I miss wordie

repsac3 I'm missing the wordie widget that allowed me to keep a list of the words I most recently added at the site on the sidebar of my blog. (I replaced the wordie "list of my words" with the Wordnik "word of the day," but it just isn't the same...) Hopefully it'll come back one day...

a beatnik wordster, for sure Jan 16, 2010

sionnach Thanks for the link, erin. John's Onelook bookmarklet doesn't work for me either (in Firefox). Jan 12, 2010

reesetee Odd--it worked fine for me (in Firefox). Jan 12, 2010

PossibleUnderscore You're not alone bilby.

(I have Firefox.) Jan 12, 2010

erinmckean Thanks, reesetee! Jan 11, 2010

reesetee Great article, Erin--thanks. Jan 11, 2010

bilby John's OneLook Search link below is not vorking for me. Jan 11, 2010

erinmckean Hey Sionnach, I understand your disappointment ... I do want to point out though that the goal we're working towards with Wordnik is not necessarily to have *definitions* for every word, but to have examples ... I wrote something for the NYT a couple weeks ago about the relative helpfulness of definitions -- it's here, and might help define (sorry, couldn't help myself) part of what we're working towards.
Jan 11, 2010

john Yes, agreed, OneLook is great. Courtesy of Milly's Bookmarklets, here's a OneLook bookmarklet:

OneLook Search

Drag the link above to your browser toolbar. Then when you want to view a word from Wordnik (or any other site) on OneLook, highlight it and click the link on your toolbar.

There's an equivalent bookmarklet for searching Wordnik on the Tools page. Jan 11, 2010

reesetee Sionnach, you can access lots of dictionaries by clicking on the big fat word to get to the main page (of the word), then go to "Elsewhere on the web" under "Definitions." A bit hidden, yes, but it's there. (I too became addicted to Wordie's OneLook button.) Jan 11, 2010

sionnach I miss Wordie as well. So many things here that seem completely basic still don't work. The inability to get complete listings of comments on lists and profiles is particularly irritating - how hard can this be? And, as I have noted previously, for a site that bills itself as being primarily an online dictionary, the sparseness of definitions is astonishing. Previously available functionality (e.g. onelook and the other buttons) is either unavailable, or hidden so well that you could spend an afternoon trying to find it. Adding words, adding comments, finding comments - all harder than before. It's disappointing. Jan 9, 2010

bilby I wordnik Wordnik. Jan 9, 2010

reesetee That's it, then. We start selling beatnik Wordster t-shirts immediately.

Wait...that doesn't sound right. Jan 6, 2010

marky I can adapt. wordie (the name at least) did have a nice innocence to it. that I do miss. Otherwise, I have faith in wordnik based on the technology they are putting into it with the API and all. Jan 6, 2010

Jubjub It's got connections with Sputnik and Beatnik. (But I think more with the latter than the former, hence the hippy-heart in w♥rdnik.) It's striving to be the "first" in a Sputnik way, but also it wants to be counter-cultural in a Beatnik way: to revolutionize the way dictionaries work. (See Erin Mckean's video on TED) Jan 6, 2010

dontcry Wordsters? I like it!! I feel so....hip! Jan 6, 2010

reesetee Well, we could call ourselves Wordsters. ;-> Jan 5, 2010

quotato Wordnik reminds me of the retro word beatnik. Old 1950's and early 1960's poets and activists being intellectual in the pre-Starbucks era. Wordie had more of humorous 21st Century intellectual self deprecating feeling about it. Jan 5, 2010

gangerh Perhaps wordnik could develop an eswoosh? Jan 5, 2010

Telofy Let’s use “wordnik” as gender neutral personal pronoun (in lieu of “he/she” and the like)! Jan 4, 2010

ruzuzu Ah, how wordnik of you to say so, Prolagus. Jan 4, 2010

Prolagus What a wordnik idea... Jan 4, 2010

ruzuzu I think it can mean whatever we'd like it to mean--kind of like smurf. Jan 4, 2010

Prolagus By the way, what does Wordnik mean? Jan 4, 2010

dontcry It's the "k". Jan 4, 2010

gangerh I am unable to deduce why, but the name wordnik irritates me. Jan 4, 2010

PossibleUnderscore I'm happy to hear that at least one person has use for the Twitter feed. As for me, it doesn't do me any good but it doesn't do me any harm either. (I also think the statistics are fascinating, though they're so specific I still have doubts on their accuracy.)

