While users can search all sources at the same time, there are also options to limit search to Wikipedia online, all online wikis, or search only on conventional online encyclopedias.

Features:

• Searche for information on online encyclopedias.
• Sources include popular online encyclopedias like Encarta, Britannica, Wikipedia and several others.
• Similar sites: Wikiwix.

Check out Wiki.com @ www.wiki.com

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• SmartWikiSearch: Wikipedia Similarity Search Engine
• TrendingTopics: View Hot Wikipedia Topics & Trends
• Navify: A Better Wikipedia (with Images & Videos )
• Fotopedia: Wikipedia For Images

Features:

• Shows popular Wikipedia articles.
• Search and view trends for the Wikipedia topic of your interest.
• See trend changes for the a period of time.
• Check out “Trending” topics for last 30 days.
• See popular topics in the last 24 hours.
• Latest news related to the topic is also displayed.
• Similar tools: Wikirank and Wikirage.

Check out Trending Topics @ www.trendingtopics.org

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wiki: Search Only Encyclopedia and Wikipedia Type Websites
• SmartWikiSearch: Wikipedia Similarity Search Engine
• Navify: A Better Wikipedia (with Images & Videos )
• Fotopedia: Wikipedia For Images

You can also search for more then two concepts, and it will present articles where these two concepts overlap. For example, type in “Mountain, snow” and it will show Wikipedia pages like “Glacier”, “Avalanche”, “Ski resort” and so on.

Note: The concepts you search for need to have their own pages on Wikipedia, and should be “important” enough for the similarities to be found.

Features:

• Easy way to find Wikipedia pages that discuss same or similar issues.
• Presents a quick overview for any given concept.
• Search for more then two concepts.
• Free and easy to use.

Check out SmartWikiSearch @ www.smartwikisearch.com

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wiki: Search Only Encyclopedia and Wikipedia Type Websites
• TrendingTopics: View Hot Wikipedia Topics & Trends
• Navify: A Better Wikipedia (with Images & Videos )
• Fotopedia: Wikipedia For Images

Works dead easy, simply choose the language and click on “Select languages” link. Okawix will then prompt set of .torrent files you can pick and download onto your computer.

It also offers desktop client for Windows, Mac and Linux that acts as an offline browser and can help to download and view Wikipedia offline.

Considering the enormous size of Wikipedia, it would surely take days to download it over a decent internet connection. Hence they have given the other option to buy usb keys from their shop which have the entire content loaded on them.

Features:

• Download Wikipedia content onto your computer for offline viewing.
• Available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Also downloads content from Wikipedia sister sites like Wikitionary, Wikiquote etc.
• Option to buy a USB keys with pre-loaded content from their shop.
• Available in over 250 different languages.

Okawix is not the only way to download Wikipedia for offline viewing. You my also read earlier MakeUseOf articles on this, 4 tools to download and take Wikipedia offline and how to install wikipedia on iPod.

Check out Okawix @ www.okawix.com (by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog)

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikirank: View Hot Topics on Wikipedia

Features:

• Search all Wikipedia related sites together.
• Search in 13 different languages.
• Different options for text, image and atlas search.
• Get results from all sources on one page.
• For more similar sites read our article “4 Search Engines to Search Wikipedia The Pro Way“.

Check out Wikiwix @ www.wikiwix.com (By Abhijeet from Jeet Blog)

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• Wiki: Search Only Encyclopedia and Wikipedia Type Websites
• SmartWikiSearch: Wikipedia Similarity Search Engine
• TrendingTopics: View Hot Wikipedia Topics & Trends
• Navify: A Better Wikipedia (with Images & Videos )
• Fotopedia: Wikipedia For Images

A new manually selected article link is posted every 12 hours. The link also comes with short synopsis of the most interesting part of the article so you know what it is all about. If you want to get notified whenever the new link is added you may either subscribe to its feed or follow it on Twitter.

Check out Best Of Wikipedia @ http://bestofwikipedia.tumblr.com

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Basically, copy and paste your text into provided field and click on the “Start Wikify” button. The application will then process your text and present it in Wikified text version.

Note: Although there is a preview option, the actual conversion is not instantaneous and may take some time to finish depending on length of the submitted text.

