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0 pointstptacek13y ago0 comments

Is it a good idea for a design shop to propose features that would beg huge numbers of otherwise passive consumers of the encyclopedia to register accounts? Because you'd have to do that, to get highlighting and bookmarking.

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thebigshane13y ago

I don't know. You think it's a bad idea though? Why? Are we worried about vandalism?

I think I can support an idea that would hope to turn otherwise passive consumers into not-so-much-any-longer passive consumers. As long as pseudonyms remain acceptable.

tptacekOP13y ago

I'm more worried about their database servers melting, since the overwhelming amount of traffic Wikipedia handles today is passive consumption.

If you think highlighting and bookmarking of Wikipedia articles is extremely valuable --- and maybe it is! --- go start a site backed by Wikipedia's content. In the places where it actually counts, Wikipedia has bent over backwards to be helpful to developers.

DHowett13y ago

Well, they're already trying to quell the flames of their database servers by heavyhandedly deleting articles that they find non-notable.

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that, given infinite time, they will have to fight all these fires eventually. To delay the inevitable by not actively encouraging user registration is a disservice to the entire editorial platform.

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robryan13y ago

Has anything that has built on top of wikipedia as the primary product got much traction? I think it is something that would be hard to really get widespread without it.

Can a 3rd party even maintain a fully up to date set of wikipedia content? Not sure what their policy on scraping is?

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ricardobeat13y ago

That could be implemented using localStorage + a simple key-value API, no sign-in required.

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