Wikipedia editing to be made simpler

Wikipedia is so concerned that prospective contributors are being turned away by the encyclopedia’s complex editing process, they’re investing $US890,000 to make it better.

Contributed by The Stanton Foundation – a group that provides funds for technological innovation – the grant will see a five-person team identify issues which turn users away.

One of the main problems is likely to be the site’s interface – when a user attempts to edit an article, lines of code appear that can be difficult to wade through for computer amateurs.

“Wikipedia attracts writers who have a moderate-to-high level of technical understanding, but it excludes lots of smart, knowledgeable people who are less tech-centric,” Sue Gardner, the Wikimedia Foundation’s executive director, says in a statement.