Features:

• Automatically enriches your text with links to Wikipedia articles.
• The service is not instantaneous and may take some time to finish depending on text length.
• Works with all languages supported by Wikipedia.
• Free easy to use.

Check out Wikify.appointment.at @ http://wikify.appointment.at

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikirank: View Hot Topics on Wikipedia
• Wikirage: Displays Most Edited Wikipedia Articles
• Wikipedia-Roll: Search & Browse Wikipedia Articles Visually
• WikiAlarm: Track Wikipedia Edits & Get Email Alets

It already has more 150,000 photos covering over 4300 encyclopedia pages. Each page includes a short text description from Wikipedia and links to related photo galleries. Anyone can share their pictures in related topic pages, nominate relevant photos and vote on the best images within each topic.

Features:

• Collaborative photo wikipedia.
• Over 140,000 photos covering more than 4300 encyclopedia pages.
• Browse photos by different topics and categories.
• Nominate relevant photos in each topic.
• Vote on best images.
• Share your own photos in relevant categories.

Check out Fotopedia @ www.fotopedia.com

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• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wiki: Search Only Encyclopedia and Wikipedia Type Websites
• TrendingTopics: View Hot Wikipedia Topics & Trends
• SmartWikiSearch: Wikipedia Similarity Search Engine
• Navify: A Better Wikipedia (with Images & Videos )

So when you need more information on the subject and see related images or videos to better grasp the topic go to Navify.com. Navify is a new web service that makes Wikipedia better. It lets you browse each Wikipedia article along with relevant images (from Flickr) and videos (from YouTube) in one place. Similarly to Wikipedia you can anonymously contribute to content by adding more images and videos.

Features:

• Browse Wikipedia articles with relevant images and videos in one place.
• View related articles on the sidebar.
• Anonymously leave comments and add related images, videos for each article.
• Share articles on Twitter, Facebook or by email.
• Similar sites: AgainButSlower

Check out Navify @ www.navify.com (via TechCrunch)

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wiki: Search Only Encyclopedia and Wikipedia Type Websites
• VisualWikipedia: A Visual and Interactive Interface to Wikipedia
• TrendingTopics: View Hot Wikipedia Topics & Trends
• SmartWikiSearch: Wikipedia Similarity Search Engine

Works easy, simply enter the article title or its URL in the provided box and click on the “Again, but slower” button. The page will then load the original and simplified versions of article side-by-side. Please keep in mind though that not all Wikipedia articles have “simpler versions”. Currently there are simplified versions for over 59,000 content pages.

Features:

• Read Wikipedia in simple English.
• View the original and simplified versions of the article side by side.
• Free, no sign up needed.

Check out AgainButSlower @ www.againbutslower.com

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Features:

• Track Wikipedia changes and get email alerts.
• Track as many pages as you like.
• Free and easy to use.

Check out WikiAlarm @ www.wikialarm.com (via Redferret)

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• Zlert : Get Alerts From Amazon
• Yotify.com: Stay Notified About Content You Are Interested In
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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikirank: View Hot Topics on Wikipedia

There is a search feature using which you can search for a particular Wikipedia entry and view how popular it was in the last 30, 60 or 90 days. Additionally, you can compare articles side by side and see results on a graph chart.

Features:

• View most popular Wikipedia articles for the last 30 days.
• Compare several articles side by side on a graph chart.
• View Trending articles with the highest spike in pageviews.
• Embed charts onto your webpage or blog.
• Search and see how many times articles were viewed in the last 30, 60, 90 days.
• Free. All the data is aggregated from Wikipedia’s public servers.
• Similar website: Wikirage.

Check out Wikirank @ www.wikirank.com

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• Wikirage: Displays Most Edited Wikipedia Articles
• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikipedia-Roll: Search & Browse Wikipedia Articles Visually
• Wikify.appointment.at: Enrich Your Text with Links To Wikipedia
• WikiAlarm: Track Wikipedia Edits & Get Email Alets

The application also displays flags that have been placed on articles indicating status (needs attention or don’t live up to editorial standards) or the date the article appeared on the homepage.

Additionally to most edited articles you can also view 30 top most active Wikipedia editors.

