Editing Simple English Wikipedia (section)

== History ==
The Simple English Wikipedia was launched on September 18, 2001.<ref name=Meta>{{Cite web |title=Simple English Wikipedia |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Simple_English_Wikipedia |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Meta |language=en}}</ref><ref name=HomePage>{{cite web |url=http://simple.wikipedia.com/wiki.cgi?action=history&id=HomePage |title=History of Home Page |website=Simple English Wikipedia |language=simple |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011019070808/http://simple.wikipedia.com/wiki.cgi?action=history&id=HomePage |archive-date=October 19, 2001 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 13, 2025}}</ref>

In 2012, [[Andrew Lih]], a [[Wikipedia community|Wikipedian]] and author, told [[NBC News]]' Helen A.S. Popkin that the Simple English Wikipedia does not "have a high standing in the [[Wikipedia community]]", and added that it never had a clear purpose: "Is it for people under the age 14, or just a simpler version of complex articles?", wrote Popkin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Popkin |first=Helen A.S. |date=December 7, 2012 |title=You're not smart enough to read Wikipedia |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/youre-not-smart-enough-read-wikipedia-flna1c7466948 |access-date=April 3, 2024 |publisher=[[NBC News]]}}</ref>

Material from the Simple English Wikipedia formed the basis for One Encyclopedia per Child,<ref>{{cite web |title=One Encyclopedia Per Child |url=http://wiki.laptop.org/go/One_encyclopedia_per_child |access-date=29 July 2009 |publisher=Wiki.laptop.org}}</ref> a project in [[One Laptop per Child]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Lawrence A. Tomei, Robert Morris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S7xi5jcSp6EC&pg=PA544 |title=Encyclopedia of Information Technology Curriculum Integration |publisher=Idea Group Inc (IGI) |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-59904-881-9 |pages=544}}</ref> that ended in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Adi |date=2018-04-16 |title=OLPC's $100 laptop was going to change the world — then it all went wrong |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17233946/olpcs-100-laptop-education-where-is-it-now |access-date=2020-06-13 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref>

In 2018, it was proposed for closure due to a claim that no proof exists that the [[target audience]] was catered to, but the proposal was rejected due to unjustified policies and lack of approval.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://meta.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Simple_English_Wikipedia|title=Simple English Wikipedia|website=Wikimedia Meta|language=en|access-date=March 27, 2025}}</ref>

As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, the site contains over {{formatnum:{{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|simple}} round -3}}}} content pages. It has more than {{formatnum:{{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|USERS|simple}} round -3}}}} registered users, of whom {{formatnum:{{#expr:{{NUMBEROF|ACTIVEUSERS|simple}}}}}} have made an edit in the past month.<ref>[[:simple:Special:Statistics|Special:Statistics]]. Retrieved {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}</ref>