BrickWiki: Difference between revisions

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== History ==
== History ==
Venkatesh Srinivas, an electrical engineering student at [[Wikipedia:Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins University]],<ref name="JHU Commencement"/> proposed starting a LEGO wiki in a LUGNET message on June 8, 2005. Srinivas described his plan as an "electronic warehouse" of LEGO knowledge, containing information about the LEGO company, products, and community.<ref name="lugnet.general 51020"/>  
Venkatesh Srinivas, an electrical engineering student at [[Wikipedia:Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins University]],<ref name="JHU Commencement"/> proposed the creation of a LEGO wiki in a LUGNET message on June 8, 2005. Srinivas described his plan as an "electronic warehouse" of LEGO knowledge, containing information about the LEGO company, products, and community.<ref name="lugnet.general 51020"/> The idea originally came from LUGNET user Jamie "Astronouth7303" Bliss.<ref name="BW history" group="B"/><ref name="BW bliss" group="B"/> Srinivas originally suggested naming the site "LegoWiki"; due to concerns about using the LEGO trademark, other names were discussed in the [[Wikipedia:Thread (online communication)|thread]], including "LUWiki" (LEGO User's Wiki),<ref name="lugnet.general 51040"/> "LWiki", and "BrickWiki".<ref name="lugnet.general 51031"/><ref name="lugnet.general 51046"/> Srinivas changed the site's name to BrickWiki, and the site was launched on June 25, 2005.<ref name="lugnet.general 51109"/>
BrickWiki originally used a ''[[Wikipedia:No-IP|zapto.org]]'' URL before becoming available at ''brickwiki.org'' in October 2005.<ref name="lugnet.general 51194"/><ref name="lugnet.inst 711"/><ref name="lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands 2619"/>
The site was originally hosted by the Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery,<ref name="BW history " group="B"/> which Srinivas was a member of.<ref name="JHU ACM"/>
Srinivas planned for BrickWiki to be a multilingual wiki once he found translators, though no other language versions of the wiki besides English were ever opened.<ref name="lugnet.general 51031"/>




The idea originally came from LUGNET user Jamie "Astronouth7303" Bliss.<ref name="BW history" group="B"/><ref name="BW bliss" group="B"/> Srinivas had experience running MediaWiki software and a server available to host the site from.<ref name="lugnet.general 51020"/>  
Near the end of July 2009, BrickWiki went offline for several weeks until August 20.<ref name="Euro topic 32243"/><ref name="Euro comment 564631"/> Ted "Tedward" Godwin, one of site's administrators, attempted to contact Srinivas about it, but received no reply.<ref name="Euro comment 559102"/> The site went down again in May 2010,<ref name="Euro comment 743922"/> this time remaining offline for nearly two years. Srinivas had been planning to move the site to a new server shortly before this;<ref name="Euro comment 752061"/> the start of the second outage coincided with his graduation from Johns Hopkins University.<ref name="JHU Commencement"/> In a September 2010 [[Eurobricks]] post, Godwin expressed frustration that BrickWiki had "died thanks to the neglect of one person."<ref name="Euro comment 806685"/>


He originally suggested naming the site "LegoWiki"; due to concerns about using the LEGO trademark, other names were discussed in the [[Wikipedia:Thread (online communication)|thread]], including "LUWiki" (LEGO User's Wiki),<ref name="lugnet.general 51040"/> "LWiki", and "BrickWiki".<ref name="lugnet.general 51031"/><ref name="lugnet.general 51046"/>
== Articles ==


Srinivas decided on BrickWiki and launched the wiki on June 25, 2005.<ref name="lugnet.general 51109"/>
== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="JHU ACM">{{cite web |url=http://www.acm.jhu.edu/members.php |title=Members |website=JHU ACM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051108214409/http://www.acm.jhu.edu/members.php |archive-date=2005-11-08}}</ref>
 
<ref name="JHU Commencement">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/commencement2010/page/92/mode/2up?view=theater |title=The Johns Hopkins University Commencement 2010 |date=May 27, 2010 |publisher=[[Wikipedia:Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins University]] |location=[[Wikipedia:Baltimore|Baltimore]], [[Wikipedia:Maryland|Maryland]] |page=92}}</ref>


The site was originally hosted by the Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery,<ref name="BW history " group="B"/> which Srinivas was a member of.<ref name="JHU ACM"/>  
<!-- Eurobricks -->


