[Foundation-l] Can anyone really edit Wikipedia?

[Brian]

This long-standing complaint of wiki complexity, e.g., that users must write
encyclopedia articles in a turing complete language,  is reminiscent of the
motivations for cascading style sheets. You need to separate style from
content for maintainability and accessibility. Likewise, users should not be
specifying infobox structure and content in the same place (I use infoboxes
as an example). The interfaces really need to be separate - you edit the
infobox using html form fields, and you specify the structure and style of
the infobox and it's form fields using some kind of interface language.
There are some weak extensions to help users fill out tables and the like
with this method and it really should be expanded on IMO.

On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 9:02 AM, Delphine Ménard <notafishz at gmail.com>wrote:

> I tried to correct a sentence on the article MySpace in the English
> Wikipedia today. Well, I never got around to doing it.
>
> Here is what I'm hit with when I click the edit button. I really tried
> to change the stuff I wanted. I gave up.
>
> ====Beginning of madness======
>
> {{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}
> {{Infobox Dotcom company
> |company_name = MySpace
> |company_slogan = A Place for Friends
> |owner = [[Fox Interactive Media]]
> |company_logo = [[Image:MySpace logo.svg|225px]]
> |company_type = [[Subsidiary]]
> |foundation = 2003
> |location_city = [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]],
> [[California]]
> |location_country = U.S.
> |key_people = [[Tom Anderson (MySpace)|Tom Anderson]],
> President<br>[[Chris DeWolfe]], CEO
> |num_employees = 300
> |url = [http://www.myspace.com/ MySpace.com]
> |registration = Required
> |launch_date = August, 2003
> |current_status = Active
> |language = [[MySpace#International sites|15 languages]]
> |advertising = [[Google]], [[AdSense]]
> |website_type = [[Social network service|Social networking]]
> }}
> [[Image:Foxinteractivemediaheadquarters.jpg|thumb|260px|Fox
> Interactive Media headquarters, 407 North Maple Drive, [[Beverly
> Hills]], California, where MySpace is also housed]]
>
> '''MySpace''' is a popular [[social network service|social
> networking]] [[website]] offering an interactive, user-submitted
> network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music
> and videos for teenagers and adults internationally. Its headquarters
> are in [[Beverly Hills]], [[California]],
> [[USA]],<ref>[
> http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2006/08/my_space_is_not_thei.php
> My Space is not their space anymore] - Article on the move to
> [[Beverly Hills]]. Retrieved March 16, 2007.</ref> where it shares an
> office building with its immediate owner, [[Fox Interactive Media]];
> which is owned by [[News Corporation]], which has its headquarters in
> [[New York City]]. In June 2006, MySpace was the most popular social
> networking site in the [[United
> States]].<ref>[http://mashable.com/2006/07/11/myspace-americas-number-one/
> MySpace, America's Number One<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
> According to [[comScore]], MySpace has been overtaken by main
> competitor [[Facebook]] in April 2008, based on monthly unique
> visitors.<ref>{{cite web
> |url=
> http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Facebook_Largest_Fastest_Growing_Social_Network/551-92134-643.html
> |title=Facebook: Largest, Fastest Growing Social Network
> |accessdate=2008-08-14 |author=Techtree News Staff |date=2008-08-13
> |work=Techtree.com |publisher=ITNation |doi= |archiveurl=
> |archivedate= |quote= }}</ref>
> The company employs 300 staff<ref name="CNNMoney-MyspaceCowboys">{{cite
> news
> | url=
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/09/04/8384727/index.htm
> | publisher=CNN
> | title=MySpace Cowboys
> | last=Sellers
> | first=Patricia
> | date=2006-08-24
> | accessdate=2006-08-28
> }}</ref> and does not disclose [[revenue]]s or [[profit]]s separately
> from News Corporation. The 100 millionth account was created on August
> 6, 2006<ref name="MySpace100Millionth Profile">{{cite news
> |url=
> http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=100000000
> |publisher=MySpace
> |title=100,000,000th<http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=100000000%7Cpublisher=MySpace%7Ctitle=100,000,000th>Account
> |date=2007-02-25
> |accessdate=2007-02-21
> }}</ref> in the [[Netherlands]]<ref name="Murdochcomments">{{cite news
> | url=http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/15237
> | publisher=SeekingAlpha
> | title=Rupert Murdoch Comments on Fox Interactive's Growth
> | last=Murdoch
> | first=Rupert
> | date=2006-08-09
> | accessdate=2006-09-12
> }}</ref> and approximately 106 million accounts on September 8,
> 2006,<ref name="ElReg-MySpaceMusic">{{cite news
> | url =
> http://go.theregister.com/feed/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/08/myspace_threatens_record_labels/
> | title = MySpace music deal poses multiple threats
> | date=  2006-09-08
> | accessdate = 2006-09-08
> | publisher = The Register
> }}</ref> and the site attracts 230,000 new users per day.<ref>{{cite
> news|last=Sellers|first=Patricia|title=MySpace
> cowboys|url=
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/09/04/8384727/index.htm|work=[[Money<http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/09/04/8384727/index.htm%7Cwork=%5B%5BMoney>
>
> (magazine)|Money]]|publisher=CNN.com|date=2006-09-04|accessdate=2008-04-13}}</ref>
>
> =======End of madness======
>
> If we're really to bring knowledge to the world, it's becoming urgent
> that we work on accessibility, because even experienced users (I
> consider myself one) just can't do it.
>
>
> In any case, if anyone wants to (can?) make the change, here is what I
> wanted to change:
>
> Change the sentence "The 100 millionth account was created on August
> 6, 2006[5] in the Netherlands[6] and approximately 106 million
> accounts on September 8, 2006,[7] and the site attracts 230,000 new
> users per day.[8]"
>
> Which does not make sense, to something like:
>
> "The 100 millionth account was created on August 6, 2006 [5] in the
> Netherlands [6] and the site counted approximately 106 million
> accounts on September 8, 2006 [7]. MySpace.com attracts 230,000 new
> users per day. [8]"
>
> Which actually makes sense.
>
>
> Delphine
>
> --
> ~notafish
>
> NB. This gmail address is used for mailing lists. Your emails will get
> lost.
> Ceci n'est pas une endive - http://blog.notanendive.org
>
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