WikiNodes

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iPad app for browsing Wikipedia

title: "WikiNodes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["graph-drawing-software", "ios-software", "wikipedia", "2010-software"] description: "iPad app for browsing Wikipedia" topic_path: "general/graph-drawing-software" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiNodes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary iPad app for browsing Wikipedia ::

WikiNodes was an app for the Apple iPad built by IDEA.org. WikiNodes was the first tablet app for browsing Wikipedia using a radial tree approach to visualize how articles and subsections of articles are interrelated. The app displayed related items (articles or sections of an article), which spread on the screen, as a spiderweb of icons.

Operation

The app used the SpicyNodes visualization technique which was awarded a "best for teaching and learning" award in 2011 from American Association of School Librarians (AASL), and voted #edchat's 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools in 2010.

The user interface was based on two display modes:

  • Page view – displays Wikipedia articles in long form, similar to how they appear on the main Wikipedia web site.
  • Node view – divides Wikipedia articles into sections, and links articles to related articles, similar to mind mapping. The user can drag nodes, taps any node to display it in detail, with a panel to scroll to read the contents of the section. This provides a visual way to see the relationships between articles. In June 2011, the app supported the 36 top Wikipedia languages (by number of articles).

Reception

The app was highlighted as a "Staff pick" by Apple's U.S. App Store, Week of May 28, 2011; as "New and Noteworthy" by Apple's U.S. App Store, Week of May 5, 2011; and at other times by Apple's app stores for non-US countries. It has been favorably covered by several bloggers, including those in the references below.WikiNodes for iPad – Making Wikipedia Fun to Explore by Patrick Jordan on May 11, 2011 / http://ipadinsight.com/ipad-app-reviews/wikinodes-for-ipad-making-wikipedia-fun-to-explore/

References

References

  1. [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2011-06-13/In the news. Wikipedia's 'The Signpost']] 13 June 2011, In the news.
  2. Mossberg, Walt. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204226204576598870117070318 "Encyclopaedia Britannica Now Fits Into an App"], 28 September 2011. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''. {{subscription required The article mentions WikiNodes, while discussing the Britannica app, noting that "This kind of visual array of related items isn’t a new idea. In fact, there is an iPad app called WikiNodes which does something similar for Wikipedia content."
  3. AASL. June 2011. [http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25.cfm Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning].
  4. edudemic.com, "[http://edudemic.com/2010/07/the-35-best-web-2-0-classroom-tools-chosen-by-you/ The 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By You]" (August July 2010).
  5. WikiNodes: app that presents a keyword to a word association game. Ideal for expedition Wikipedia! (Japanese) [http://www.appbank.net/2011/06/20/ipad/264833.php AppBank]
  6. "The interface presentation of information [is] similar to that of mind mapping, which I love." – Jess Seilheimer, [http://jaeselle.com/2011/05/loving-wikinodes-ipad-app/ Digilicious] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-07-27)
  7. "The interface is a freestyle drag and zoom bonanza that lets you jump between related articles easily." – [http://applicationsipad.org/wikinodes iPad Apps] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-07-08)
  8. "[WikiNodes]...could redefine the way that you use Wikipedia on the iOS." – Blake Grundman, [http://www.148apps.com/news/wikinodes-brings-perspective-knowledge/ 148Apps]
  9. "WikiNodes takes the huge sprawling maze of information that is Wikipedia and organizes it into a spider web of knowledge." – Phil Hornshaw, [http://www.appolicious.com/articles/7968-fresh-iphone-apps-for-may-12-trove-dictionary-com-ipad-update-wikinodes Yahoo! News & Appolicious] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-15)
  10. link. (2012-03-23)

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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