AboutUs: Difference between revisions

From WikiIndex
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(WikiNode)
(Fix red link following category rename)
 
(68 intermediate revisions by 31 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Wiki |
{{Wiki <!--see 'Template:Wiki' for full detail and hidden help advice-->
  wiki_logo             = http://www.wikiindex.com/images/c/c1/AboutUsLogo.jpg
|URL             = https://aboutus.com
| wiki_URL              = http://www.AboutUs.org
|logo            = [[File:AboutUsLogo.png|150px|AboutUs current logo|alt=]]
| wiki_recentchanges_URL = http://www.aboutus.org/Special:Recentchanges
|wide logo        = y<!--insert 'y' when the logo is too wide AND / OR the title name is too long-->
| wiki_wikinode_URL      = http://www.aboutus.org/WikiNode
|recentchanges URL= https://aboutus.com/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&days=30&limit=500
| wiki_status            = Active
|wikinode URL    = https://aboutus.com/WikiNode
| wiki_language          = Multilingual
|about URL        = https://aboutus.com/AboutUs.com
| wiki_editmode         = OpenEdit
|founder          = unknown<!--wiki founder(s) name(s); wikilink or hotlink if available; if unknown, use 'unknown'-->
| wiki_engine            = MediaWiki
|status          = Active
| wiki_maintopic        = Internet
|language        = Multilingual
}}
|editmode        = LoginToEdit
|engine          = MediaWiki
|license         = Multi-license
|maintopic        = Directory
|backupurl        = <!--database dump backup file URL; found at '/Special:Statistics' on Wikia & some other MediaWiki sites; archived URL may also be used-->
|backupdate      = 20YY-MM-DD<!--YYYY-MM-DD, ISO 8601 extended date of backup URL; if unknown, dynamic or NO date, DELETE this field-->
}}{{TOC right}}
[[File:AboutUsLogo.jpg|thumb|left|AboutUs earlier beta logo|alt=]]
{{Size <!--see 'Template:Size' for extensive full detail-->
|pages= 28739286<!--plain numeric value for number of CONTENT pages (or Files on a commons wiki); NO thousands separators-->
|statistics URL= https://aboutus.com/Special:Statistics
|wikiFactor= <!--(wF), preferred; see: Category:wikiFactor; if wF unknown leave void; archived wF value may be used-->
|wikiFactor URL= https://aboutus.com/Special:PopularPages<!--wF source; archived URL if available-->
}}(As of: 2022-09-22)<!--YYYY-MM-DD; manually add/amend ISO 8601 date when stats are verified and/or updated-->
 
==Description==
==Description==
AboutUs is a brand new wiki of {{tag|websites}} that anyone can edit.  It is currently in Beta, but check it out, it's got lots of good content already.
'''AboutUs''' is a wiki site of {{tag|website}}s that originally, [[:Category:OpenEdit|anyone could edit]].  Previously in Beta, AboutUs encourages people to register with their [[AboutUs:IPreferRealPeople|real names]].  The AboutUs [[wiki]] is powered by the ever-popular {{tag|MediaWiki}} software, and is rendered by a fresh {{tag|custom skin}}.[https://github.com/OSAS/strapping-mediawiki] In terms of [[:Category:Wiki license|licensing]], all editable content is made available under the terms of {{tag|Wiki Multi-license|two licenses}}: those being the {{tag|Wiki GNU Free Documentation License|GNU Free Documentation License}} (GNU FDL, or more commonly GFDL), and / or the {{tag|Wiki Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike|Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0}} (CC-BY-SA 3.0).  However, all non-editable content, together with all content in the 'Learn' section are {{tag|Wiki Site retains copyright|copyright AboutUs}}.  AboutUs point out the importance of [[attribution]] – when re-published, it must include a link back to the original article.[https://aboutus.com/FinePrint]
 
[[Ward Cunningham]] was the chief technology officer at AboutUs from 2009 to 2011.
 
