Wikipedia to get easier to edit

Thanks to some new cash

[Musicarl]

the nonprofit anyone-can-edit encyclopedia has received $890,000 from the Stanton Foundation in order to make it easier to use.

More specifically, the grant was given to the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that encompasses Wikipedia. It'll fund the hire of three new software developers in the foundation's San Francisco office. Then, per a press release, the team will "commission research to identify the most common barriers to entry for first-time writers, and then work to systematically reduce or eliminate them...hiding complex elements of the user interface from people who don't need them."

[news.cnet.com...]

Somehow I don't think a bunch of PHDs who don't understand Wiki code are going to suddenly start contributing.

[Samizdata]

Surely the problem with Wikipedia is that it is too easy to edit...

...

[Shaddows]

I thought the major barrier were the mods and admins who consider their remit 'specialist' areas to be their own personal fiefdom. I've heard loads of anecdotes about acticles being removed for spurious reasons.