Re: [Wikimedia-l] adding visual search for Wikipedia

[Tomás O'Hara]

ng
The interface is streamlined on smartphones, bur it nonetheless is
quite usable for casual browsing.

> d) The search bar at https://www.wikipedia.org/ already has images in a
> kind of drop-down search suggestions function, this is nice, but has not
> become very popular.

That only works for disambiguation and just shows limited information
in the menu (e.g., title plus characterization [if available[). Images
are not always included even though some of the pages contain images.
For example, searching for "garden party" just shows a generic
document icon. It would be more useful if it could include other
article as well. That would be on-the-fly search. Organizing it into a
grid would be more space efficient. The end result would be something
like Scrappy Search.

> I would actually suggest you go down the route of offering it as an
> extension on https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Extensions

Thanks for pointing that out the wikimedia extension: I was unaware of
that, so I will do some experimentation. Being able to customize
wikimedia interfaces can be a useful skill.

However, this is not attractive in this case because casual wikimedia
users will not likely download the extension. It also looks a bit
complicated to implement. For instance, parts of the interface would
need to rewritten to work as part of a wikimedia.

> Warm Regards
>
> Jeremy Lee-Jenkins
>

Best,
Tom


> On Fri, Jul 6, 2018 at 3:07 PM, Tomás O'Hara  wrote:
>
>> Hi, here's a link to a proposal I have for adding visual search to
>> Wikipedia:
>>
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Use_visual_search_frontend_for_Wikipedia
>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Use_visual_search_frontend_for_Wikipedia#
>> Proposed_by>
>>
>> (This was created with user ID: tomasohara
>> <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/User:Tomasohara>.) I can move it into a
>> better location if desired as it as not a "sister project" proper. The
>> Proposals
>> for new projects
>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_new_projects> page doesn't
>> offer suggestions for alternative postings, so I left it there for now.
>>
>> Below is a copy of the project overview. See the link above for details on
>> how this can be applied to foreign language wikipedias. Note that most can
>> be supported right "out of the box" except for the text categorization used
>> to select images for documents without images. A Wikipedia-specific way to
>> do this might be possible (e.g., based on the hierarchy of pages).
>>
>> Best,
>> Tom
>>
>> -
>>
>> It would be good for Wikipedia to use a general-purpose visual search front
>> end. Note that a big incentive for this is that users will be drawn to
>> Wikipedia to use this type of search rather than Google Search or Bing.
>> This would be beneficial because these search engines often show Wikipedia
>> content for popular entities like sports stars or tourist attractions,
>> which cuts down on Wikipedia traffic.
>>
>> You will be able to use the visual search frontend I developed without
>> charge for the duration of my patent in the works (a la license free). Here
>> is a link to an example with Wikipedia search on left and my Scrappy Search
>> on right:
>>
>> http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-small
>> -dog-breeds-en-wiki-site.png
>>
>>
>> Two other examples illustrate some added benefits of this visual search
>> with respect to Wikipedia. First, disambiguation becomes based on images
>> and keywords rather than just snippets of text. See the following:
>>
>> http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-bob-j
>> ones-en-wiki-site.png
>>
>> In addition, links to other pages for the same entity become much more
>> engaging:
>>
>> http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-taylo
>> r-swift-en-wiki-site.png
>>
>>
>> See http://www.scrappycito.com for the stable version of the system and
>> http://www.tomasohara.trade:9330 for the work-in-progress version. The
>> latter has support for handheld devices and also better aesthetics (n.b.,
>> version used in examples).
>>
>> I think this will be extremely popular with the Instagram crowd and younger
>> users in general (e.g., younger than 30). To do similar Wikipedia-specific
>> searches with the visual search front end, just add *site:en.wikipedia.org
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org>* to the query*,* as in following example:
>>
>> Lionel Messi  site:en.wikipedia.org
>>
>> Scrappy Search uses the Google search API, so all of the search operators
>> <

[Wikimedia-l] adding visual search for Wikipedia

[Tomás O'Hara]

Hi, here's a link to a proposal I have for adding visual search to Wikipedia:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Use_visual_search_frontend_for_Wikipedia
via user tomasohara [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tomasohara]
I can move it into a better location if desired as it as not a "sister
project" proper. The Proposals for new projects page
[https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_new_projects] doesn't
offer suggestions for alternative postings, so I left it there for
now.

Below is a copy of the project overview. See the link above for
details on how this can be applied to foreign language wikipedias.
Note that most can be supported right "out of the box" except for the
text categorization used to select images for documents without
images. A Wikipedia-specific way to do this might be possible (e.g.,
based on the hierarchy of pages). Otherwise, this is something I
intend to do for the top languages on the web. (Perhaps some grant can
be acquired to do most of the rest, requiring about 40 hours per
language.)

Best,
Tom

-

It would be good for Wikipedia to use a general-purpose visual search
front end. Note that a big incentive for this is that users will be
drawn to Wikipedia to use this type of search rather than Google
Search or Bing. This would be good because these search engines often
show Wikipedia content for popular entities like sports stars or
tourist attractions, which cuts down on Wikipedia traffic.