<ref name="Euro comment 559102">{{cite web |url=https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-559102 |title=Holy mother of... somebody actually read the blog?!?! I guess I better start posting again. |type=comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?" |website=[[Eurobricks]] |first=Ted |last=Godwin |date=August 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717035654/https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-559102 |archive-date=July 17, 2024 |access-date=July 17, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>


Srinivas planned for BrickWiki to be a multilingual wiki once he found translators, though no other language versions of the wiki besides English were ever opened.<ref name="lugnet.general 51031"/>
<ref name="Euro comment 564631">{{cite web |url=https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-564631 |title=Looks like we are back online. |type=comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?" |website=[[Eurobricks]] |first=Ted |last=Godwin |date=August 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717035654/https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-564631 |archive-date=July 17, 2024 |access-date=July 17, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>


BrickWiki originally used a ''[[Wikipedia:No-IP|zapto.org]]'' URL before becoming available at ''brickwiki.org'' in October 2005.<ref name="lugnet.general 51194"/><ref name="lugnet.inst 711"/><ref name="lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands 2619"/>
<ref name="Euro comment 743922">{{cite web |url=https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-743922 |title=Please excuse me for reviving such an old thread, but Brickwiki hasn't been operational for the last week or so. |type=comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?" |website=[[Eurobricks]] |author=MetroiD |date=May 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717035654/https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-743922 |archive-date=July 17, 2024 |access-date=July 17, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>


== Articles ==
<ref name="Euro comment 752061">{{cite web |url=https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-752061 |title=No idea. |type=comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?" |website=[[Eurobricks]] |first=Ted |last=Godwin |date=September 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717035654/https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-752061 |archive-date=July 17, 2024 |access-date=November 8, 2025 |url-status=live |quote=Once again the 'owner' has gone silent. This time just as we were preparing to move the site to a new server to avoid such outages in the future.}}</ref>


== References ==
<ref name="Euro comment 806685">{{cite web |url=https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-806685 |title=And yet it still has no categorization and lacks articles on the most basic concepts. |type=comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?" |website=[[Eurobricks]] |first=Ted |last=Godwin |date=September 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717035654/https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/&tab=comments#comment-806685 |archive-date=July 17, 2024 |access-date=July 17, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="JHU ACM">{{cite web |url=http://www.acm.jhu.edu/members.php |title=Members |website=JHU ACM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051108214409/http://www.acm.jhu.edu/members.php |archive-date=2005-11-08}}</ref>


<ref name="JHU Commencement">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/commencement2010/page/92/mode/2up?view=theater |title=The Johns Hopkins University Commencement 2010 |date=May 27, 2010 |publisher=[[Wikipedia:Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins University]] |location=[[Wikipedia:Baltimore|Baltimore]], [[Wikipedia:Maryland|Maryland]] |page=92}}</ref>
<ref name="Euro topic 32243">{{cite web |url=https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/ |title=What's with Brickwiki? |website=[[Eurobricks]] |author=desultor |date=August 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717034837/https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/32243-whats-with-brickwiki/ |archive-date=July 17, 2024 |access-date=July 17, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>


<!-- LUGNET -->
<!-- LUGNET -->

Revision as of 21:25, 8 November 2025

BrickWiki
Six 1×2 LEGO plate bricks stacked to form the shape of a 2×2 brick. Each plate is a different color.
The logo of BrickWiki, designed by Jamie Bliss and Tim Gould
Screenshot
The Main Page of a MediaWiki website, featuring an index of major article categories.
BrickWiki Main Page on January 14, 2017
Type of site
Online encyclopedia
Available inEnglish
OwnerTed Godwin
Created by
  • Venkatesh Srinivas
  • Jamie Bliss
URL
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional
Users1,094 registered users
LaunchedJune 25, 2005; 20 years ago (2005-06-25)
Current statusOffline (partial read-only archive from 2021–2024)
Content license
GNU FDL 1.2

BrickWiki was a wiki-based online encyclopedia for topics related to LEGO.


It was established in June 2005 by LUGNET users Venkatesh Srinivas and Jamie Bliss

Created by Venkatesh Srinivas and Jamie Bliss, it was launched in June 2005 and ran on MediaWiki software. It was initially used primarily by members of the website LUGNET.


