WikiDirect/Introduction

Mission statement

In modern society, 59% of the population rely on the internet, They visit it for almost everything. One of the main things highlighted in the actions of internet users is how they would ask questions constantly. Questions that would involve difficult situations that an average person nowadays would get webbed up with. Wikiask is a project which would be constructed for resolving such conflicts that originates within modern individuals (A Q&A in article form). It would act as a free and open guide book fabricated by the community itself. It is important for the WMF to move along with modern technology, and Wikiask would be a perfect way to begin with.

How is it different from other websites (external/internal)

1. Wikihow- Wikihow was created in 2005, by Jack Herrick as a for-Profit organization. It provides answers for questions that revolve around the 'how to' basis. Unlike Wikihow, Wikiask would be a non-profit organization that provides answers to questions which revolves around the 'What to do' basis. For example, wikiask would provide answers for questions like What to do when a dog bites you. Which we know has a certain list of instructions provided by medical professionals. As it is shown in the example article, we can add listings provided by professional sources, including certain medications and possible diseases linked with Wikipedia articles for further knowledge. It would be a completely separate project, given that wikihow and Wikipedia has no alliance under executive conduct.
2. Quora- Quora is a major profit-orientated company established in 2010. Once again, Wikiask would be a non-profit organization, similar to all WMF websites. Secondly, Quora is a self-help website, meaning that it doesn't have reliable information since many opinions are listed on the website. Your questions will only be answered if someone is willing to and they might not be even answers, they might just be opinions. Quora is also a website which provides space for nonsensical and unuseful questions (as shown here). On another note, the information is never checked or confirmed, nothing is verifiable. If vandalism exists, it just exists. Wikiask is not a normal Q&A, it is not someplace where we can ask questions normally. it is a place where questions and answers will be displayed in an article form, standing for the true meaning of Wiki, making it clearer for a user to read and understand.
3. Wikipedia- Wikipedia is the or that started it all, its something quite extra-ordinary. However, it's policies make itself clear that it is NOT a guide in any way. It won't take any more statements to increased the clarity of how the two projects differentiate.
4. Wikivoyage- Wikivoyage is a tourist guidebook, it is not necessarily a Q&A, Even though it does provide answers to certain dilemmas in the tourist office.
5. Wikibooks- Users have opposed noting that this has a similar vision as of Wikibooks, Wikibooks has only one specific guide-type category. It just shares recipes and medical information. Wikiask would be a very different project, first off, it would resolve problematic situations while it also will help out with certain other dilemmas. Wikibooks have two main forms, Wikijunior and cookbooks, no relation with a Q&A. However, within it's mission, it does note that Wikibooks contains manuals. Even though it does contain guidebooks, they are mainly manuals linked to filmography, cooking and etc. Wikiask is a 'What to do when' type of project. With similarities to wikihow and Quora, it has a very different scope than that of Wikibooks.
6. Wikiversity- Wikiversity is a learning center that provides information to a very specific amount of categories. It does not qualify as a Q&A, nor does it relate much to the scope of wikiask.

What does this mean? (concept)

• In a much more simplified aspect, Wikiask can be designated as a question wiki, Which provides answers to reasonable questions such as What medicine to take if you have fever. It would be a Q&A in article form whereas a communication page would be provided as well (similar to wikihow.). Wikiask would work in the same concept as a normal wiki. Search a question and get the answer.
  For example:- The basic formation of an article would be seen like this.
• A basic search is made (What to do if you have fever)
• An article related to the above question will open in which there would be significant information including how to deal with it, medications and symptoms with a list of possible diseases. A basic article as such would have all the information needed to resolve the situation. With complete reference to the verifiable sources from which the information would appear. It would be Quick, productive and efficient.
• If a user seems skeptical about the given information, he can easily contact another user in the Discussion page. Whereas he can chat and discuss his thoughts.

How can reliability be confirmed?

Reliance is something that lacks in a community which can be edited freely, but Wikiask would only display information under full confirmation (if wrong information in the article causes any defilement to the ones who read it). Any suspicious edits from i.p users and new users will have to be checked twice or thrice. Credibility as many times mentioned is important for the maintenance and prevention of the downfall of open editing websites. It is vital to maintain the reputation of Wikimedia, and a lawsuit would not help to employ positiveness.

