Wikipedia rolls out editing tool for mobile devices
With 15 percent of users accessing the online encyclopedia from their cell phones, the site decided to offer the option of editing on the go.
Wikipedia unveiled a new feature on Wednesday that lets users edit posts from their smartphones or tablets.
Instead of being authored by a select group of editors, the free online encyclopedia can be edited by anyone anywhere, and at any time. So, mobile integration will most likely streamline the editing process for many users.
"Have you ever looked up something quickly on Wikipedia on your phone, noticed a small mistake, and wished you could fix it on the spot?" Wikipedia mobile web software engineer Juliusz Gonera wrote in a blog post. "Now you can help keep Wikipedia and its sister projects up-to-date and accurate when you're on the go by editing from your phone."
Before today, users could only edit Wikipedia entries from desktop computers -- however, more than 15 percent of users access the site from their mobile devices. Wikipedia saw that disconnect and decided to "do more to let anyone with Internet access contribute to the sum of all human knowledge," wrote Gonera.
Earlier this year, the company rolled out a trial version of mobile editing on an experimental beta site; and today, it is launching the first public release for all users. Gonera wrote that Wikipedia will continue to work on improving the mobile editing feature into the future.