How to search for something in Wikipedia: Know more

Wikipedia has become our "go to" place on the internet for information on practically anything, but there's always a way to improve how you search for something on Wikis. Savio D'Souza and Ashutosh Desai tell you about 13 fantastic tools that can further improve your wiki experience.

Concise wikis

Wikipedia entries can be quite exhaustive, often running into thousands of words, and filled with details that might not always be relevant, or sometimes even too complex for most users. In such cases, in the browser address bar, just replace the "en" in the link with "simple" for a shorter version of the entry that carries only the most important parts.

For example: https:en.wikipedia.orgwikiIsaac_Newton becomes https:simple.wikipedia.orgwikiIsaac_Newton

It should be noted that the "simple" version is not available for every article, but this is one trick you can use to find shorter versions to read, especially if you're strapped for time.

Videos in wiki

If you use Google's Chrome browser, go to the Chrome Web Store and install the WikiTube extension. After this, whenever you visit a Wikipedia page, the plugin automatically extracts videos that are related to the topic you are reading and displays them right on the same page for quick access.

Multiple wiki pages in a single tab

Need to reference multiple Wikipedia pages at the same time? Go to en.wikunia.de. The website lets you open more than one wiki entry within a single browser window.

Also, when reading through a Wikipedia entry, we tend to click on links within the text, which takes us to new tabs.Wikunia simply splits the page and opens the new link so you can see both at once. It allows you to open a maximum of four pages at the same time.

WikiWand.com

Wikiwand.com is an internet service that overhauls the boring pages of Wikipedia to present it to you in a way that's beautiful to look at, and convenient to use. Click on the magnifying glass icon on the page to search for a Wikipedia article, and Wikiwand will display it with a cover photo from the article, and a table of contents on the left-side of your screen that stays put even when you scroll. You also get quick previews of text when you hover over links, built-in multilanguage search, and you can customize colour themes, font and layout.

Besides the website, you can also find the Wikiwand app on iOS (Android app coming soon) and browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Once you start using Wikiwand, you won't feel like going back to the boring old interface of Wikipedia.

WikiNews.org

Here, you can find daily news by region (Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, etc) and beat (crime, culture, entertainment, science, sports, etc). In keeping with the spirit of a wiki, you can also share news pieces, feature stories, and interviews on Wikinews. Don't forget to refer to its style guide and primer on writing before doing so.

Wiktionary.org

This free dictionary comprises over 45,00,000 web pages and word definitions in over one thousand languages, including the indic Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam. It also has a 'Word of the Day' section where you can learn a new English and foreign word daily.

WikiQuote.org

Looking for an inspirational quote? Try Wikiquote. You can browse this resource by people, literary works, films, TV shows, country and even themes such as food, business, sports, society, etc. Wikiquote features a quote on its home page along with a list of new additions to the website. You can also browse pages by year and month.

WikiVoyage.org

If you haven't decided where you want to vacation this summer, then check out Wikivoyage for tips and options. This website -­ powered by other travellers -­ gives recommendations while taking into account the time of year and season. It even has a Discover section where articles on lesserknown places are featured daily. And if you have questions, you can have them answered at Traveller's Pub.

WikiTravel.org

Wikitravel is similar to Wikivoyage: You get destination suggestions and you can post queries regarding your planned trip. As a plus, this wiki also provides important news alerts pertaining to natural disasters, political unrest, strikes, etc to help you plan a safer trip. Besides, its multilingual phrase book will help you get by in nonEnglish foreign locales. And, of course, you can also make your own additions to Wikitravel to help fellow travellers.

WikiMapia.org

Wikimapia is a collaborative mapping site that uses multiple satellite data from Google, Bing and Yahoo. You can use the service to find landmarks -­ such as schools, hotels, tourist destinations, etc - around your location.

Users can add places, summaries, photographs and even provide related links for a place. And while Wikimapia does not have adequate smartphone app support, it works very well in a mobile browser like Chrome and Firefox.

Wikia.com

Wikia is a place where almost anyone can start a wiki around any subject, or participate in over 3,60,000 existing communities. Founded by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales in 2006, Wikia started off as a broader spinoff of Wikipedia, which would allow people to create their own wikis. In fact, Wales once said that if Wikipedia is the encyclopaedia, then Wikia is the rest of the library.

Indeed, today you can find 'indie' wikis on virtually any topic: computer gaming, movies, comics, books, music, and even lifestyle. So whether you like automobiles or cooking, comic books or their movie adaptations, Justin Bieber or Metallica, you will find a community on Wikia that you can be a part of. Already, the community boasts of 190 million unique monthly visits, so if you haven't discovered Wikia yet, you're definitely missing something.

WikiHow.com

Wikihow is a D-I-Y website that's packed with how-tos on practically any topic under the sun. You can navigate the guides by categories such as arts, cars, computers, finance, family, pets, relationships, and fitness. Every tutorial follows the same format: an introduction, steps, supporting images and videos, along with reference links. Content is then edited by Wikihow volunteers who ensure that copy is kosher and error-free. Bookmark it now.

Wiki.com

Wiki is a search engine that can be of immense use when you want your query to only throw up results from knowledge resources such as Wikipedia, independent wiki pages on Wikia, and other online encyclopedias. You can further refine your search to a single resource, if you want. Try Wiki when working on school or college projects. It will save you the time you would actually spend on random links that most other search engines throw up.

Source: TechGig.com