The following announcement was written by WorldHistory.com:
WorldHistory.com, a new social history experience, will launch into private beta on October 22nd, 2008. WorldHistory.com offers interactive maps, timelines, videos, geocoded photos, museum artifacts, genealogy and much more. The goal is to compile the history of the world and display it in such a manner that people of all ages and backgrounds can be interested in history.
To learn more, visit www.worldhistory.com and www.worldhistory.com/demo.
Content
Both the content and the manner in which that content is displayed are unique to WorldHistory.com. All articles are geocoded and time-stamped. With a google map and AJAX timeline, anyone can go back in time and explore history. Content is organized as events, people, groups, places, and artifacts. All of these can be interconnected, and displayed in unison. Content will come from multiple sources. The website will launch with content from wikipedia.org. Visitors who join will also be able to add content. To take it a step further they are also launching a content platform. Museums, historical societies, and other organizations, can use the platform to publish content to the website. The platform allows them to add content in mass, item by item, control ads, edit their content, and maximize traffic and revenue. The data on WorldHistory.com is a mashup, but still modular. This means content added by one partner is separate from Wikipedia's content, the user data, or another partner. The main content page will only display a small portion of these pieces. When a visitor clicks to view the rest of the content, the page navigates to the originators platform, which then displays the complete content.
Ancestors and Genealogy
Visitors can upload GEDCOM files to WorldHistory.com. The website will then geocode this information, and display it on an ancestor map and timeline. This gives a unique perspective of the users own personal history. Not only can they see their ancestors on a map with a timeline, but they can see the nearby events that occurred and the famous contemporaries of their ancestors. Visitors can share their ancestors with other descendants, create biographies for their ancestors, attach their ancestors to historical events, and add artifacts and other family heirlooms to events and people.
Connecting the Dots
With the help of museums, historical societies, genealogical data, and other primary sources WorldHistory.com can build a more complete history, and a more compelling story. As an example, let's use the famous Battle of Bunker Hill. The basic storyline and information of the battle comes from Wikipedia.org. Partners can add their data. Anyone can attach all of the famous people associated with this battle. I have two ancestors who fought in this battle. I can attach them to it, and share their description of the battle taken from their journals. This brings great insight and relevance to anyone interested in history.
iPhone / Android Applications
WorldHistory.com is also almost done developing iPhone and Android applications. These applications will allow users to view nearby historical events, places, and people on a map. They will also be able to view timelines for events and people, people related to events, and the birth and death places of famous people on a map. They will also be able to view only categories they are interested in.
Developer API
WorldHistory.com will also launch with a developer API, which will allow other websites to use the data found on the website. The API is very robust and allows almost any option to view the most relevant information. This service will be free with a rate limit, or paid for unlimited access.
Joining WorldHistory.com is free, and using the platform (for the time being) is also free. To learn more visit www.worldhistory.com and www.worldhistory.com/demo.
Superlative concept! However, when I reached the www.worldhistory.com link it responded that my e-mail address was already taken. When I attempted to log-on the response was that I wasn't register, something of an endless loop. The address for the demo was good, but the link was bad, so I had to enter it into my browser. Still, I'm ready to jump on this application/service when it's released. I hope it will allow users to enter new events and dates to merge into timelines.
Posted by: George P. Farris | October 28, 2008 at 03:24 AM
George. Yes, your email address must have already been entered. The sign up has been there for a couple of months. We are currently sending out invites to those who have registered. Once you get the invitation, it will allow you to login. We have over 6,000 people that have signed up in the last little bit, and are a little behind. We didn't expect such an overwhelming response.
Yes, you can enter new events, people, groups, places, and artifacts. You can relate those with other items as well.
Posted by: Brett | October 28, 2008 at 02:31 PM
Just tried.
Great idea, bad execution. site is full of javascript and the email sign up does not even work. Site creation by the lowest bidder?
A bad site WILL kill a good concept...
Posted by: Brad Levham | October 28, 2008 at 04:17 PM
Yes, the site is very heavy in Javascript. It's required for Google Maps and all of the AJAX involved for the Timelines. The features explained would not work, unless Javascript was enabled. We suggest you use IE 6+, Firefox 2+, Chrome, or Safari and that you enable Javascript. It is just a reality of evolving websites and concepts.
Posted by: Brett | October 28, 2008 at 05:43 PM
Tens of thousands of web sites are written in Javascript, including this one. That should not be a surprise these days when Javascript is so popular and so powerful. I fully expect that even more sites will use Javascript in the future. I always enable Javascript in my browser.
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | October 28, 2008 at 09:48 PM
Brett, I suggest you get with it. More and more users refuse to turn javascript on, just because you don't know how to make a web site. They will surf to the competition.
BTW, the signup doesn't work even after turning it on.... you really need to get a better web progammer.
Dick, If you care about security, turn javascript of. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted by: Brad Levham | October 29, 2008 at 02:34 AM
Seriously? There's being careful, then there's being paranoid. Javascript, in and of itself, is not a security threat. Javascript doesn't equal bad web design. As long as you're careful where you go and don't get click happy, there's no need to abandon all sites that use it. If you choose to stay in the world of static HTML from 1996 on your lynx browser, so be it, the rest of us will move on with the times and get a lot more use out of the web.
Posted by: Jason Presley | October 29, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Jason said: Javascript doesn't equal bad web design...
No, but relying on JavaScript does.
Posted by: Brad Levham | October 29, 2008 at 04:03 PM