Over the past few years, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has become an indispensable part of life for most users. Smartphone owners even got apps and extensions to allow access to a vast storehouse of information without having to connect to the web. However, not everyone has a smartphone and access to the Internet.

In an attempt to increase the number of people who use Wikipedia, a non-profit organization Wikimedia Foundation officially presented the technology Wikipedia Zero. The developed technology allows the organization of owners of mobile phones to access the Internet encyclopedia by ordinary text messages.

The report Wikimedia Foundation states that recently launched a three-month pilot program with the support of the telecommunications company Airtel and non-profit foundation Praekelt Foundation of South Africa, will provide access to Wikipedia for more than 70 million people in Africa.

Works based on the basis of SMS-messages Wikipedia Zero technology is simple enough. Sending a request from a mobile phone * 515 # to answer the user receives a message in which he offered to do a search query and send it via regular SMS-message. On the basis of the user’s search query will be offered a summary of the specific record or theme. To get more information, you need only to click on your cell phone the key “1”.

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Members “Wikipedia” an opportunity to make changes to the encyclopedia articles from mobile devices. It is stated in the blog, “the Wikimedia Foundation.”

While edit articles in the mobile mode can only registered users. To edit an entry, you need to login and click on the pencil to the right article.

The function of mobile edits first appeared on the “experimental” site “Wikipedia”, where she tested the first users. Now the test is complete, and can make corrections to all.

The blog “Wikimedia” notes that the management of the project will continue to develop the mobile interface revisions. It is possible that in the future it will be possible to make changes through a more convenient visual editor.

Previously, at the end of March 2013, mobile users “Wikipedia” was allowed to download pictures to the site. As in the case of the revisions, action is only available to authorized users.

From mobile devices to “Wikipedia” has more than fifteen percent of the site’s audience. I have a project encyclopedia Wikipedia Zero, in which people in developing countries access to the site from mobile phones free of charge.

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