Semantic MediaWiki: Difference between revisions

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=== Properties with values ===
=== Properties with values ===


'''Data''' in Semantic MediaWikis is defined by properties, in a similar way as in object-oriented programming.  
'''Data''' in Semantic MediaWikis is defined by properties, in a similar way as in object-oriented programming. Properties are used with the <nowiki>[[property_name::property_value]]</nowiki> syntax. By default, the value of a property is a wiki page, i.e. default data type of a property is simply a wiki page.
By default the value of a property is a wiki page.
  <nowiki>MediaWiki [[is a:: Wiki]]</nowiki>
  <nowiki>MediaWiki [[is a:: Wiki]]</nowiki>
The following example has data of type URL
The following example has data of type URL

Revision as of 13:55, 12 June 2013

Software information
Software name Semantic MediaWiki
Logo Placeholder.png
Screenshot Semantic forms edit form example.png
Developers Markus Krötzsch, Denny Vrandecic, Jeroen De Dauw and others
Owners
First release date 2005
Status active"active" is not in the list (experimental, beta, stable, unknown, unmaintained, dead, zombie) of allowed values for the "Has status" property.
Last released May 2013
Last version 1.8.0.5
Programming language PHP
Operating systems Any probably
Platforms Any
Size (KB) 4696
Languages Many
Genre Mediawiki
Keywords Mediawiki, semantic web, extensions
Licenses GPL
Web site here
Support websites
Description Semantic MediaWiki is an extension for managing structured data in your wiki and for querying that data to create dynamic representations: tables, timelines, maps, lists, etc.
Last edit June 2013


Draft

Introduction

“Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) is an extension of Mediawiki – the wiki application best known for powering Wikipedia – that helps to search, organise, tag, browse, evaluate, and share the wiki's content. While traditional wikis contain only text which computers can neither understand nor evaluate, SMW adds semantic annotations that allow a wiki to function as a collaborative database. Semantic MediaWiki was first released in 2005, and currently has over ten developers, and is in use on hundreds of sites. In addition, a large number of related extensions have been created that extend the ability to edit, display and browse through the data stored by SMW: the term "Semantic MediaWiki" is sometimes used to refer to this entire family of extensions. Semantic MediaWiki has been funded in part by projects of the Framework Programmes (FP) of the European Union, SEKT and ACTIVE and by project Halo.” (Introduction to Semantic MediaWiki, retrieved 14:31, 24 August 2011 (CEST))

According to Semantic MediaWiki, “is currently in active use in hundreds of sites, in many languages, around the world, including Fortune 500 companies, biomedical projects, government agencies and consumer directories”.

See also:

Syntax extensions for Semantic MediaWiki

Properties with values

Data in Semantic MediaWikis is defined by properties, in a similar way as in object-oriented programming. Properties are used with the [[property_name::property_value]] syntax. By default, the value of a property is a wiki page, i.e. default data type of a property is simply a wiki page. 

MediaWiki [[is a:: Wiki]]

The following example has data of type URL 

[[Has_website:: http://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Semantic_MediaWiki]]

If you insert a "statement" like the above in a page, the value will be shown, e.g. http://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Semantic MediaWiki. We shall explain below, how to create properties.

Property types:

There exist several types, for example:

  • Page (a wiki page, this the value by default, i.e. if you don't define a data type a property will result in a "blue" or "red" link to a normal wiki page)
  • String (a short text)
  • Text (a longer text)
  • Code (same but pre-formatted)
  • URL (various kinds of URIs, including http://)
  • Number
  • Date
  • Enumeration (lists of properties of all the other types)
  • Boolean

Manual coding

  • Each property must be created as a page in the properties namespace. To create a property with aproperty_name and a value, just use the following syntax:
[[property_name:: your_property_value]]
  • You then can type the property. By default a property is of type page, i.e. it will link to a normal wiki page. For example [[is a:: Wiki]] will declare that this is a Wiki and then link to the page Wiki like this: Wiki
  • To define the type, edit the property:your_property page and add a type declaration like this:
This is a property of type [[Has type::URL]].

Using the property creation special page

The easiest way to create a property (including its page and the type declaration) is to use the form in Special:CreateProperty "special" page.

Annotated values

The Swiss Grading scale goes from 0 to [[grading scale:=6]]

Semantic MediaWiki software

Most semantic MediaWiki sites make use of a whole range of extensions that are built on top of the basic Semantic MediaWiki infrastructure. For exemple, a popular extension is Semantic Forms.

Download and Installation

Tested for MW 1.17 on 18:48, 24 August 2011 (CEST).

Download
PHP requirements

The mbstrings non-default extension must be installed.

