[Foundation-l] Can anyone really edit Wikipedia?

Thu Sep 25 19:30:13 UTC 2008

btw, the FCKeditor extension to Mediawiki is a fantastic step in the right
direction. If you haven't tried it you should!

On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 1:26 PM, Brian <Brian.Mingus at colorado.edu> wrote:

> 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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>
>
>
> --
> (Not sent from my iPhone)
>

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