If anything, what annoys me the most are: firstly, the inability to delete comments but I assume that will come with time (?); secondly, the inability to delete entire lists. I have an awful memory and I cannot recall if this was a feature of YOW, but I'm pretty sure it is was. Finally, the difference maintained by words with capital letters. This makes having totally separate conversations on the same word possible and I find it just a tiny bit inconvenient. Also, the listing in the sidebar (the one that says first listed by etc.) is affected because for all you know, someone has listed the same words but with capital letters.

Otherwise, all is pretty well and good. Progressions still to be made--but can't you say that about everything?

Nice link, telofy, thanks! Jan 4, 2010

reesetee We call it all of them, ruzuzu. :-) Jan 3, 2010

ruzuzu I don't mind the Twitter feed. It shows me immediately whether some word I love has taken on a horrible new slang meaning, it shows me whether some word I love is still safe in anonymity, and it shows me people who use words in clever and lovely ways (people I can then follow with my own Twitter account).

But the main reason I don't mind it? Twitter is what brought me here--I was following someone @wordie followed, so I clicked on wordie.com to see what it was all about, and now, regardless of the name, I'm completely loyal or addicted or invested or in love or whatever you call it when you finally discover this community. Jan 3, 2010

dontcry I have no use for the Twitter feed junk.
I like the comment box at the top.
Lots of missing definitions.
I like pronunciations - but don't like the sound of my voice... Jan 3, 2010

Telofy I just added a keyword search for comments and definitions. When I type “n foobar” in the address bar it takes me to the definitions page; when I type “w foobar” I get the comments page. Here is a little how-to.

I’m only waiting for a few known bugs to be fixed and a few oft requested features to be implemented, otherwise I’m pretty content with Wordnik’s Wordieness—and there is really quite a lot that has improved. Jan 3, 2010

chained_bear One thing that kind of bugs me is that I have to click a couple of times to get to a word's comment page, but I suppose there's no help for that. Also the number of clicks to list a word now, though the "Take this word and..." menu is an elegant solution, feels cumbersome to me. Probably just takes some getting used to. I could do without the Twitter feed junk too, but probably some people use that... don't they? Jan 3, 2010

myth I like wordnik much better: autocomplete, better definitions and good examples. The statistics are kind of interesting too. It even kept all the previous comments. :) Jan 3, 2010

PossibleUnderscore ^^ (sympathetic grin)
*luffs* Jan 3, 2010

reesetee Congrats, dontcry! Hope to do the same myself someday.

I suppose we all miss the old site--but hey, we can still enjoy ourselves here and we'll get used to it, no? It's the people who count, after all. :-) Jan 3, 2010

dontcry Yes, John IS the bomb. Love it when passions become gigs. Mine just did as well... Still and all, missing wordie like a hometown. Jan 3, 2010

chained_bear I miss it too, but I am also proud of and happy for John that he turned his private passion into a paying gig. :) I figure I can get used to Wordnik, since it's now his livelihood.

Maybe someday when I have more time, I'd contribute more to the "features" discussion and give suggestions. Just don't have time right now. Jan 3, 2010

dontcry yeah... Jan 3, 2010

quotato Yes (me too too), when I first saw that wordie became wordnik I wanted to quit logging in. At first my password did not work, and I put the browser bookmark into the dead site office. Then I got a new password and I am back. Kinda reminds me of when Coke a Cola got rid of the classic taste and then went back to the original formula.... Jan 3, 2010

dontcry me too... Jan 3, 2010

sparsile I do miss the old Wordie Jan 3, 2010