The first Alpha version of Wikia Search which was launched in January by Wikia was lacking in some basic features and was deemed not quite ready by many; the company has however rolled out a lot of updated features in addition to some new ones for the new release of the new Wikia Search version. According to Wikia, they have also have registered members in excess of 20,000 who have helped in the creation and editing of articles on the site.
According to Jimmy Wales, the CEO of Wikia, majority of the features added make the engine more “wiki-like” and users will now be able to edit their search results in whatever manner they deem appropriate. There is also the capability for them to make additions, delete or make updates to links that come up in their search results. Previews and annotations will also be possible for URLs that come up in a search result. There will also be the functionality of being able to highlight websites that have noteworthy links.
The major customization features for Wikia Search engine results are listed below:
- Instant title and summary edits for search results which are then saved to the search engine
- Functionality to instantly add fresh results for search queries
- Results can either be hidden or deleted
- New rating system of between one to five stars for result items
- Related or suggested search items can be quickly added to search engine queries
- Public commenting now available for result articles
- Previews and annotation now directly possible for search results
- Enhanced integration with Yahoo, Google and other search engines
- Page history view added for search results
Although there are questions raised concerning spammers who may decide to use the search engine to enhance their spamming activities, Jimmy Wales, the Wikia Search CEO has said he is not overtly too concerned about it since the monitoring activities done by the online community of the search engine will help to keep a proper check on things.
Indeed the online community for Wikia Search is very robust with a lot of active mailing lists and intensive debates and other types of discussions springing up on the site from time to time. There is also an active developer community for those interested in creating search engine related applications.
Mahola another search engine for content also announced the introduction of the page editing features for its site. According to the CEO of the company, Jason Calacanis, such edited content will however have further reviews done by one of the company’s Mahaloians. This differs from the Wikia Search where no reviews will be made but the online community will be trusted to ensure that all items carry appropriate content.