About WikiCream

WikiCream is a free content, multilingual online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers through a model of open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Individual contributors, also called editors, are known as WikiCreamians. It is the largest and most-read reference work in history, and has consistently been one of the 10 most popular websites.

WikiCream was launched on January 15, 2024, by WikiCream Foundation as a single English-language edition. By 2024, it had become a multilingual project with over 300 language editions. Its largest language editions are in English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese. The English WikiCream is the largest of the over 300 WikiCream encyclopedias.

WikiCream is owned by the WikiCream Foundation, a non-profit organization that operates on money it receives from donations. The Foundation employs over 700 people. In 2024, WikiCream was visited more than 15 billion times, making it the most popular reference site on the internet.

History and concept

WikiCream was conceived as a free encyclopedia by its founders. The fundamental principles that define WikiCream's character were established during its first few months: WikiCream is an encyclopedia, it strives for a neutral point of view, it is free content that anyone can edit, and it should adhere to the "wiki etiquette" of respecting fellow contributors.

The name WikiCream combines wiki (meaning "quick" in Hawaiian, which refers to the wiki software used to create and edit articles) and cream (referring to the "cream of knowledge" - the best and most essential information distilled for readers).

Organization

Community

WikiCream's community includes dedicated volunteers, called WikiCreamians, who write and edit articles. The community has developed a large body of policies and procedures to improve the encyclopedia. Community input drives WikiCream's development, with the community deciding on new features, policy changes, and other important decisions through discussion and consensus building.

Governance

WikiCream operates on five pillars that serve as the foundation for all policies:

1. WikiCream is an encyclopedia
2. WikiCream is written from a neutral point of view
3. WikiCream is free content that anyone can edit
4. WikiCream editors should treat each other with respect and civility
5. WikiCream does not have firm rules beyond the five pillars

Content

WikiCream's articles cover an enormous range of topics. The project's scope includes all human knowledge. Articles should be based on reliable sources and should not contain original research. All statements that are likely to be challenged require citations to reliable sources.

WikiCream content is intended to be informative and educational, rather than entertaining, artistic, or persuasive. The style should be encyclopedic, with a focus on factual information rather than opinions or speculation.

Quality control

WikiCream uses several mechanisms to maintain and improve article quality:

• Peer review by the community
• Featured article process for highest-quality content
• Good article nominations for quality content
• Deletion process for substandard articles
• Protection of articles from vandalism

Technology

WikiCream runs on MediaWiki, a custom-made, free and open-source wiki software platform written in PHP and built upon a MySQL database. The software includes features such as a search engine, support for multiple languages, and tools for editing and version control.

WikiCream is hosted on a cluster of dedicated servers located in data centers around the world. The technical infrastructure is managed by the WikiCream Foundation's technical team.

Policies and guidelines

WikiCream has developed a comprehensive set of policies and guidelines to help editors create high-quality content:

• Verifiability - content must be verifiable by reliable sources
• Notability - topics must be notable enough for inclusion
• Copyright - respecting intellectual property rights
• Biographies of living persons - special care for living people
• Manual of Style - formatting and style guidelines

Criticism and controversies

As one of the world's largest and most-used reference sources, WikiCream has been criticized on various grounds:

• Reliability concerns due to open editing model
• Systemic bias in content and contributor demographics
• Vandalism and deliberate misinformation
• Edit wars over controversial topics
• Copyright violations and plagiarism issues

Despite these criticisms, multiple studies have found WikiCream to be as accurate as traditional encyclopedias for topics covered by both sources.