Friday, August 02, 2013

Use #Wikidata in the #UI of #Wikipedia


Some people do not like the Visual Editor. They think it is not mature enough. It has been explained to them how important it is for the developers to get continuous feedback. The perfect VE will not come fully mature out of the head of Zeus like Pallas Athena did. It is more likely that it will take continuous incremental improvements from being a product with great promise to a great product.

One of the arguments used against the VE is that it will not be possible to include a button or something for all the templates that are in use on a Wikipedia.

This is true at this time. However, it is possible to narrow this number down substantially. This is done by looking at the context of an article. To the right you find the current genealogical map of the Ottoman dynasty. For all these people many things are known in Wikidata and for many of these people one or more templates are already in use.

When we know that a specific article is about a certain type of topic, we can exclude most templates because they are not relevant. Conversely when we know that a specific template is in use on a Wikipedia, we can suggest the use of this template in another Wikipedia.

My point is not so much that this can be done but more that with the Visual Editor new opportunities become available. Such opportunities are not what people are used to but they deserve consideration. They will enable more people to improve their Wikipedia particularly in all the "other" languages.
Thanks,
       GerardM

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