Talk:Wikipedia timeline

Everything here should be dated and sourced, and integrated with en:History of wikipedia - see en:Talk:History of Wikipedia#Duplication

Old

Links to posts on nupedia.com are 404. Taw 18:54, 12 Sep 2003 (UTC)

That server is presently dead. Hopefully things will be brought back online someday? --Brion VIBBER 20:41, 12 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Hello,

According to french wikipedia, the idea to put this wiki on Nupedia is an idea of Larry Sanger together with Ben Kovitz in the morning of january 2.

I am copying this here as I am removing the above sentence from FR and don't want it to be lost if that it's true :)

Hashar 22:54, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Influence of Larry Sanger

(moved from the article)

The main figure of the early history of wikipedia was Larry Sanger. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Nupedia, and self-titled "Main Instigator" of Wikipedia. During the first months, the number of contributors made it possible to resolve all matters by consensus, and Larry's role was mainly to craft guidelines, and write columns about different aspects of Wikipedia. These guidelines form the backbone of what Wikipedia is today, and without Larry its shape would probably be different (and without a paid "instigator" it would have take much more time to take off). Larry Sanger's contribution to Wikipedia in the early days was invaluable. His own work and editing of articles added by others, his guidance and steering of Wikipedia meant quite a lot then. However, his strong opinions and authoritarian style caused conflicts with several Wikipedians. Today we might say he wasn't prepared to be a mediator, maybe a fierce arbitrator.
As time went by, however, some discussions were dragging along without solution: Larry began to make use of his implicit authority, and finally acknowledge that authority. Several recurrent disputes arose, the most contentious of them with The Cunctator. Some Meta-Wikipedia articles dating from this period (some by Sanger, some by his detractors) are at History of Wikipedia/Articles by and about Larry Sanger.

Political controversy became a major focus of editorial policy in mid-2002 - Larry Sanger returned after his resignation to wade in to the following:

In March 2002, the user "24" (named after his internet address) began to make a large number of controversial edits. Discussions about these edits became heated, and many people felt that 24, while knowledgable about various topics, was unable to work well with others. After posting what was perceived as a threat against Larry Sanger, Jimbo Wales banned his IP from the site for two days in April 2002 after lengthy debate on the mailing list. Many of his contributions remain in the encyclopedia.

"H.J." was banned from Wikipedia in September 2002. See [1] for details.