It is based in Wiki.js, a powerful and extensible open source Wiki software that is build on top of modern technologies like Node.js and Vue.js. Wiki.js can be used freely by any org to create any type of Wiki.
A Wiki is a webpage maintained and edited collaboratively by a user community. Any registered user, after some validations, can add, modify or delete content, and all changes are saved in a permament historical, so nothing is lost in an accidental removal. Information is stored in a database so it can do the classic actions as massive additions/removals, backups or searches.
To facilitate addition of content, a program called Urantiapedia Tools is under development. This program automates format conversion tasks and helps with content review tasks.
Both Urantiapedia Tools and Wiki.js will receive new functionality as Urantiapedia extends its content types. The developments and the content files are available from the web Urantiapedia at GitHub. This website is public and anyone can make contributions following the GitHub methodology or just sending content through email.
As in any Wiki the content are pages, each one with a unique URL and a title. These are main contents expected:
Books, like The Urantia Book, The Bible and other texts related with the Urantia revelations. Each chapter of books is one page in Urantiapedia.
Topics about any matter mentioned in The Urantia Book. Each topic is stored in a page.
Articles written by readers, each one a page.
Images, either drawings or photographs to illustrate concepts of The Urantia Book, each in its own page.
Diagrams or presentations, also in pages.
Interactive maps, either in 2D or 3D, showing locations or voyages described in the Urantia revelations. Each map is one page. Maps can be static or contain animations to create flyovers.
3D models, each in a page, that can be static or interactive as in maps.
For more information on the content check here: Content
Much progress has been made in Milestone I. The Urantia Book, the Bible, and Paramony (or links between both) are added in all supported languages (25 currently). The Topic Index is in progress for English, Spanish and French.
Milestone II is in progress in English, Spanish and French.
Milestone III is much of it done, it is a translation software and there is no specific content for each language.
For milestones IV, V and VI only small tests have been carried out with some contents.
To know more about the current progress of the project check here: Status.
Urantiapedia is not a website with registration open to anyone. We don’t operate the way Wikipedia operates. The reason is that there was already a version of Urantiapedia in the past that allowed open registration and that caused serious spam problems. Without a good security system and a good team of collaborators that prevent these intrusions, the problems of an open registry system are difficult to avoid. For this reason, if someone wants to collaborate at the administration or editing level, they must request to be registered. However, it is not necessary to register on Urantiapedia to collaborate if the type of collaboration desired is only the making of reviews.
Therefore, if you want to collaborate on this project, the best means of contact are:
By email. Sending an email to urantiapedia@gmail.com. If you wish to be registered on Urantiapedia as Administrator, Editor-in-Chief, Assistant Editor, Author or Developer, send an email with your request. If you want to collaborate as Reviewer, simply send your suggestions or corrections to the same email. We recommend that suggestions or corrections be sent as part of the body of the email message and not in a Word, PDF or similar file.
Via GitHub. As detailed in this documentation, the entire project is open and public on GitHub. Anyone can register on GitHub, create a fork of the project, add the changes they want, and then create a pull request, a typical GitHub change request. The changes submitted will then be evaluated by the Administrators of Urantiapedia, and may be accepted or rejected as deemed necessary. See the rest of the help to learn more about this collaboration mode.
Through the website Blue Fields, when this website is finished and operational. This website is a project unrelated to Urantiapedia that has been created to unite and organize readers of The Urantia Book who wish to participate in intelligent, purposeful and altruistic projects around the world. Once registered on that website, the project team will contact you.
The different roles of the Urantiapedia collaborators are:
Administrators: They are responsible for maintaining the web server, pages, bulk data loading, and are the only ones with permission to edit The Urantia Book, The Bible and other specific content. It is necessary to send an email to urantiapedia@gmail.com to be admitted as Administrator after passing the appropriate verifications. These users will eventually have an account on GitHub and another on Urantiapedia. Read more here: Manual for Administrators.
Editors-in-Chief: In charge of contributions to the GitHub project adding changes and translations that can then be uploaded in bulk. Editors-in-Chief also have all the capabilities of an Assistant Editor within the Urantiapedia website. It is necessary to send an email to urantiapedia@gmail.com to be admitted as Editor-in-Chief after passing the appropriate verifications. These users will eventually have an account on GitHub and another on Urantiapedia. Consult: Manual for Editors-in-Chief
Assistant Editors: They have permission to edit certain sections of the website such as the Index of Terms, articles, and other material not reserved for Administrators and Editors-in-Chief. It is necessary to send an email to urantiapedia@gmail.com to be admitted as Assistant Editor after passing the appropriate verifications. These users will eventually have an account on Urantiapedia. Consult: Manual for Assistant Editors
Authors: They are Assistant Editors who, apart from being able to edit what any Assistant Editor, are also the only editors with permission to edit certain content of which they are authors. It is necessary to send an email to urantiapedia@gmail.com to be admitted as Author after passing the appropriate verifications. These users will eventually have an account on Urantiapedia.
Developers: They have a GitHub account and are in charge of developing the functionality of Urantiapedia Tools and Wiki.js. It is not necessary to send an email to urantiapedia@gmail.com to be admitted as Developer since everything is done through GitHub, but it is recommended for organizational reasons to contact the Urantiapedia team before carrying out any development. Consult: Developer Manual.
Reviewers: They have the task of ensuring correct content on the website, detecting typographical, translation, or composition errors that may have appeared when uploading content. It is not necessary to send an email to urantiapedia@gmail.com to be admitted as Reviewer although it is recommended for organizational reasons to contact the Urantiapedia team before carrying out any review work. To make revisions, it is enough to send any group of corrections that are considered appropriate to urantiapedia@gmail.com. As we have already said, we recommend that suggestions or corrections be sent as part of the body of the email message and not in a Word, PDF or similar file.
To find out more about the profiles we are looking to collaborate with, check Collaborator profiles.