WikiTrust
Encyclopedia
WikiTrust is a software product that assesses the credibility of content and author reputation of wiki
articles using an automated algorithm
. WikiTrust is a plug-in for servers using the MediaWiki
platform, such as Wikipedia
. When installed on a MediaWiki
website it enables users of that website to obtain information about the author, origin, and reliability of that website's wiki text. Content that is stable, based on an analysis of article history, is displayed in normal black-on-white type, and content that is not stable
is highlighted in varying shades of yellow or orange.
WikiTrust is a project undertaken by the Online Collaboration Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz
, in response to a Wikipedia:Meta quality initiative sponsored by the Wikimedia Foundation
.
The project, discussed at Wikimania 2009, is one of a number of quality/rating tools for Wikipedia content that the Wikimedia Foundation is considering.
CACM
August 2011, has an article on it.
WikTrust can be used by everybody in English and German via the Wiki-Watch pagedetails for Wikipedia articles, in several languages via a Firefox
plugin or it can be installed in any MediaWiki configuration.
The trust of the word is computed according to how much the word, and the surrounding text, have been revised by users that WikiTrust considers of "high reputation". To decide which users have high reputation, WikiTrust uses sophisticated "data mining" algorithms that assess the credibility of editors (users that make changes to a wikis content) by tracking their contributions. This project is still in a beta test stage.
The criticism has been raised that "the software doesn’t really measure trustworthiness, and the danger is that people will trust the software to measure something that it does not." Generally, users whose content persists for a long time without being "reverted" by other editors are deemed more trustworthy by the software. This may mean that users who edit controversial articles subject to frequent reversion may be found to be less trustworthy than others. Interestingly, the software uses a variation of Levenshtein distance
to measure how much of user's edit is kept or rearranged, so that users can receive "partial credit" for their work.
The software has also been described as measuring the amount of consensus in an article. The community of editors collaborate on articles and revise each other until agreement is reached. Users who make edits which are more similar to the final agreement will receive more reputation. The point is also made that consensus revolves around the beliefs of the community, so that the reputation computed is also a reflection of the community.
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
articles using an automated algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
. WikiTrust is a plug-in for servers using the MediaWiki
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
platform, such as Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
. When installed on a MediaWiki
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
website it enables users of that website to obtain information about the author, origin, and reliability of that website's wiki text. Content that is stable, based on an analysis of article history, is displayed in normal black-on-white type, and content that is not stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
is highlighted in varying shades of yellow or orange.
WikiTrust is a project undertaken by the Online Collaboration Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, in response to a Wikipedia:Meta quality initiative sponsored by the Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is an American non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, and organized under the laws of the state of Florida, where it was initially based...
.
The project, discussed at Wikimania 2009, is one of a number of quality/rating tools for Wikipedia content that the Wikimedia Foundation is considering.
CACM
CACM
CACM may refer to:*Central American Common Market*Communications of the ACM...
August 2011, has an article on it.
WikTrust can be used by everybody in English and German via the Wiki-Watch pagedetails for Wikipedia articles, in several languages via a Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
plugin or it can be installed in any MediaWiki configuration.
What WikiTrust does
WikiTrust computes, for each word, three pieces of information:- The author of the word.
- The revision where the word (and the immediately surrounding text) was inserted. By clicking on a word, visitors are sent to the revision where the word originated.
- The "trust" of the word, indicated by the word background coloring (orange for "untrusted" text, white for "trusted" text).
The trust of the word is computed according to how much the word, and the surrounding text, have been revised by users that WikiTrust considers of "high reputation". To decide which users have high reputation, WikiTrust uses sophisticated "data mining" algorithms that assess the credibility of editors (users that make changes to a wikis content) by tracking their contributions. This project is still in a beta test stage.
The criticism has been raised that "the software doesn’t really measure trustworthiness, and the danger is that people will trust the software to measure something that it does not." Generally, users whose content persists for a long time without being "reverted" by other editors are deemed more trustworthy by the software. This may mean that users who edit controversial articles subject to frequent reversion may be found to be less trustworthy than others. Interestingly, the software uses a variation of Levenshtein distance
Levenshtein distance
In information theory and computer science, the Levenshtein distance is a string metric for measuring the amount of difference between two sequences...
to measure how much of user's edit is kept or rearranged, so that users can receive "partial credit" for their work.
The software has also been described as measuring the amount of consensus in an article. The community of editors collaborate on articles and revise each other until agreement is reached. Users who make edits which are more similar to the final agreement will receive more reputation. The point is also made that consensus revolves around the beliefs of the community, so that the reputation computed is also a reflection of the community.
External links
- http://wikitrust.net – Official website
- Source code repository
- Discussion group
- Developer mailing list
- Bug tracker
- Recent code updates
- Recent website activity