Daniel Mayer wrote:
Dividing our biology contributor base between two separate projects that have a great deal of overlap is a HUGE mistake.
* Biology is a little more than a species directory :-) * We (wikipedians) can directly incorporate data from the big data dump that wikispecies will become, where demmed appropriate * _If_ it turns out that we have a huge overlap, wikispecies can be integrated into wikipedia at any point, if there is consensus
IMHO there's a chance for a development boost in this project. Think of it as an evolutionary step. We had a mutation step from HTML to wiki, where the wikipedia and its software have become a very successful model. The wikispecies project, however, has demands that are a little different from "normal" wikis and wikipedia. We have a chance to introduce new functionalities (database-like functions, tree diagrams) and smoothen the old ones (categories, templates) into the software on a "blank page" testing field. They will be in the MediaWiki software and in the pages. Once these have stabelized and proven useful, we can take these successful concepts back to wikipedia, and some day, maybe the contents as well, if we (people in both projects!) see fit.
Magnus