Under Ubuntu 10+, it should be there, but check: 

php --info | grep mbstring
Configure LocalSettings.php (mandatory)
$smwgNamespaceIndex = 106; // on top of others, adjust to yours
require_once( "$IP/extensions/Validator/Validator.php" );
include_once( "$IP/extensions/SemanticMediaWiki/SemanticMediaWiki.php" );
enableSemantics('edutechwiki.unige.ch'); // adjust to yours
Configure options in LocalSettings.php (there are many many!)
$smwgShowFactbox = SMW_FACTBOX_NONEMPTY;
Setup the database
Testing

Create a page like:

Then enter something like: 

Testing - adding a property called "testproperty" with value [[testproperty::SandBox]]

Upgrading

Last time it was done, we had to launch a maintenance script 

cd extensions/SemanticMediaWiki/maintenance
php SMW_setup.php

Semantic MediaWiki extensions

  • Semantic Drilldown provides a page for drilling down through a site's data, using categories and filters on semantic properties.
  • Semantic Watchlist extends Semantic MediaWiki by adding the capability to watch/follow sets of properties for groups of pages (that can be specified with categories and namespaces).

Data import/export

  • Support for RDF triplestores (via SPARQL)

SMW packaged services and distributions

  • SMW+ is a prepackaged version of MediaWiki/Semantic Wiki described as "semantic enterprise wiki that lets you create and share knowledge with your team." Both a free version and a pro version are available.

Links

Official other important SMW sites

Manuals and introductions

See also: User manual, which includes additional links

Official
  • Quick Reference Guide: PNG or PDF
At SMW Community Wiki

Tutorials

Various

  • blog (Jeroen De Dauw, a SWM key developer, interesting posts)
  • SMWCon also known as the Semantic MediaWiki Conference, is a twice-yearly gathering for users, developers and enthusiasts of Semantic MediaWiki,

Semantic MediaWiki sites

Indexes (most listed sites are not really maintained)
Plants
  • Gardenology.org - Plant & Garden Wiki Encyclopedia is a complete plant and garden wiki encyclopedia. So far we have 21,980 plant entries and other articles written and edited by gardeners from around the globe (June 2013).
  • Practical Plants. Practical Plants is a collaboratively edited encyclopedia and database of information on plants cultivated with a practical intention. Over 7400 plant articles covering edible, medicinal and material uses, propagation and cultivation information, plant associations and polycultures, and everything else you need to know to grow and benefit from practical plants.
  • food finds
  • Pest Information Wiki includes 117299 research publications and other information on pests, diseases and weeds. Organized by the International Society for Pest Information (ISPI)
Biology
  • SNPedia, a wiki investigating human genetics.
Research and artifacts
  • Swiss Experimnet, A platform to enable real-time environmental experiments through wireless sensor networks and a common, modern, generic cyber-infrastructure.
  • AcaWiki enables you to easily post summaries and literature reviews of peer-reviewed research
  • Creative Commons Wiki Quote: The purpose of this wiki is to help you learn more about CC and give you a chance to collaborate with us.
Computer science and digital design/fabrication
  • AIFB Web Portal, at Institute of Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods (AIFB) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. (Includes prime contributors to the Semantic MediaWiki code).
  • catalogs useful free software that runs under free operating systems
  • Hackerspaces. Quote: are community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects. This website is for Anyone and Everyone who wants to share their hackerspace stories and questions with the global hackerspaces community.
  • Domotiki.eu, base de connaissance sur la domotique : Matériels, Logiciels, Protocoles, Revendeurs, Installateurs, Constructeurs...

Bibliography

  • Dengler, Frank and Hans-Jörg Happel. 2010. Collaborative modeling with semantic MediaWiki. In Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration (WikiSym '10). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Article 23 , 2 pages. DOI=10.1145/1832772.1832802 http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1832772.1832802
  • García, R. R., Gil, R. R., Gimeno, J. M., Granollers, T. T., López, J. M., Oliva, M. M., & Pascual, A. A. (2010). Semantic wiki for quality management in software development projects. IET Software, 4(6), 386-395. doi:10.1049/iet-sen.2010.0044
  • Krötzsch, Markus; Denny Vrandecic, Max Völkel, Heiko Haller, Rudi Studer. korrekt:Semantic Wikipedia (JWS2007)|Semantic Wikipedia. Journal of Web Semantics 5/2007, pp. 251–261. Elsevier 2007.
  • Krötzsch. M, D. Vrandecic, M. Völkel, H. Haller, and R. Studer. Semantic Wikipedia (ESWC2006 demo), European Semantic Web Conference, ESWC2006, Budva, Montenegro. Best Poster Award.
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