who resolve editing disputes on pages relating to their area of study. "Constables" would be community managers (not like administrators on Wikipedia).
The project is, according to Sanger, independent of Digital Universe, a similar project with which Sanger was involved.
The announcement was not accompanied by a great deal of press attention; at press time, a ZDNetblog post was the closest to mainstream media coverage that the project had received.
Simple English has approximately 5,200 registered users and 16 registered (eight active) Administrators. The project has two registered bureaucrats, only one of whom is currently active. User:Angela, a long-time proponent of the project, stepped down as a bureaucrat but remains a semi-active administrator.
Background
"Simple" began about three years ago as a resource for those teaching and learning English. While the subject matter is intended to be as complex as a standard encyclopedia, authors are asked to use the 1000 most common English words, to write in simple grammatical structures, and to explain more complex words whenever they are encountered (see examples).
The project can also act as a translation "middle ground" between the other Wikipedias. For example, an article in one language can be "translated" to Simple English and from there over to another language.
As stated in its image use policy, Simple English Wikipedia uses only images from the Wikimedia Commons. One of Simple English's functions is to serve as a translation source for other Wikipedias, and using Commons images makes re-use much simpler. The policy also helps to discourage users from creating too many extensive "pop culture" articles, whilst fostering the creation of others which are more encyclopedic in subject. The Upload function is not completely disabled, however: it remains available for Spoken articles and other similar project-specific media.
Userboxes
Because it was deemed desirable to avoid the problems encountered by other Wikimedia Foundation wikis in this area, userboxes are limited to the language-specific "Babel" scheme.
Sister projects
Most of the Simple English sister projects have existed for quite some time, but are still in their very early stages and relatively small compared to others. All of these projects are currently nominated under "Proposals for closing projects".
Voting for the elections for the Board of Trustees will end this week at 23:59, Thursday, 21 September. As of press time, over 2,000 Wikimedians had voted already to determine which one of the 17 candidates will fulfill the rest of current Board member Angela Beesley's term. The results of the election will be announced in the weeks following the election.
Bidding for Wikimania 2007 advances
Bidding for Wikimania 2007 advanced this week as the jury, comprised primarily of the Board of Trustees and members of Wikimania 2006's organization team, selected four cities for the "shortlist" of candidate cities. The cities - Alexandria, Taipei, London, and Torino - advanced from an initial stage of eight cities bidding. After a general meeting Saturday, September 23 in #wikimania, the winning city will be announced the following day.
Developer Tim Starling hospitalized
Tim Starling, a Wikimedia system administrator and developer, was hospitalized in St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne after undergoing surgery to clear a bowel obstruction (first misdiagnosed as gastroenteritis). Angelareports that Tim is expected to stay for another week, and might take up to six weeks before he's 100%. A get well card is available for those wishing to send a personal message to Tim.
Polish Wikipedia celebrates fifth anniversary
The Polish Wikipedia, which is the fourth largest language version, was created on September 26, 2001. It has always been in the lead of numerous language versions and now it boasts 300,000 articles. A DVD release is in the works and soon to be revealed are plans of enhanced credibility.
To mark the fifth anniversary Wikimedia Polska in cooperation with Creative Commons Poland are organizing an open event that will take place in Warsaw on September 23, 2006. Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales will be among the invited guests.
After the main part of the event that will include a Creative Commons discussion panel the participants will celebrate the anniversary at the Wikipedia Birthday Party. Contact: Wikimedia Polska and PR/spokesman.
September 11 Wiki locked
This week, developer and Chief Technical Officer Brion Vibberlocked the September 11 Wiki, a project designed to memorialize the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, to prevent editing. The move follows months of discussion, with most people urging that the site either be closed or locked due to inactivity and the potential for vandals and spammers.
Cybersquatting
A request for squatted Wikimedia domains continued this week. Cybersquatting is a practice of registering website domain names similar to exisiting sites for the purpose of profiteering with bad faith. It is unclear what actions, if any, the Wikimedia Foundation will take regarding those domains.
