Editing Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español

{{Short description|Spanish-language wiki encyclopedia}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox website
| name = {{lang|es|Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español|italic=no}}
| screenshot = [[File:Portada El spanish 01-04-06.png|250px|alt=A screenshot of Enciclopedia Libre includes a panel to navigate users around the site, a welcome message, and a picture of a featured article]]
| caption = Screenshot of the main page on 1 April 2006
| url = {{URL|http://enciclopedia.us.es/}}
| type = [[Wiki]], [[online encyclopedia]]
| language = [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
| author = Edgar Enyedy
| owner = [[University of Seville]]
| launch_date = {{Start date and years ago|2002|2|26|df=yes}}
| commercial = No
| registration = Not required (although in some events unregistered users have to register to view and edit)
| content_license = [[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike]]&nbsp;3.0
| num_users = 3,921 registered users, 1 active (September 2023)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Estadísticas|url=http://enciclopedia.us.es/index.php/Especial:Estadísticas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709171510/http://enciclopedia.us.es/index.php/Especial:Estad%C3%ADsticas|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2009|access-date=2022-06-20|website=Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Lista de usuarios activos|url=http://enciclopedia.us.es/index.php/Especial:UsuariosActivos|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812101155/http://enciclopedia.us.es/index.php/Especial:UsuariosActivos|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 12, 2014|access-date=2022-06-20|website=Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español|language=es}}</ref>
| programming_language = [[MediaWiki]], made in [[PHP]]
| current_status = Inactive
}}
'''{{lang|es|Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español|italic=no}}''' (English: Universal Free Encyclopedia in Spanish) was a [[Spanish-language]] [[wiki]]-based [[online encyclopedia]] that started as a [[Fork (software development)|fork]] of the [[Spanish Wikipedia]], released under the [[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License&nbsp;3.0]] and using the same [[MediaWiki]] software.

==History==
The {{lang|es|Enciclopedia Libre|italic=no}} was founded by contributors to the [[Spanish Wikipedia]] who decided to start an independent project. Led by Edgar Enyedy, they left Wikipedia on 26 February 2002, and created the new website, provided by the [[University of Seville]] for free, with the freely licensed articles of the Spanish Wikipedia.<ref name="Tkacz2" />

The reasons for the split are explained on Enciclopedia Libre.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Enciclopedia:Por qué estamos aquí y no en es.wikipedia.org|url=http://enciclopedia.us.es/index.php/Enciclopedia:Por_qué_estamos_aquí_y_no_en_es.wikipedia.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819122547/http://enciclopedia.us.es/index.php/Enciclopedia:Por_qu%C3%A9_estamos_aqu%C3%AD_y_no_en_es.wikipedia.org|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 19, 2007|access-date=2022-06-20|website=Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español|language=es}}</ref> Key issues included concerns about censorship and the possibility of advertising on Wikipedia.<ref name="thewikipediarevolution9">{{cite book|last1=Lih|first1=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Lih|title=[[The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia]]|date=2009|publisher=Aurum|location=London|isbn=9781845134730|oclc=280430641|page=9}}</ref> Edgar Enyedy stated the main reasons for splitting at that time as:<ref name="Tkacz2" />
* Perceived expectation that Wikipedia would soon start hosting advertisements.<ref name="Tkacz2" />
* Non-English Wikipedias were running older versions of [[MediaWiki]]. 
* When national groups offered help in software development and maintenance, access to the{{nbsp}}servers was denied.
* The downloadable database dumps of Wikipedia content were highly outdated.
* Wikipedia was hosted on a [[.com]] rather than a [[.org]] domain.

==Post-split history==
In 2011, Enyedy said that the sole reason for the failure of {{lang|es|Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español|italic=no}} as a long-term project was that it "was not intended to last. It was merely a form of pressure. Some of the goals were achieved, not all of them, but it was worth the cost." He further said "Nowadays, the romantic point of view is that EL survived and is still going strong." He argued that while the viewpoint is positive, it is not factual.<ref name="Tkacz2">{{Cite magazine |last=Tkacz |first=Nathaniel |author-link=Nathaniel Tkacz |date=20 January 2011 |title=The Spanish Fork: Wikipedia's ad-fuelled mutiny |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/wikipedia-spanish-fork |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504112054/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-01/20/wikipedia-spanish-fork/page/2 |archive-date=4 May 2016 |access-date=27 August 2022 |magazine=[[Wired UK]]}}</ref>

By late 2024 the site had ceased operations.

==See also==
{{Portal|Internet|Spain}}
*{{anli|EcuRed}}
*[[Susning.nu]] (former Swedish wiki)
*[[Baidu Baike]] (Chinese wiki)
*[[List of online encyclopedias]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q1340088|m=Spanish_Fork|n=no|c=Category:Enciclopedia_Libre_Universal_en_Español|b=no|v=no|voy=no|mw=no|species=no|s=no|wikt=no|q=no}}
*{{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20220406214805/http://enciclopedia.us.es/index.php/Enciclopedia_Libre_Universal_en_Espa%C3%B1ol}} {{in lang|es}}
*[http://encicloold.us.es/index.php/Enciclopedia_Libre_Universal_en_Espa%C3%B1ol Old website] {{in lang|es}}
*[http://eltaller.us.es/ EL Taller] — fork of Enciclopedia Libre {{in lang|es}}
* Alvarez, Carlos [http://www.elpais.es/articulo/semana/Enciclopedias/Internet/elpcibsem/20051229elpciblse_6/Tes/ "Enciclopedias en Internet"]. ''[[El País]]''. 29 December 2005. {{in lang|es}}

{{Wikipedia|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enciclopedia Libre Universal En Espanol}}
[[Category:History of Wikipedia]]
[[Category:MediaWiki websites]]
[[Category:Spanish online encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wiki communities]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2002]]
[[Category:Spanish-language websites]]
[[Category:2002 establishments in Spain]]
[[Category:University of Seville]]
[[Category:21st-century encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia controversies]]