wikia

Wikia Search launches parasitic search bar

You can now get a browser search bar for the open-source Wikia Search engine: Wikia Evolution. A search bar is pretty much a requirement to put an engine in front of users' faces, so this is an expected move by the Wikia Search project. But Wikia Evolution moves the concept into new territory.

See previous review: Wikia Search launches the hackable search engine.

Via the Evolution toolbar, Wikia adds a feature to Google and Yahoo searches: It displays rating stars and an "add" button after each result. Clicking on these links adds info into the Wikia Search index, … Read more

Scour pays you to search, improve results

Scour is a search tool that blends results from Google, Yahoo, and MSN together in one stream. You can hot-swap between the three, or break out any single result into another search. If you come across a bad result, or one you think should go above the others, you can also vote it up (or down) or leave a comment--something similar to what Wikia did with its hackable search engine.

On top of the basic layer of search interaction there's also a paying element to the site. Every query you make has a certain point value, with interactions like … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 737: Tom gets lucky with Jason

Oh, come now, we mean in a search on Goosh, the command-line search interface for Google. What were you thinking? Meantime, the Internet has docked in New York and Natali Del Conte is on the show to share the details of what all those Internet sailors are doing on the streets of Manhattan. Apparently they're at the mayor's house. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 737

Internet Week in New York http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9956754-36.html

Wikia Search launches the hackable search engine http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9958036-2.html

Time Warner Cable ready to test metered … Read more

Wikia Search launches the hackable search engine

This morning, Wikia is rolling out cool features on the controversial Wikia Search engine (previous review).

Starting today, if you do a search on the engine and don't like the results, you'll be able to change them. Your changes will apply not just for yourself, but rather for everybody.

The engine will launch with a smallish subset of machine-indexed pages, about 30 million, which will form the baseline that Wikia Search will let users go to town on. It's "hardly a full crawl" of the Web, admits Wikia (and Wikipedia) co-founder Jimmy Wales, but it'… Read more

Webware 100 winner: Wikia

Wikia is a little bit like Wikipedia, but it's actually a white-paper service that lets site owners add wiki elements to their sites and brand them to match. The site has enabled many to create niche community microsites inside their own services covering all sorts of topics. It also lets users dig in a little deeper than is allowed in Wikipedia's governed environment while still using the same tools.

Since Wikia does all the hosting, users who want to create their own wikis don't have to install anything or pay for servers, hosting, and so forth.

Winner: … Read more

Wikia Search Alpha Launches with Poor Results

The long-awaited launch of Wikia Search Alpha, a Wikipedia-esque search engine has arrived. And I have to admit to being disappointed. It's no Google-killer. Heck, it's no Mahalo-killer either.

Since the inception of Wikia Search's Search-l mailing list last year, I've been quietly lurking but following their progress with some interest. It was great anticipation that I went to check out their just-launched (as of January 7th) alpha version of Wikia Search, an open source search engine. I took a look around the search engine and was pretty surprised to find that not only were the … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 636: New rule: Press "record"

… Read more

Wikia launching human-powered search

Today, Wikia is planning to launch Wikia Search, a very early-stage version of its open search engine. Wikia (and Wikipedia) co-founder Jimmy Wales believes that it's necessary for the public to take control of search, which he sees as a shared need and thus a shared resource.

The site that's launching today is for users who want to "help us build a search engine," Wales said. So don't expect a Wikia-powered Google killer on Day One. "We want to be sure people aren't expecting a Google-quality experience on Monday."

Here's what … Read more

Why open source search engines don't have a chance

If you've been following the tale behind Wikia, you would know that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has something up his sleeve that he believes will revolutionize the way we all search the web.

According to the company, Wikia has four main components: the indexing of the Web, developing a search engine application, an algorithm, and using people to help filter sites and rank results.

And while the first three are pretty standard, it's the fourth component that has me shaking my head. One of the highest costs associated with starting a search engine is buying enough servers and … Read more