On 7/2/05, Timwi <timwi(a)gmx.net> wrote:
Funny, and I thought there was already widespread
concensus to get rid
of it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it even its original
initiator and most enthusiastic supporter (Angela?) is by now convinced
that the project was a failure and that the idea was unsound.
Not so much unsound as never really developed. What is the point of
the wiki? There was never any agreement on whether it was for learners
of English as an additional language, or whether it was for children.
The way some of it is written, it may even be for English speaking
adults with literacy difficulties.
With no shared goal amongst those participating, I can't see the
project ever being successful. Other than Netoholic, there are no
users who regularly work on this wiki. There have been some over the
last few years, but no one who has stayed with it. I was never exactly
an enthusiastic supporter. I just looked after it for a while.
I'd prefer the project be changed entirely to reflect something more
like what was suggested at <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikikids>
(in all languages). People wanting to write simple versions of
existing English Wikipedia articles can focus on simplifying the lead
sections of those. Having that on a separate wiki has not proved
useful, whereas having something that is written by and for children
may be different enough from the main Wikipedia to warrant its own
project.
Angela