Wikiwand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikiwand
Wikiwand logo.svg
Type of businessPrivate, Startup company
Available inEnglish
HeadquartersSan Francisco Bay Area
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Lior Grossman, Ilan Lewin
Employees10+
URLwww.wikiwand.com
CommercialYes
Registration"none"
Launched2013
Current statusOnline
Native client(s) oniOS

Wikiwand is a proprietary software interface developed for viewing Wikipedia articles[1] available for several popular web browsers as a free browser extension or mobile app. It adds a proprietary interface with custom navigation, advertisements, and sponsored articles.[2]

History[]

Wikiwand (originally WikiWand) was founded in 2013 by Lior Grossman and Ilan Lewin. Officially launched in August 2014,[3] the interface includes a sidebar menu, navigation bar, personalized links to other languages, new typography, and access to previews of linked articles.[4] The list of contents is constantly displayed on the left-hand side.[5] The interface also includes display ads and sponsored articles. In July 2020, a sample Wikiwand webpage had six display ads and 36 sponsored articles. Five display ads are in the main content section of the article, one is in the left-hand side navigation bar, and the sponsored articles are below the article content.[2]

According to Grossman, "It didn't make sense to us that the fifth most popular website in the world, used by half a billion people, has an interface that hasn't been updated in over a decade. We found the Wikipedia interface cluttered, hard to read (large blocks of small text), hard to navigate, and lacking in terms of usability."[6]

The interface is available on Chrome, Safari and Firefox as well as via Wikiwand's website. In March 2015, Wikiwand released an iOS app for iPhone and iPad.[7] In February 2020, an Android app was under development.[8]

In 2014, Wikiwand was able to raise $600,000 to support the development of the interface.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Jillian Wong (21 August 2014). "'WikiWand' Gives Wikipedia Clean New Layout For A Better Reading Experience". Taxi. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Dieges & Clust". Wikiwand. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  3. ^ "WikiWand". Twitter. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  4. ^ Martin Brinkmann (14 August 2014). "WikiWand is a modernized Wikipedia frontend". ghacks.net. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  5. ^ "WikiWand makes Wikipedia beautiful". TNW. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Web App WikiWand Raises $600,000 to Give Wikipedia a New Interface". TechCrunch. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  7. ^ Zach Epstein (18 March 2015). "New free iPhone app transforms Wikipedia into a stunning interactive experience". Yahoo. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Wikiwand for Android". Wikiwand. Retrieved 11 February 2020.

External links[]

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