Will Wikipedia Mean the End Of Traditional Encyclopedias? Jimmy Wales and Dale Hoiberg, Encyclopædia Britannica editor in Chief, were interviewed through email by the Wall Street Journal. Wales and Hoiberg discussed issues of editorial control, the differing approaches to content gathering, the balance between quality and open editing, and Wikipedia policies. Hoiberg took offense that Wales included links [1][2] refering to articles where Britannica received bad publicity; however, Wales responded that links are one of the powerful advantages of being online and that Wikipedia had a "fine article on the [criticism of Wikipedia]". The accompanying WSJ online poll showed strong support for the open editing approach.
Wikipedia articles average 11th in search results
Steve Rubel found that the Wikipedia article for the top 100 advertisers (by marketing dollars spent) was result 11 on Google. Rubel posted a blog entry, Study: Wikipedia Dominates Brand Search Results, that supplemented and quoted an article he wrote in last week's issue of Advertising Age. Rubel opined that 11 was "just shy of the magic number 10 required to make Google's first page of results." He discussed the impact that a Wikipedia article can have on shaping brand identity. Rubel also discussed Wikipedia's neutrality policy and suggested that Wikipedia provide space in the article "where brand managers ... can respond in an official capacity."
Set Vary: Cookie on action=raw generated CSS and JS, to ensure that user preferences don't get stuck in proxy caches for other people
Add page_no_title_convert field to support language variant conversion for page titles which shouldn't be converted on display/linking
Lazy extraction of text chunks in Revision objects, may reduce hits to external storage when actual text content is not used
Added experimental $wgRevisionCacheExpiry to cache extracted revision text in $wgMemc, to further reduce hits to external storage.
Set to 0 (disabled) by default.
Minor changes to the installer.
Remove ":" for 'youremail' and 'yourrealname' in includes/templates/Userlogin.php so that ":" could be used in i18n for Special:Preferences (like 'username' and 'uid').
Warren Kinsella: Closed today after six weeks, a case involving the actions of Arthur Ellis, Pete Peters and others on the Warren Kinsella article. Both users accuse the other of disruptive edits on the page, and Peters and others accuse Ellis of sockpuppetry using anon accounts, while Ellis alleges that administrators dealt inequitably with him and Peters. Ellis was banned from the article indefinitely, and limited to one account.
Kehrli: Closed on Sunday after one month, a case involving the actions of Nick Y and Kherli on Mass-to-charge ratio and related articles. Both protagonists accuse each other of POV pushing, adding unsourced information, and adding dispute tags without reason. Kehrli was banned from articles relating to M/z for one year, and prohibited from changing from m/z to any other notation, for a period of two years.
St Christopher: Closed on Sunday after one month, a case involving St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine, a school whose accreditation status is in dispute, and in particular the behaviour of ParalelUni on the page. ParalelUni's community ban was endorsed, and all single-purpose accounts were banned from editing the article disruptively.
Intangible: Closed last Tuesday after six weeks, a case involving the actions of Intangible. Cberlet alleges that Intangible has used an "aggressive and confrontational" editing style to push his POV (partly through the wholesale deletion of the term "far right" from numerous pages), making sweeping edits and reverts with little or no discussion, and being "contentious and confrontational" in talk page discussions. Intangible vigorously denies the allegations. Intangible and AaronS were placed on probation.
New cases
Vivaldi: A case involving the actions of Vivaldi on Jack Hyles and related articles. Arbustoo alleges that Vivaldi has removed "cited criticism" from the article, as well as harassment, incivility and edit warring. However, an anon IP, 205.157.110.11 accuses Arbustoo of removing comments from AfDs.
Kven: A case involving the actions of Art Dominique and alleged sockpuppets on the Kven article.
Kosovo: A case involving the actions of editors on Kosovo, particularly the political status of Kosovo. A temporary injunction has been passed allowing any uninvolved administrator to ban any of the named users from the page. Various remedies have been proposed, applying various bans, warnings, limits and paroles to a number of users.
Ackoz: A case involving the actions and community ban of Ackoz, and his later account, Azmoc. The user previously contributed to Wikipedia under the name Ackoz. He admits to "some trolling" after a three-day block, which led to his ban. However, he has stated that were he unbanned, he would cease his disruptive behaviour, and would be prepared to undergo mentorship. Fred Bauder has introduced remedies, which have not yet been voted on, to unblock Ackoz and place him on probation for one year, leaving open the possibility for a renewed community ban should Ackoz "revert to his previous pattern of sustained trolling", which have been supported by Dmcdevit.
