Submissions/What do others think about the look of Wikipedia?

This is a withdrawn submission for Wikimania 2013.

Submission no.

Title of the submission: What does the others thinks about the look of Wikipedia?

Type of submission: presentation, discussion

Author of the submission: Abbad Diraneyya

Country of origin: Jordan

Affiliation

E-mail address: aaddirahotmail.com

Username: عباد ديرانية

Personal homepage or blog: http://arabhope.wordpress.com/

Abstract

It has been now about 12 years since Wikipedia was created, it became the sixth most visited website globally, and the first source of information for every human on earth. Yet, it is surprising that the user's interface still almost unupdated nor maintained since Wikipedia first created, it is so old, non-attractive, and not easy for users. That's not talking about the editing interface, which is a disaster for any new user who is trying to learn how the things works in the encyclopedia.

Detailed proposal

The things started freaking out when we was in a workshop at the Israa University in Amman, which was the first workshop of the recently released Jordan education program. When I started describing the way the students was supposed to edit Wikipedia, I felt like if I was teaching them how to use a primitive DOS, rather than the today world's first online encyclopedia. It was hard, actually, to persuade the students that this was really the way things worked in Wikipedia, and when I was asked why can't Wikipedia be little more easier to use like a normal text program, I didn't have any answer for them.

Our modern world is based on continued update and renewal. Everything should be updated and improved from time to time, every few days we find some software on our computer asking us to download new updates. Yet, it is shame how our interface still with almost no change or development since Wikipedia's release. Though I am now, after years of using Wikipedia, totally comfortable with the system, it still seems for me that it is so hard for every new user to learn. We must stop thinking from our own perspective, and thinks a bit about how it is for the others, and how Wikipedia may looks like for a new user. Wikipedia should have a modern interface, with direct action response like all text-processing software e.g. Microsoft word. It should be mild to use, user-friendly, and better than any other online text interface.

Like we could build the largest and most reliable encyclopedia in the world, it is not hard for us to make Wikipedia looks better, we just need some sort of management and encouragement and we will have hundreds of people out there ready to prepare new great designs for Wikipedia. It is time for modernizing Wikipedia, and we are going to discuss how.

Track: Technology and Infrastructure

Length of presentation/talk: 25 Minutes 25 Minutes

Language of presentation/talk: English

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes

Slides or further information (optional): Not yet

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