Wiki losing its contributors

WIKIPEDIA, the online encyclopedia that is written entirely by volunteers and allows anyone to edit its entries, is losing contributors, its founder has complained.

Jimmy Wales said the nonprofit company that runs the site is scrambling to simplify editing procedures in an attempt to retain volunteers.

“We are not replenishing our ranks,” Wales said.

“It is not a crisis, but I consider it to be important.”

Administrators of the internet’s fifth most visited website are working to simplify the way users can contribute and edit material.

Wikipedia has more than three million entries but despite its wide-reaching popularity, Wales said the typical profile of a contributor is “a 26-year-old geeky male” who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website.