[Wikipedia-l] Languages: crossing a border?

Mon Apr 5 21:17:38 UTC 2004

>>>>> "EM" == Erik Moeller <erik_moeller at gmx.de> writes:

    EM> Having many articles does not make a language important.

Actually, I'd take that a step further: being important does not
justify having a Wikipedia for the language.

The most crucial thing for a wikipedia (or any wiki) is having an
active community that's willing to feed, water, prune and tend the
wiki.

Some things that are probably really crucial to getting a wikipedia
off the ground:

    * A _core_group_ of individuals willing to get the wiki started.

    * A non-zero pool of _potential_contributors_; people who will or
      could be either committed or occasional editors.

    * A _liaison_ (or multiple liaisons) willing to keep the community
      informed about goings on in the greater pediasphere, and vice
      versa.

    * A _translation_ of the key documents necessary to allow new
      users to become contributors: the UI interface file, the
      MediaWiki Users' Guide, NPOV.

~ESP

-- 
Evan Prodromou <evan at wikitravel.org>
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