Marudubshinki: A case involving the actions of Marudubshinki. Snottygobble, I@n and others allege that Marudubshinki has operated an unauthorised bot, and misused his sysop powers by unblocking himself and allowing his bot to delete pages. A remedy to desysop Marudubshinki has the support of two arbitrators.
MONGO: A case involving the actions of MONGO, rootology, and others. The case centers around Encyclopædia damatica, and an article posted on the site portraying MONGO in a negative light. Remedies proposed by Fred Bauder include indefinitely banning PrivateEditor, as well as other remedies that have not yet been voted on by other arbitrators.
Ed Poor 2: A case involving Ed Poor. JoshuaZ and Consumed Crustacean have accused Poor of POV pushing and disruption; Poor has not introduced evidence in the case. Ed Poor was party to two prior cases; the first was closed after Poor resigned his status as a bureaucrat, and the second resulted in his desysopping. Fred Bauder has proposed a remedy placing him on probation, a modified version of which has attracted the support of three arbitrators.
Pat8722: A case involving the actions of Pat8722. BorgHunter has accused Pat8722 of edit-warring. Pat8722 has requested that the ArbCom stay the case while he pursues 6 pro se cases in the American courts, and has agreed not to edit Wikipedia in the interim. A motion establishing the principle of a "continuance", and a remedy extending this to Pat8722, are supported by two arbitrators; a separate motion to place Pat8722 on probation has also been raised.
Israel-Lebanon: A case involving the actions of AdamKesher, Tasc and others on 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. AdamKesher accuses Tasc of removing relevant external links which satisfy WP:EL, and he denies the allegation. In response, Denis Diderot accuses Kesher of "using Wikipedia as a tool to promote his POV". Proposed remedies to affirm the possibility of using blogs containing "contemporary opinion and observations" about current events, cautioning editors involved and santioning bans for users who edit war on the article have the support of three to four arbitrators.
Deir Yassin massacre: A case involving the actions of KimvdLinde and Guy Montag on Deir Yassin massacre. KimvdLinde alleges that Montag has violated his probation by rewriting the article, unilaterally moving it to "Battle of Deir Yassin", violating copyright and votestacking. In return, Montag refuses "to participate in any of these proceedings", and alleges that KimvdLinde has abused her admin tools by exercising them in a dispute in which she is involved. Proposed remedies banning Guy Montag from articles relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, extending his probation for another year, and encouraging users to enforce Montag's probation have the support of five to six arbitrators.
Motion to close
Zer0faults: A case involving the actions of Zer0faults and Nescio on Template:War on Terrorism, War on Terror and related arguments. Nescio alleges that Zer0faults has engaged in violation of WP:POINT, disruptive editing, and "uncivil remarks". In return, Zer0faults alleges that Nescio has failed to assume good faith, violated WP:POINT and WP:RS, and failed to provide explanations for his reverts. If closed, Zer0faults would be placed on probation.
Warren Kinsella: Closed today after six weeks, a case involving the actions of Arthur Ellis, Pete Peters and others on the Warren Kinsella article. Both users accuse the other of disruptive edits on the page, and Peters and others accuse Ellis of sockpuppetry using anon accounts, while Ellis alleges that administrators dealt inequitably with him and Peters. Ellis was banned from the article indefinitely, and limited to one account.
Kehrli: Closed on Sunday after one month, a case involving the actions of Nick Y and Kherli on Mass-to-charge ratio and related articles. Both protagonists accuse each other of POV pushing, adding unsourced information, and adding dispute tags without reason. Kehrli was banned from articles relating to M/z for one year, and prohibited from changing from m/z to any other notation, for a period of two years.
St Christopher: Closed on Sunday after one month, a case involving St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine, a school whose accreditation status is in dispute, and in particular the behaviour of ParalelUni on the page. ParalelUni's community ban was endorsed, and all single-purpose accounts were banned from editing the article disruptively.
Intangible: Closed last Tuesday after six weeks, a case involving the actions of Intangible. Cberlet alleges that Intangible has used an "aggressive and confrontational" editing style to push his POV (partly through the wholesale deletion of the term "far right" from numerous pages), making sweeping edits and reverts with little or no discussion, and being "contentious and confrontational" in talk page discussions. Intangible vigorously denies the allegations. Intangible and AaronS were placed on probation.
