The Article Writer

I’ve been contributing articles and/or editing for Wikipedia since last July, by helping expand articles, providing relevant citable sources, and responding to the occasional call for help. Time isn’t on my side when it comes to editing for free, but there are those times when a Wikipedia diversion provides a needed boost for the editor within.

Soon after joining Wikipedia, I also registered for Citizendium, another wiki-style site which launched in early 2007. Founded by the same person who started Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, Citizendium is small potatoes compared to Wikipedia.

It is also a lot more accurate than Wikipedia, in my opinion.

Yes, Sanger feels the same way that I do — Wikipedia’s purity has been sullied by its anonymity, something Citizendium has corrected by requiring contributors to disclose who they are. With Wikipedia, there isn’t anything more annoying than some cyber-troll coming along and mashing up your contributions. Sure, you can reverse the vandalism and dispute changes, but there are some article topics which seem to be dominated by editors with an agenda to uphold.

No, I haven’t done anything with my Citizendium membership, but that is likely to change. The first Wednesdays of the month is Citizendium’s “Write-A-Thon” day where members are encouraged to contribute a new article (even if just a stub) or provide a substantive edit to a current article. By participating you’ll contribute to a growing and respectful resource that is controlled by its members, not by a foundation, private entity, or public owners.

To get a feel for Citizendium, check out their blog. If you have a wee bit of extra time during the month, then stop by and lend a hand. I won’t be able to participate in this month’s “Write-A-Thon” which is today, but I plan on offering some assistance in the near future.

I’m familiar with copyright usage, particularly pertaining to citing other people’s stuff when I blog, write an article, create web content, etc. However, when it comes to licensing material out that I write, I’m a bit at a loss in this area.

Recently, I was approached by someone who wants to license what I write for my automotive blog and use that material on his commercial site. I haven’t responded to his request just yet as I mull over what this could mean to me.

The last thing I want is for a third party site to upstage my own site(s) with articles I wrote. I made that mistake when I submitted hundreds of articles to the article directories a few years back only to find out later that they often appear higher in the Google SERPs than my own work. I don’t mind sharing, but….

I’d be interested in knowing what others are doing when it comes to licensing their work. I have one tab open to the Creative Commons (CC) page today, running back and forth to it when I get a chance. CC has quite a few licensing options, but I’m not sure which one(s) would be right for me.

If you have experience in this area, please hit the reply button to share what you know. Thank you!

It is now official: This blog has been upgraded to WordPress v.2.3. Ain’t that special? Well, for me it is: I usually wait about two weeks after an upgraded version of this blogging platform has been released before I go where bloggers fear to tread.

Hooray for FileZilla

Thanks to FileZilla, I was able to FTP everything inside of 10 minutes and, yes, I remembered to back up my database, turn off my plug-ins, and leave my config-sys file alone.

No Problems This Time

I recall one particular upgrade from hades that took me hours to complete simply because I was multi-tasking (read: not giving the upgrade my full attention) and having to re-do everything to find out what I missed. What a geek!

I Like The Tag Feature

So far, so good: I like the tags feature and the “Pending Review” under the post status is a nice option, particularly for multiple bloggers. One plug-in has been updated and I assume the other dozen or so are working fine.

Have you upgraded yet? What has your experience with the latest offering been so far?

WordPress Tosses Technorati In Favor of the Google Blogs Directory

BTW, I like when I click on the blog comments section on the management panel that it returns to be Google Blog directory results, not Technorati. I bet that change is causing some controversy.

Excellent Work, WordPress!

All right, the plug-ins have been reactivated and I think I’ll head over to WordPress to read about all of the nifty features of v.2.3. Kudos to the WP gang who spent a lot of time making sure that this version was delivered well tested and on time.