Recognized by most people as the best, free encyclopedia on the Internet, Wikipedia is a great resource for quick and (usually) reliable information on just about any subject. Its influence is seen far and wide, permeating sectors such as science and education – and even web design amongst others!
Using Wikipedia In Web Design
It might not be obvious at first, but Wikipedia can make your web design projects much more effective. There are different ways in which Wiki can do this. One is to be able to direct your website readers to a good reference article which backs up a statement or claim within the web page copy. Another is to be able to glean more detailed information on a subject so that you can improve your client’s existing copy. Obviously, good web designers never duplicate Wiki content but they can take the essence of a certain point in an article and rewrite it to include within a page’s relevant section.
What Else From Wiki?
The website is much more than just a vast volume of articles. It is constantly evolving and never stands still. Somewhat like a living organism, Wikipedia grows every second as it feeds on history and events as they happen. Here are as few statistics about Wikipedia that might interest and even bewilder you:
- Number of articles: currently circa 38 million
- Number of editors/contributors: 70,000+
- Number of language editions in Wikipedia: 300+ including Banyumasan (Javanese dialect). NOTE: 100 of Wikipedia’s language editions carry more than 10,000 articles.
- Wikipedia is non-commercial, run by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in San Francisco, funded by donations and grants.
There are many notable things about Wikipedia and one of those is the ‘Lists’ that it covers. There are some incredible lists that people have taken the time to write covering just about anything you could possibly want a list of! Take a look at the Wikipedia list of ‘Lists’ and you’ll see what we mean.
Sometimes, the lists can be a little ‘off the wall’ to say the least. They figure alongside hoaxes and a variety of other surprising things in this YouTube video entitled the ’10 Weirdest Things On Wikipedia’ – click here.
The truth is no website or information resource is perfect. Given that, Wikipedia gets my vote for one of the most useful and interesting websites ever. May it still be around in 100 years – and it will be if people continue to donate to help its development. Something we have done as we appreciate its unique value.