computer science

Wikiwand

Wikiwand is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wikiwand rather than just read about it. In short: Wikiwand, formerly stylized as WikiWand, is a commercial proprietary interface developed by an Israeli company for viewing Wikipedia articles. Its interface includes a sidebar menu displaying the table of contents, a navigation bar, personalized links to other languages, new typography, access to previews of linked articles, display advertisements, and sponsored articles.

Key takeaways

Wikiwand belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wikiwand to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wikiwand from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wikiwand, formerly stylized as WikiWand, is a commercial proprietary interface developed by an Israeli company for viewing Wikipedia articles. Its interface includes a sidebar menu displaying the table of contents, a navigation bar, personalized links to other languages, new typography, access to previews of linked articles, display advertisements, and sponsored articles. The interface is available on Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge as well as via Wikiwand's website.

History Wikiwand was founded in 2013 by Lior Grossman and Ilan Lewin. It officially launched in August 2014. Currently, Ilan is the General Manager at Kineti B.V., a Netherlands-based company involved in military sensory applications, under the Cypriot parent company Cnext Solutions Ltd. In 2014, Wikiwand was able to raise $600,000 to support the development of the interface. According to Grossman, "It didn't make sense to us that the fifth most popular website in the world, used by half a billion people, has an interface that hasn't been updated in over a decade. We found the Wikipedia interface cluttered, hard to read, hard to navigate, and lacking in terms of usability." In March 2015, Wikiwand released an iOS app for iPhone and iPad. In February 2020, an Android app was under development. In 2021, it was noted that visiting a Wikiwand page made the visitor's device exchange hundreds of requests and several megabytes of data with advertisers. On January 12, 2023, Wikiwand 2.0 was officially launched with an overhauled interface and new features like text-to-speech and AI-generated summaries collaborated with Wordtune Read. On March 1, a Q&A feature powered by GPT-3 was added to the top of all articles.

Business model Unlike Wikipedia, Wikiwand is ad-supported. It employs a freemium model that charges for a premium, ad-free plan. A large number of tracking cookies are set. When it started, Wikiwand falsely claimed that it would donate 30 percent of its profits to the Wikimedia Foundation. As of 2024, this applies only for user donations, not to subscription or advertising revenue. Per the site's Donation page, donations to Wikiwand are made to the Israeli company Wikipele Ltd. As of January 24, 2026, Wikiwand is still advertising itself as a 'leading donor' to the Wikimedia Foundation, but neither Wikiwand or Wikipele Ltd. are listed in the Wikimedia Foundation's 'Benefactors' list.

References

External links

Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wikiwand

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wikiwand claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wikiwand before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wikiwand ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wikiwand

In research: Wikiwand appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wikiwand in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wikiwand is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2014 software, Interfaces, Internet properties established in 2014, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wikiwand outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wikiwand in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wikiwand means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wikiwand out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wikiwand in simple terms?

Why does Wikiwand matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wikiwand?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wikiwand.