You will be able to use the visual search frontend I developed without
charge for the duration of my patent in the works (a la license free).
Here is a simple example with Wikipedia search on left and my Scrappy
Search on right (i.e., white vs. tan backgrounds):

http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-small-dog-breeds-en-wiki-site.png

Two other examples illustrate some added benefits of this visual
search with respect to Wikipedia. First, disambiguation becomes based
on images and keywords rather than just snippets of text. See the
following:

http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-bob-jones-en-wiki-site.png

In addition, links to other pages for the same entity become much more engaging:

http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-taylor-swift-en-wiki-site.png

See http://www.scrappycito.com for the stable version of the system
and http://www.tomasohara.trade:9330 for the work-in-progress version.
The latter has support for handheld devices and also better aesthetics
(n.b., version used in examples).

I think this will be extremely popular with the Instagram crowd and
younger users in general (e.g., younger than 30). To do similar
Wikipedia-specific searches with the visual search front end, just add
site:en.wikipedia.org to the query, as in following example:
Lionel Messi  site:en.wikipedia.org

Scrappy Search uses the Google search API, so all of the search
operators are supported. See
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en

The patent for this visual search will be owned by my company
ScrappyCito, LLC. If the company gets acquired, I will require that
they honor the license-free usage of the visual search system by
Wikimedia for Wikipedia. (They will likewise be required to pass along
this license-free usage requirement if they in turn are acquired,
etc.). You will have access to the current source code for use in
Wikipedia and other approved projects.

I am doing this both for exposure and because I want to help keep
Wikipedia viable (e.g., by enabling higher traffic). This is a great
way for users to browse the encyclopedia, so it can keep users on the
Wikipedia domain longer.

If this sounds interesting, I can develop a prototype for the Simple
English Wikipedia for use on one of my servers. After review, I can
help with the deployment for the regular English Wikipedia on your
servers once approved.

==
Tom O'Hara, founder ScrappyCito, LLC.
   PO Box 6430
tomasoh...@gmail.com
   Austin, TX 78762-6430
737-203-1577
  www.scrappycito.com

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[Wikimedia-l] adding visual search for Wikipedia

[Tomás O'Hara]

Hi, here's a link to a proposal I have for adding visual search to
Wikipedia:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Use_visual_search_frontend_for_Wikipedia


(This was created with user ID: tomasohara
.) I can move it into a
better location if desired as it as not a "sister project" proper. The
Proposals
for new projects
 page doesn't
offer suggestions for alternative postings, so I left it there for now.

Below is a copy of the project overview. See the link above for details on
how this can be applied to foreign language wikipedias. Note that most can
be supported right "out of the box" except for the text categorization used
to select images for documents without images. A Wikipedia-specific way to
do this might be possible (e.g., based on the hierarchy of pages).

Best,
Tom

-

It would be good for Wikipedia to use a general-purpose visual search front
end. Note that a big incentive for this is that users will be drawn to
Wikipedia to use this type of search rather than Google Search or Bing.
This would be beneficial because these search engines often show Wikipedia
content for popular entities like sports stars or tourist attractions,
which cuts down on Wikipedia traffic.

You will be able to use the visual search frontend I developed without
charge for the duration of my patent in the works (a la license free). Here
is a link to an example with Wikipedia search on left and my Scrappy Search
on right:

http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-small
-dog-breeds-en-wiki-site.png


Two other examples illustrate some added benefits of this visual search
with respect to Wikipedia. First, disambiguation becomes based on images
and keywords rather than just snippets of text. See the following:

http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-bob-j
ones-en-wiki-site.png

In addition, links to other pages for the same entity become much more
engaging:

http://www.scrappycito.com/wikipedia-vs-scrappy-search-taylo
r-swift-en-wiki-site.png


See http://www.scrappycito.com for the stable version of the system and
http://www.tomasohara.trade:9330 for the work-in-progress version. The
latter has support for handheld devices and also better aesthetics (n.b.,
version used in examples).

I think this will be extremely popular with the Instagram crowd and younger
users in general (e.g., younger than 30). To do similar Wikipedia-specific
searches with the visual search front end, just add *site:en.wikipedia.org
* to the query*,* as in following example:

Lionel Messi  site:en.wikipedia.org

Scrappy Search uses the Google search API, so all of the search operators
 are supported.

The patent for this visual search will be owned by my company ScrappyCito,
LLC. If the company gets acquired, I will require that they honor the
license-free usage of the visual search system by Wikimedia for Wikipedia.
(They will likewise be required to pass along this license-free usage
requirement if they in turn are acquired). You will have access to the
current source code for use in Wikipedia and other approved projects.

I am doing this both for exposure and because I want to help keep Wikipedia
viable (e.g., by enabling higher traffic). This is a great way for users to
browse the encyclopedia, so it can keep users on the Wikipedia domain
longer.

If this sounds interesting, I can develop a prototype for the Simple
English Wikipedia for use on one of my servers. After review, I help with
the deployment for the regular English Wikipedia on your servers once
approved.

==
Tom O'Hara, founder ScrappyCito, LLC.  PO Box 6430
tomasoh...@gmail.com Austin, TX 78762-6430
737-203-1577   www.scrappycito.com
___
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New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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