[Lexicog] Dictionary software

[Benjamin Barrett]

Wayne Leman says to not talk about software in Natalie's thread, so I'm starting a new one :)

When I realized the potential that the Wiki Foundation's software has, I jumped at it. I realize now I should explore other options before I get too far into my project.

The wiki software (free to download and use) makes it easy to add words even for people who don't like computers, allows multiple people to work simultaneously, can be accessed instantly by community members with a smartphone/tablet/computer and has a lot of features that can be customized. You can upload PDFs, graphics, sound files, videos and anything else you want (though that requires customization).

Although the customizations can take a lot of work, the basic installation on a PC/Mac or on many hosts is very easy. Among the customizations I have is a Lushootseed keyboard that enables anyone to type in Lushootseed regardless of their system, and security settings requiring people to e-mail me to create an account. I think you can even limit who can view the actual pages online.

Another compelling feature is that the Wiki Foundation has a vested interest in keeping its software relevant in a fast-paced world of software change, so I expect support will continue on into the future as long as Wikipedia is still around.

I haven't yet tried to export the data, so I can't address that issue, but I think it can be done relatively easily. 

Other than the time it takes if you want to customize your wiki, the only downside I can think of is the unstructured nature of wikis, but you can also create templates that guide the user. A particularly fancy example for creating the fictitious word "affff" can be seen at https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=afffff&action=edit&editintro=User:Yair_rand/usenec (for viewing only, please don't click "save page"!)

WeSay also looks interesting.

Has anyone explored the pros and cons of these various software options in detail?

Ben Barrett
La Conner, WA

Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/videos

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