297 votes
add a 'wikipedia' command, like 'google'
Just like you can simply reply with 'google' to send related search results, a 'wikipedia' command would also be useful if you think Wikipedia would have the right answer.
Status:
under review
Thanks - we'll certainly consider this one if we add more commands similar to 'google'.
Alex
You'd be surprised at how many people don't really google or search wikipedia before asking the question :) . Questions that need 'personal touch' could be expressed as such. Like, 'I've already googled this and found that, could you please help me choose between these two options' It's really not hard to show you've already done some legwork on the subject when asking a Vark question.
Squishy
Mmm i understand and all about the "personal touch" but sometimes just straight information is best in which case a narrowed down link to a trusted source could be best... just my two cents...
Bobby
Yeah, I thought I liked this idea at first, but now I agree with Scott (below). It's kinda rude when I ask a question that needs a personal touch and someone says "google it" and I'm not sure Vark should be making it easier to provide knowledge that isn't their own. Then again, some times as an answerer, I get really obvious fact-based questions to which "google it"/"wikipedia it" seems a fair response.
Gabriel Sjoberg
I agree with the first commenter. Wikipedia results (if they're relevant) are almost always in the top ten search results. No need to provide redundant solutions!
Chi
i think aardvark and wikipedia should make sweet sweet love
RRR
my wikipedia percentage in answers is more around 30 per cent but they all had the definite answer to the question. However, I try to give a link with subtitle when the article is a long one. I don't expect people to find a small phase in a long text!
what I mean is this:
question: how do I get training as perfumer?
answer: please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfumer#Training
Christoffer
My sources are wikipedia 99% of the times it is not from the top of my head... I'd really like this...
Scott
I tend to think this flies in the face of the service the Vark community is trying to provide. Of course, most of us know how to google or wikipedia (is that a verb, yet?) a subject. Point of fact, however, I much prefer someone's insight more than the information. I can pull up a google map and search for Thai restaurants in Hell's Kitchen. I can read through the reviews (and, pray, the endless rants) for the 8 or so restaurants that show up. However, sometimes it is nice to get human contact in real-ti... more
I tend to think this flies in the face of the service the Vark community is trying to provide. Of course, most of us know how to google or wikipedia (is that a verb, yet?) a subject. Point of fact, however, I much prefer someone's insight more than the information. I can pull up a google map and search for Thai restaurants in Hell's Kitchen. I can read through the reviews (and, pray, the endless rants) for the 8 or so restaurants that show up. However, sometimes it is nice to get human contact in real-time with an informed opinion. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Draco
I'm out of line, but I think this IDEA is just dumb. If someone comes here because they don't know about google or wiki in the first place, they likely will speak such heavy old english we won't understand them. Oh, yeah, and Aardvark I am sure revels in the idea of being a pass-though to simply help people get to somewhere else. I wish people would use their common sense before posting a want which has nearly endless reasons as for not coming to fruition. But we deal with it outside the computer, we dea... more
I'm out of line, but I think this IDEA is just dumb. If someone comes here because they don't know about google or wiki in the first place, they likely will speak such heavy old english we won't understand them. Oh, yeah, and Aardvark I am sure revels in the idea of being a pass-though to simply help people get to somewhere else. I wish people would use their common sense before posting a want which has nearly endless reasons as for not coming to fruition. But we deal with it outside the computer, we deal with it in...
Jordan
I don't know.... this makes you wonder why they would ask a question here if they could simply get it with a quick Google or Wikipedia search. If this is the case, I would think that giving the link and a brief explanation of it would be a lot more helpful than simply providing the link.
Judson
It seems like at some point though, you may as well just send a url. I mean, would people say "wikipedia" without seeing if the article exists? (yelp etc) Google is a little different in that you're not saying the answer is there, but that's is a better option than aardvark. I dunno, just some thoughts.
Joshua
It seems to me, 95% of the time I do a google search which has information in Wikipedia, Wikipedia is the #1 or #2 result... So I don't know how important this is... just my $0.02