Advantages of Scientolipedia
Here's a list of the advantages of the Scientolipedia website. (these will be added-to on a daily or at least regular basis until this has become a complete reference document)
The "platform" the website uses is a very powerful and versatile piece of software engineering. Today it is supported and constantly being upgraded by some of the top technology professionals in the world, a large percentage of which do so on a volunteer basis. Since it's the same software Wikipedia uses, thousands of people love contributing to the global knowledge base of information that Wikipedia makes available to many millions of people around the world for free. Many of those same people have a high purpose to make sure the software technology behind the scenes, stays up-to-date and maintained.
We can benefit from this technology for our own 'community'. Here's some of the reasons why we should do so.
1. The biggest advantage of the Wiki platform is that it allows for any number of people to contribute content to it. Do not make the mistake of thinking other sites like blogs and forums do the same thing because they allow visitors or logged-in users to comment and discuss things there. When I say "content" I am talking about articles, new posts, new pages on the site. I am talking about the ability to add or edit actual article pages without having to submit them to the site owner for approval and posting.
That simple idea rocketed Wikipedia to one of the top 5 highest ranked and trafficked websites on the entire Internet.
It's extremely powerful to allow many many people to create the content for a website.
Scientolipedia.org has that advantage.
2. Scientolipedia has a "Discussion" capability which makes it far superior to blog type, or traditional websites.
Every page on the site and any new page created, automatically generates a secondary attached page to it. Users can toggle between these two pages from the tabs at the top.
The "Discussion" feature at Scientolipedia has been customized to allow for unlimited new topics to be created and responded to. The "threading" of the discussions acts like Forum software. Since new threads are listed out and easy for anyone to see, it is far easier to follow conversations and see the responses than say Facebook or blogs or even other dedicated Forums.
The other unique thing about this Discussion feature is that the software automatically notifies you if anyone responds to your posts. (will send an email if "Preferences" are set for that or simply post a notice at the top of the page much like Facebook shows a red box notice when there are responses to a thread you are following)
Any Page on the site or Discussion can be "Watched" so you get a notification of any changes. This makes it easy to follow a wide variety of pages and Discussions without having to waste time searching for pages or Discussions you want to keep an eye on.
The way Scientolipedia allows for Two-way communication on topics is far superior to any other platform and you should learn and start taking advantage of this powerful communication tool.
Example of discussion topics listed out for easy access
Example of comments on a thread
3. The third advantage Scientolipedia.org has over other websites is it is a "Semantic Wiki".
Stay with me now, in just a few seconds the fogginess you might be experiencing will clear up.
So why is it called a "Semantic" wiki? First off, it's what the guys who run the Internet came up with to describe the next generation of the World Wide Web. In fact, the guy who invented the WWW, Tim Berner-Lee, is one of those behind the idea. See his video (after reading the rest of this - it's been up on the website since day one)
The usual understanding of the word "semantics" has to do with - "The branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning" But what does that have to do with websites?
Remember way back when the Internet was new, like 10-15 years ago, web pages were flat documents. The data on pages was only accessible by going to the page the data was on. That was the only way the data had any "meaning" to anyone - they had to go to the actual webpage.
The next evolution in the Internet (Web 2.0) dealt with adding more sizzle to pages like video, maps and much more ease of use.
The "Semantic Web" (Web 3.0 - the phase we are still in)) began to deliver ways of re-using information in multiple or unlimited ways. Today, GPS ties into web services and will deliver the distance and directions to the nearest Starbucks to you while you are driving down the Freeway at 70 MPH. It's pulling the DATA that sits on a website and giving that data more MEANING to you, in real-time.
That's a "Semantic" capability.
Many websites are now capturing data and then re-packaging or re-using that information.
One example at Scientolipedia.org is the Pop-up Glossary. Each definition in the glossary is a separate page, but when you read any other page on the site where a word in the glossary is used, the definition is pulled from the source page and "pops-up" for you - bringing more "meaning" to the page you are reading.
We're using the technology in the Maps, Browse Site, and some of the listing mechanisms already visible on the site. Other very cool presentations of information will be rolled out soon.
Using the extremely versatile and powerful Semantic extension to the Wiki platform gives Scientolipedia.org a big advantage over other websites.
note: this list is incomplete. It will be expanded periodically as time permits. (one of the sub-benefits of the wiki software, one can always go back and edit or add to an article or page)