WikiNodes is an app for the
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
built by
IDEA.org. WikiNodes was the first tablet app for browsing
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
using a
radial tree approach to visualize how articles and subsections of articles are interrelated. The app displays related items (articles or sections of an article), which spread on the screen, as a spiderweb of icons.
Operation
The app uses the
SpicyNodes visualization technique which was awarded a "best for teaching and learning" award in 2011 from
American Association of School Librarians (AASL), and voted #edchat's 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools in 2010.
The user interface is based on two display modes:
* Page view – displays Wikipedia articles in long form, similar to how they appear on the main Wikipedia web site.
* Node view – divides Wikipedia articles into sections, and links articles to related articles, similar to
mind mapping
A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information into a hierarchy, showing relationships among pieces of the whole. It is often created around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated r ...
. The user can drag nodes, taps any node to display it in detail, with a panel to scroll to read the contents of the section. This provides a visual way to see the relationships between articles.
As of June 2011, the app supports the 3
top Wikipedia languages(by number of articles).
Reception
The app was highlighted as a "Staff pick" by Apple's U.S.
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
, Week of May 28, 2011; as "New and Noteworthy" by Apple's U.S. App Store, Week of May 5, 2011; and at other times by Apple's app stores for non-US countries. It has been favorably covered by several bloggers, including those in the references below.
[WikiNodes for iPad – Making Wikipedia Fun to Explore
by Patrick Jordan on May 11, 2011 / http://ipadinsight.com/ipad-app-reviews/wikinodes-for-ipad-making-wikipedia-fun-to-explore/]
See also
*
List of Wikipedia mobile applications – Other iOS mobile apps providing access to Wikipedia
*
Radial tree – the general type of layout algorithm
*
SpicyNodes – Information visualization technique
References
External links
Direct link to listing in Apple app store
{{Wikipedia, state=collapsed
Graph drawing software
IOS software
Wikipedia
Computer-related introductions in 2010