Semantic MediaWiki

Software information

Software name	Semantic MediaWiki
Logo
Screenshot
Developers	Markus Krötzsch, Denny Vrandecic, Jeroen De Dauw, others
Owners
First release date	2005/01/01
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:

• Semantic Forms
• Semantic Drilldown
• Semantic Result Formats
• Semantic MediaWiki special pages (a list of useful special pages)

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]] 

Inline queries

Semantic Mediawiki includes a query language for semantic search. According to the manual (7/2013), it can be used in three contexts:

1. Through the form of Special:Ask page,
2. in so-called concepts, i.e. saved queries
3. and in inline queries.

Queries define two things:

1. Which page to select
2. What information to display about those pages. Additional extensions like Semantic Result Formats add further possibilities.

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

• Download SMW from Sourceforge. As of Aug 2011, the latest version is 1.6.1.
• You first need to install the Validator extension ! Download of Validator is included in the SMW download (when last checked)
• (short) Installation instructions for SMW 1.6.1. Also read the Administrator manual, and in particular Help:Configuration

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

• Press the (first) button in Special:SMWAdmin

Testing

Create a page like:

• SMW sandbox

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

• Extension:Semantic Forms is an extension to Semantic MediaWiki that allows users to add, edit and query structure data using forms.
  • Installed in this wiki, see also: Semantic Forms

• Semantic Drilldown provides a page for drilling down through a site's data, using categories and filters on semantic properties.

• Semantic Result Formats is a Semantic MediaWiki extension that bundles a number of further result formats for SMW's inline queries. It supports formats such as graphing, plotting, timelines, etc. Examples:
  • SemanticWeb.org (list)
  • Process format. See e.g. Collaborative Process Development using Semantic MediaWiki

• Semantic Maps - Semantic Maps (documentation)

• 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).

• Surveys extension (provisional SVN URL)

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

• SMW - Semantic MediaWiki
• SMW Community Wiki
• Referata (wiki hosting site plus support materials)
• SMWforum

Manuals and introductions

See also: User manual, which includes additional links

Official

• User manual (Entry page)

• Admin manual (Entry page)

• Quick Reference Guide: PNG or PDF

At SMW Community Wiki

Tutorials

• Mediawiki and Semantic MediaWiki tutorial.pdf (Spring 2011 SMWCon)

• Applied SMW by Jesse Wang et al. (Spring 2011 SMWCon)

Various

• Semantic MediaWiki (Wikipedia)

• Semantic MediaWiki vs. Sharepoint at Wikiworks.com

• WikiWorks blog

• blog (Jeroen De Dauw, a SWM key developer, interesting posts)

• Semantic MediaWiki page at TechPresentations.org (includes some slides, etc.)

• New York Semantic Web Meetup (last updated 2010, includes pointers to events)

• SMW overview (short intro, referring to tables)

• SMWCon also known as the Semantic MediaWiki Conference, is a twice-yearly gathering for users, developers and enthusiasts of Semantic MediaWiki,

• W3C Semantic Web wiki (not directly related to SWM, but they use a SWM forms, e.g. a Tool template)

Semantic MediaWiki sites

Indexes (most listed sites are not really maintained)

• Semantic Statistics List and statistics for semantic mediawiki sites at Wikiapiary.

• MediaWiki sites (Index) available at SMW Community Wiki

• Sites using Semantic MediaWiki (Index)

• Testimonials (not many)

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.

• Herzig, Daniel M. and Basil Ell: Semantic MediaWiki in Operation: Experiences with Building a Semantic Portal. Proceedings of the 9th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC-10). Springer 2010. PDF

• Millard, Ian, Afraz Jaffri, H. Glaser, and UB. Rodriguez-Castro. Using a Semantic MediaWiki to Interact with a Knowledge Based Infrastructure, International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management, Podebrady, Czech Republic, 2006.

• Krötzsch. M and D. Vrandecic. Wikipedia and the Semantic Web, part 2, Second International Wikimedia Conference, Wikimania2006, Cambridge, MA, USA.

• 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.

• Völkel. M, M. Krötzsch, D. Vrandecic, H. Haller, R. Studer. Semantic Wikipedia, presented at WWW2006
  • slides as PDF

• Völkel, M et al. (2006). Web 2.0, Social Tagging & Co at the Presentation at AKWM, Karlsruhe.

• Krötzsch. M, D. Vrandecic, and M. Völkel (2005) Wikipedia and the Semantic Web - The Missing Links, First International Wikimedia Conference, Wikimania2005, Frankfurt, Germany.

• Vrandecic, Denny; Yaron Koren, Daniel Kinzler (2011). Towards a Semantic Wikipedia, Open submission for Wikimania 2011. (Abstract only)