History

Venkatesh Srinivas, an electrical engineering student at Johns Hopkins University,[1] proposed the creation of a LEGO wiki in a LUGNET message on June 8, 2005. Srinivas described his plan as an "electronic warehouse" of LEGO knowledge, containing information about the LEGO company, products, and community.[2] The idea originally came from LUGNET user Jamie "Astronouth7303" Bliss.[B 1][B 2] Srinivas originally suggested naming the site "LegoWiki"; due to concerns about using the LEGO trademark, other names were discussed in the thread, including "LUWiki" (LEGO User's Wiki),[3] "LWiki", and "BrickWiki".[4][5] Srinivas changed the site's name to BrickWiki, and the site was launched on June 25, 2005.[6] BrickWiki originally used a zapto.org URL before becoming available at brickwiki.org in October 2005.[7][8][9] The site was originally hosted by the Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery,[B 1] which Srinivas was a member of.[10] Srinivas planned for BrickWiki to be a multilingual wiki once he found translators, though no other language versions of the wiki besides English were ever opened.[4]


Near the end of July 2009, BrickWiki went offline for several weeks until August 20.[11][12] Ted "Tedward" Godwin, one of site's administrators, attempted to contact Srinivas about it, but received no reply.[13] The site went down again in May 2010,[14] this time remaining offline for nearly two years. Srinivas had been planning to move the site to a new server shortly before this;[15] the start of the second outage coincided with his graduation from Johns Hopkins University.[1] In a September 2010 Eurobricks post, Godwin expressed frustration that BrickWiki had "died thanks to the neglect of one person."[16]

Articles

References

  1. ↑ a b The Johns Hopkins University Commencement 2010. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University. May 27, 2010. p. 92.
  2. ↑ Srinivas, Venkatesh (8 June 2005). "Legowiki". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.general. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  3. ↑ Jamie, Bliss (11 June 2005). "Re: Legowiki". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.general. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  4. ↑ a b Srinivas, Venkatesh (11 June 2005). "Re: Legowiki". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.general. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Srinivas, Venkatesh (13 June 2005). "Re: Legowiki". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.general. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  6. ↑ Srinivas, Venkatesh (25 June 2005). "Brickwiki". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.general. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  7. ↑ Bliss, Jamie (8 July 2005). "BrickWiki (formerly LegoWiki) has moved". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.general. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  8. ↑ Pieniazek, Larry (13 October 2005). "Re: Scanning HOWTO". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.inst. Archived from the original on 7 November 2025. Retrieved 7 November 2025. Perhaps a link in the as yet unwritten "scanning instructions" article on Brickwiki (now at a spiffy new URL: www.brickwiki.org) ??
  9. ↑ Gould, Tim (16 October 2005). "Re: 'Virtual' Preservation Project for CKS". LUGNET. Newsgroup: lugnet.inst. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "Members". JHU ACM. Archived from the original on 2005-11-08.
  11. ↑ desultor (August 11, 2009). "What's with Brickwiki?". Eurobricks. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  12. ↑ Godwin, Ted (August 20, 2009). "Looks like we are back online". Eurobricks (comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?"). Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  13. ↑ Godwin, Ted (August 12, 2009). "Holy mother of... somebody actually read the blog?!?! I guess I better start posting again". Eurobricks (comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?"). Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  14. ↑ MetroiD (May 26, 2010). "Please excuse me for reviving such an old thread, but Brickwiki hasn't been operational for the last week or so". Eurobricks (comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?"). Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  15. ↑ Godwin, Ted (September 8, 2010). "No idea". Eurobricks (comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?"). Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2025. Once again the 'owner' has gone silent. This time just as we were preparing to move the site to a new server to avoid such outages in the future.
  16. ↑ Godwin, Ted (September 8, 2010). "And yet it still has no categorization and lacks articles on the most basic concepts". Eurobricks (comment on topic "What's with Brickwiki?"). Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.

BrickWiki pages

  1. ↑ a b "Brickwiki:History of Brickwiki". BrickWiki. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Bliss, Jamie (31 December 2005). "User:Astronouth7303". BrickWiki. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Oh, yeah. And I originally thought of it, but Venkatesh got to post it. And he owns the server. I'm not complaining. He gives me free hosting for my site.
Do you BrickWiki?
Do you BrickWiki?
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