Spreading the Knowledge
As we already know, Wikipedia is an open source free internet encyclopedia supported and controlled by the Wiki Media Foundation. It is the largest encyclopedia to have ever existed consisting more than 30 million articles spanning over 287 languages. Its moderators and contributors from all over the world determine the accuracy of the content. It is also the fifth most visited website on the web with billions of page views every month. Wikimedia itself is a non-profit organization and works efficiently with the help of donations raised periodically to fund their requirements.
The website is a source of general information for nearly every topic known to mankind and topics that are hardly covered anywhere else. It provides easy access to information by maintaining an open environment while ensuring the quality of its content. Users can not only browse through the website but also create eBooks in pdf or printable formats. This feature is highly beneficial when users have to collect and download pages from the site. Instead of saving each web page and browsing through them one by one in a clumsy process, users can easily create an eBook with its predefined engine and structure it the way they like and download or print it for their requirements.
Creating eBooks from Wikipedia Pages
Every time you open an article on Wikipedia, you can find three options for exporting the page on the left menu. You can either create a book, download the page as a pdf or create a printable version of the article. Follow the below steps to create eBooks from Wikipedia pages:
- When you are browsing through an article click on the “Create a Book” option on the left menu. If you can’t find it, expand the Print/Export option on the menu.
- Once you have clicked the “Create a book” option, you are redirected to the Book creation page. Select the green button that says “Start Book Creator”.
- Now search for the articles on the website and when you open them you will find a small menu on top with an option named “Add this page to your book”. Every time you select the option when you are browsing through an article, the page is added to your eBook.
- Once you have added all necessary articles from the website, select “Manage Your Book” from the same menu
- You are then redirected to the Book management page where you can select numerous options to format your eBook
- Provide a Title, subtitle and select the paper size. You can also include a table of contents by selecting the “Include a table of contents” option.
- Now rearrange the articles in your eBook as per your requirements. You can also sort them alphabetically or delete any of the pages and add other articles.
- Once you have finished formatting the book, you can start the creation process from the download panel on the right. Select a format among the options(pdf, epub or opendocument)
- Now click the download button the start the rendering process. Once rendering is complete, click on “Download the file” option to download the eBook to your device.
Conclusion
Wikipedia provides an easy and intuitive process to create eBooks from its webpages, you can also download or print printable formats that do not contain any unnecessary formatting to the pages. Some software and applications also allow eBook creating from Wikipedia but the Book Creator rendering engine from Wikimedia foundation is among the most effective services. It does not provide additional formatting facilities but you can always fire up any of the numerous pdf editing software’s to edit the eBook as per your requirements.