Thus, the project will have to take on extreme measures to increase reliability. Currently, check users or bots perform the task of deleting open vandalism in most wiki websites, That would be adequate for the wiki as a starting website. However, there are certain measures that are prepared to reduce the risk of vandalism that could harm the website in anyway.

• New, or Ip users will only be able to edit the pages which can harm the public by misinformation under the wings of an admin. Making them extremely secure. A simple lock, like Wikipedia has enabled in vandalism hot-spots would function optimally.
• Auto search tools which can help editors to get reliable information from qualified websites
• A Special Check user group
• Revert tools such as twinkle and huggle.
• A special tool from media wiki- See-Wikiask/Technical

Why a new wiki?

At present, no other wiki exists that was built for such a purpose. Most Q&A websites are profit-oriented and infested with troublesome advertisements. With modern society evolving, the foundation should evolve with it. Merging this project with a website that already exists is not very practical. It could damage both the views of this project and the respective wikiproject. An Article form Q&A is very much needed and it is an opportunity for the WMF to release such a thing.

Why do we need it

Q&A's are a form of websites which are constructed for collaborative communication between internet users to resolve certain problems. Websites such as Quora and Wikihow contain over 300 million users collectively (Quora alone 300 million, exceeding Wikipedia by 273 million), which is a large number given that there were only 4.39 billion internet users as of 2019. With over 400 000 active questions in Quora alone, Q&A's have become problem-solving sources for many internet users.

However, most of the information is not reliable, they are personal opinions projected by inexperienced users. And most of the Q&A websites are created for profits. They are crawling with advertisements, Offers, and many more attachments which bother users constantly. And most of those Websites are overcrowded and confusing, Wikiask would be a game-changer, with much easier to read presentation with formality and credibility confirmed by links, references and professionals.

What Wikiask would/would not have

While Wikiask will be a free world wide guidebook, there are a few things that it will not include, it is of great importance to the WMF to maintain their set of rules and lead the projects to a better future. Hereby, this documentation has been prepared to make this proposal more understandable.

• NPOV-The specialty and authenticity of this proposal is that the guide would be neutral to whatever point of view. Even in war articles (say- Who started the world war) we would not be supporting or opposing to any group no matter what debate comes upon. Neutrality will be highly maintained. We would only apply the facts with a pint of skepticism to show that equality is present in each article.
• Advertisement spaces-One of the major objectives of this proposal is to create a Q&A which is 100 percent ad free. While it is ok to recommend products in articles, it is never ok to start an entrepreneurship within the article.
  • Example one Y
    Apple is the most used phone brand in region X by demographic Y for use case Z.
  • Example two N
    Apple is the greatest cellphone brand recommended for such a situation. with over 60 years of trust, apple stands to be reliable by many users around the world!

How would this benefit the community

• Wikiask would be a free knowledge source, providing information to resolve problematic situations, it would help the community get through situations easily
• Wikiask would be faster, efficient and easier to use than other Q&A websites
• It would be advertisement free and reliable
• It would present information in a more formal manner
• It would be a perfect opportunity for editors to express their knowledge.
• Wikiask is a non-profit organization without exceptional royalties or charges

Demos

A demonstration website is under construction.

Similar websites

Name	URL	data
Wikihow	www.wikihow.com	en:wikiHow
Quora	www.quora.com	en:Quora
Stack overflow	stackoverflow.com	en:Stack Overflow
Blurtit	https://www.blurtit.com	en:Blurtit
answers.com	www.answers.com	en:Answers.com
ask.fm	ask.fm	en:Ask.fm
Ehow	www.ehow.com	en:eHow

Domain names

Some names were collected, maybe they would help out in choosing out a name. A few names of other languages were put up as well to reduce the anglocentric nature(after @Zerabat:’s suggestion. Please feel free to suggest a new name or even vote for a name in the discussion.

• WikiGuide- A name which was taken from a proposal which was closed in 2010.
  • Wikiguia- Spanish for Wikiguide
  • Wikiguida- Italian for Wikiguide
  • Wikicanllaw- Welsh for Wikiguide
• WikiDirect- The first and mainly proposed name for this project
• Guidepedia- A name originated from Wikipedia.
• Wikiask- Simple name for the wiki.
  • Wikifragen- German for wikiask
  • Wikipedir- Spanish for wikiask