New cases
Vivaldi: A case involving the actions of Vivaldi on Jack Hyles and related articles. Arbustoo alleges that Vivaldi has removed "cited criticism" from the article, as well as harassment, incivility and edit warring. However, an anon IP, 205.157.110.11 accuses Arbustoo of removing comments from AfDs.
Kven: A case involving the actions of Art Dominique and alleged sockpuppets on the Kven article.
Kosovo: A case involving the actions of editors on Kosovo, particularly the political status of Kosovo. A temporary injunction has been passed allowing any uninvolved administrator to ban any of the named users from the page. Various remedies have been proposed, applying various bans, warnings, limits and paroles to a number of users.
Ackoz: A case involving the actions and community ban of Ackoz, and his later account, Azmoc. The user previously contributed to Wikipedia under the name Ackoz. He admits to "some trolling" after a three-day block, which led to his ban. However, he has stated that were he unbanned, he would cease his disruptive behaviour, and would be prepared to undergo mentorship. Fred Bauder has introduced remedies, which have not yet been voted on, to unblock Ackoz and place him on probation for one year, leaving open the possibility for a renewed community ban should Ackoz "revert to his previous pattern of sustained trolling", which have been supported by Dmcdevit.
Marudubshinki: A case involving the actions of Marudubshinki. Snottygobble, I@n and others allege that Marudubshinki has operated an unauthorised bot, and misused his sysop powers by unblocking himself and allowing his bot to delete pages. A remedy to desysop Marudubshinki has the support of two arbitrators.
MONGO: A case involving the actions of MONGO, rootology, and others. The case centers around Encyclopædia damatica, and an article posted on the site portraying MONGO in a negative light. Remedies proposed by Fred Bauder include indefinitely banning PrivateEditor, as well as other remedies that have not yet been voted on by other arbitrators.
Ed Poor 2: A case involving Ed Poor. JoshuaZ and Consumed Crustacean have accused Poor of POV pushing and disruption; Poor has not introduced evidence in the case. Ed Poor was party to two prior cases; the first was closed after Poor resigned his status as a bureaucrat, and the second resulted in his desysopping. Fred Bauder has proposed a remedy placing him on probation, a modified version of which has attracted the support of three arbitrators.
Pat8722: A case involving the actions of Pat8722. BorgHunter has accused Pat8722 of edit-warring. Pat8722 has requested that the ArbCom stay the case while he pursues 6 pro se cases in the American courts, and has agreed not to edit Wikipedia in the interim. A motion establishing the principle of a "continuance", and a remedy extending this to Pat8722, are supported by two arbitrators; a separate motion to place Pat8722 on probation has also been raised.
Israel-Lebanon: A case involving the actions of AdamKesher, Tasc and others on 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. AdamKesher accuses Tasc of removing relevant external links which satisfy WP:EL, and he denies the allegation. In response, Denis Diderot accuses Kesher of "using Wikipedia as a tool to promote his POV". Proposed remedies to affirm the possibility of using blogs containing "contemporary opinion and observations" about current events, cautioning editors involved and santioning bans for users who edit war on the article have the support of three to four arbitrators.
Deir Yassin massacre: A case involving the actions of KimvdLinde and Guy Montag on Deir Yassin massacre. KimvdLinde alleges that Montag has violated his probation by rewriting the article, unilaterally moving it to "Battle of Deir Yassin", violating copyright and votestacking. In return, Montag refuses "to participate in any of these proceedings", and alleges that KimvdLinde has abused her admin tools by exercising them in a dispute in which she is involved. Proposed remedies banning Guy Montag from articles relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, extending his probation for another year, and encouraging users to enforce Montag's probation have the support of five to six arbitrators.
Motion to close
Zer0faults: A case involving the actions of Zer0faults and Nescio on Template:War on Terrorism, War on Terror and related arguments. Nescio alleges that Zer0faults has engaged in violation of WP:POINT, disruptive editing, and "uncivil remarks". In return, Zer0faults alleges that Nescio has failed to assume good faith, violated WP:POINT and WP:RS, and failed to provide explanations for his reverts. If closed, Zer0faults would be placed on probation.
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