Dear fellow programmers,
now that the wikipedia software is running (and quite well), thanks to many
volunteers, and work on that software turns from bug-fixing to fine-tuning,
I would like to open another front ;)
For some time now I've been working on a completely rewritten version of the
Nupedia software (
http://www.nupedia.com). For those of you who don't know,
Nupedia was the original, peer-reviewed Bomis encyclopedia project, and
wikipedia was a "spin-off". But, the Nupedia approval process proved to be
too slow and complicated, and the project came to a standstill, with only a
dozen or so articles actually online. Recently, the Nupedia group voted
about a streamlined article review process, and a draft policy is currently
in writing.
Why does this require a new software? Well, it doesn't. But I worked on the
current Nupedia software, and it strikes me as a multi-redundant
HTML-PHP-mix. It is working, and it can be altered, but IMO it will be more
work to change the old software to a revised review process than to write a
new one. Also, some other changes will have to be made, like multi-language
interfaces and databases, which would further complicate a software change.
So, silently, I created a new SourceForge project, using "nunupedia" as a
working title (the encyclopedia title will remain "Nupedia"!). Both Jimbo
and Larry agreed that this can eventually become the official Nupedia
software. You can see a demo at
http://nunupedia.sourceforge.net
Only some parts of it do currently work. Under "articles in progess", you
can see a demo article with online discussion. You can become a member and
sumbit articles (but, don't use valuable stuff;)
I would have preferred to complete a basically working version before "going
public", like I did with the Wikipedia PHP script, but currently, I bluntly
don't have the time for that :(
So, I ask you, to help me with that. Remember, Nupedia will most likely
become a "stable version" of wikipedia ;)
If you are interested in developing this software, mail me or the list.
Don't forget your SourceForge name, so I can give you CVS write access.
Thanks for listening,
Magnus