==Criticism==
AboutUs has been criticized for displaying public whois data {{tag|information}} from websites.  The website has a bot which scrapes information from a website, and uses it to make a starter page on the AboutUs wiki site.  The initial seeding of the wiki had a bot that disregarded websites protected by a robots.txt.  That was quickly fixed and efforts were ongoing to revert the edits that are in conflict.  Websites are still vulnerable, due to the fact that the wiki encourages AboutUs [[user]]s to add additional information about the website to it.
 
===Response===
AboutUs uses publicly available information to create a starter wiki page on every website that is searched for on its system (after the initial 2+ million seeding).  Unlike [[:Category:Weblog|weblogs]], or the whois system, it is very easy to change or request removal of information (from the history).
 
It is a bit jarring to people who are not used to an open edit internet, that anyone, anywhere can write about them or the things they care about in such a manner.  I suppose it was also jarring to people when weblogs exploded on the scene.
 
==Wiki pages==
As of February 2018, the AboutUs wiki has over 28,000,000 wiki pages according to our stats page, which obviously needs to be honed down a bit: [[AboutUs:Special:Statistics|stats]].  Only about 983,674 have been edited, but that does not mean the pages that have not been edited cannot be edited.
 
==Related wiki sites==
*[[Wikidweb]] — was another wiki site that discussed the web as a whole, dead since mid-2018
*[[WhoIsBehind.org]] — also discusses the web as a whole
*[[WebsiteWiki]] — is a similar wiki in [[:Category:Wiki German|German]], focused on [[:Category:Germany|German]] sites
 
==External links==
{{WikiApiary}}
 
[[Category:Founded in 2006]]<!--https://AboutUs.com/AboutUs.com-->

Latest revision as of 16:20, 10 August 2023

AboutUs
Recent changes • WikiNode • About • [No Mobile URL]
Founded by: unknown
Status: Active
Language: Multilingual
Edit mode: LoginToEdit
Wiki engine: MediaWiki
Wiki license: Multi-license
Main topic: Directory
AboutUs earlier beta logo
Wiki size: 28,739,286 article pages see stats

(As of: 2022-09-22)

Description[edit]

AboutUs is a wiki site of websites that originally, anyone could edit. Previously in Beta, AboutUs encourages people to register with their real names. The AboutUs wiki is powered by the ever-popular MediaWiki software, and is rendered by a fresh custom skin.[1] In terms of licensing, all editable content is made available under the terms of two licenses: those being the GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL, or more commonly GFDL), and / or the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 (CC-BY-SA 3.0). However, all non-editable content, together with all content in the 'Learn' section are copyright AboutUs. AboutUs point out the importance of attribution – when re-published, it must include a link back to the original article.[2]

Ward Cunningham was the chief technology officer at AboutUs from 2009 to 2011.

Criticism[edit]

AboutUs has been criticized for displaying public whois data information from websites. The website has a bot which scrapes information from a website, and uses it to make a starter page on the AboutUs wiki site. The initial seeding of the wiki had a bot that disregarded websites protected by a robots.txt. That was quickly fixed and efforts were ongoing to revert the edits that are in conflict. Websites are still vulnerable, due to the fact that the wiki encourages AboutUs users to add additional information about the website to it.

Response[edit]

AboutUs uses publicly available information to create a starter wiki page on every website that is searched for on its system (after the initial 2+ million seeding). Unlike weblogs, or the whois system, it is very easy to change or request removal of information (from the history).

It is a bit jarring to people who are not used to an open edit internet, that anyone, anywhere can write about them or the things they care about in such a manner. I suppose it was also jarring to people when weblogs exploded on the scene.

Wiki pages[edit]

As of February 2018, the AboutUs wiki has over 28,000,000 wiki pages according to our stats page, which obviously needs to be honed down a bit: stats. Only about 983,674 have been edited, but that does not mean the pages that have not been edited cannot be edited.

Related wiki sites[edit]

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://wikiindex.org/index.php?title=AboutUs&oldid=274724"