Features:

• Displays top 30 most edited Wikipedia pages.
• See most edited page in the last Hour, 6 Hours, Day, 3 Days, Week and Month .
• Subscribe to feeds and get Wikirage updates on feed reader or follow it  Twitter.
• Legends showing the status of the articles and the dates when it has been on the home page displayed.
• Also view to 30 top  most active editors.
• Free and no registration.

Check out Wikirage @www.wikirage.com

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• MakeUseOf 'Geeky Fun' - Hillarious Geeky Pics and Videos from different parts of web.

• Wikirank: View Hot Topics on Wikipedia
• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikipedia-Roll: Search & Browse Wikipedia Articles Visually
• Wikify.appointment.at: Enrich Your Text with Links To Wikipedia
• WikiAlarm: Track Wikipedia Edits & Get Email Alets

As you can see in the above screenshot, it provides a cool diagram which links the main term internet to various sub-terms which are relevant and could be of interest to those who are looking for information on the internet. And if you click on any other term in the map, it further delves into describing that and opening up another similar map. Certainly, a useful research tool.

See demo video below:

Check out Visual Wikipedia @ visualwikipedia.com (Contributed by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog)

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• Navify: A Better Wikipedia (with Images & Videos )
• Zipdecode: Visualize Zip Code Location as You Type
• ZCmap : Zip Code Lookup by City or State
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• Xmarks: Discover Popular Sites Based on Users’ Bookmarks

Here’s how it works:

1. Add email to your cell phone or Blackberry’s address book.
2. When you have a question, e-mail email with a command in the subject line (body of the e-mail can be blank)
3. In less than 30 seconds, you’ll receive an e-mail with the information!

And that’s it ! Just make sure you check the various commands so that you can get the maximum information when needed. List of things you can check with Snapask:

• flight status
• traffic
• weather
• dictionary
• local time
• stock quote
• latest news
• Wikipedia entry
• movie showtimes
• yellow pages
• local businesses
• song lyrics
• slang term definitions
• sports scores

For more applications that let you obtain web information in similar way see MakeUseOf’s Ask Questions section.

Check out Snapask @ www.snapask.com [via Labnol.org] ( by Abhijeet from Jeet Blog )

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Features:

• New and dynamic way to browse Wikipedia articles.
• Browse and visualize article contents by definitions and items.
• Intuitive visual interface.

Check out wikipedia-roll @ www.api-exploration.net/mashups/wikipedia-roll

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikirank: View Hot Topics on Wikipedia
• Wikirage: Displays Most Edited Wikipedia Articles

Features:

• Search and read deleted Wikipedia pages.
• Currently lists over 63000 previously deleted articles from Wikipedia.
• No sign-up needed.
• Note: It’s not a wiki website so the articles can’t be edited by site users.

Check out DeletionPedia @ www.deletionpedia.dbatley.com

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• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikirank: View Hot Topics on Wikipedia
• Wikirage: Displays Most Edited Wikipedia Articles
• Wikipedia-Roll: Search & Browse Wikipedia Articles Visually
• Wikify.appointment.at: Enrich Your Text with Links To Wikipedia

Features

• Make print-friendly copies of Wikipedia article summaries.
• Customize article summary to A4, A4 Small, A5, A5 Small, A6, Black & White, Antique and Mix formats.
• No registration required.

Check out Lexisum @ [ www.lexisum.com ]

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Features

• View and Search Wikipedia articles.
• Removes all the clutter and leaves only main text content.
• ‘Random’ Link: Jump to a random artcile.

Visit Wapipedia @ [ www.wapipedia.org ]

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Feature List:

• Convert Wikipedia articles to MP3 audio recordings.
• Stream recordings online or download to your PC.
• Access from mobile: Send Pediophon a text message incl. the querry you’re interested in (Abraham Lincoln, NASA, etc.). Wait for a couple of minutes. Dial the same number and listen to Wikipedia’s entry for the provided term.*
• Supported languages: French, English and German.

* Regular calling and SMS (text messaging) fees apply.

Check out PedioPhon @ pediaphon.fernuni-hagen.de

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• YakiToMe : Convert Text Files to Speech
• Wikiwix: The Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine
• Wikirank: View Hot Topics on Wikipedia
• Wikirage: Displays Most Edited Wikipedia Articles
• Wikipedia-Roll: Search & Browse Wikipedia Articles Visually