Wikipedia Download
Abstract: This page is about downloading and using offline Wikipedia copy in your Windows Mobile device / iOS device / PC, using an application called MDict.
Downloading Wikipedia:
Downloading Wikipedia frees you from the need for an internet connection to access Wikipedia. You can download here a local copy of Wikipedia, to run from your mobile device or PC, and use Wikipedia offline (without an internet connection). To do this you'll need to download Wikipedia libraries (available in several languages) for MDict.
What's MDict?
MDict is an application for looking up explanations for definitions. Mainly it was used as a multilingual dictionary application (using third party libraries), but the application is also suitable for other definition based databases, such as fact books and encyclopedias.
The application was programmed by Rayman Zhang of Octopus Studio. The site offers some
MDict is an application for looking up explanations for definitions. Mainly it was used as a multilingual dictionary application (using third party libraries), but the application is also suitable for other definition based databases, such as fact books and encyclopedias.
The application was programmed by Rayman Zhang of Octopus Studio. The site offers some free third party dictionary-libraries for MDict, in its download page.
What's Wikipedia for MDict?
Wikipedia needs no introduction. Wikipedia for MDict is actually library files for MDict, allowing looking-up Wikipedia articles with the software, without the need for an internet connection ("Offline Wikipedia").
These file were compiled from Wikipedia's own dump of its articles, and are available in several languages.
(Original Wikipedia compilation code, and initial Wikipedia libraries were provided by Klaus Post. October/November 2010 compilation was done by Ahuv.net)
How much does it cost?
MDict for PC and Windows Mobile devices is available for free.
MDict for iOS based devices (iPhone, iPod, iPad etc.) is available from Apple AppStore for $3.99.
Note that MDict doesn't come with any built-in dictionary/library. These must be downloaded separately.
Wikipedia's library files are available for free.
How to download Wikipedia files?
Due to the big size of the Wikipedia library files, the recommended download method is through BitTorrent. Those who are familiar with downloading torrents can find the torrent links in the download list.
The second best way, is to download through MegaUpload and/or RapidShare. All files are available to download through Megaupload, while some of them are also available through Rapidshare. Please pay attention to the fact that large files are split into parts of about 1GB each.
Those who do not want to familiarize themselves with BitTorrent, and don't want to use Megaupload/Rapidshare, can use a simplistic Java applet to download the files. These Java applets are courtesy of ClearBits (formerly LegalTorrents), who are hosting the big Wikipedia libraries. Links to download through the Java applets are also provided in the download list.
How to install Wikipedia for MDict?
After installing MDict, download the Wikipedia library of your choice, then put it in a folder in your device. Go to "Library" menu, select "Search All", then select the Wikipedia Library.
On iOS devices it's a bit different, and users might want to use iPhone Explorer, in order to put the library file under: "Root Directory/User/Applications/4EEF50C3-BFF2-4DFE-9952-4531A9E229AD/Documents" (the big stack of Hex symbols might be a bit different).
How to browse Wikipedia?
You just enter any definition you need (or scroll through the definitions if you like), and click on it to view it.
I'm using an Hebrew/Arabic/Farsi Wikipedia and there's something wrong with the text flow
Right-To-Left (RTL) Languages such as Hebrew and Arabic alphabet based languages, require more internal support from the operating system than normal Western alphabets.
It seems that at least some Windows Mobile devices have an internal bug with "htmlview.dll" that mixes up RTL languages when using hyperlinks or formatting inside them. The problem does not seem to occur in PC or recent iOS devices.
In order to bypass the problem, special versions of Wikipedia libraries were compiled, omitting hyperlinks (just marking them with "‹word›") and formatting (marking bold text with "«word»"), in order to achieve the correct text flow. These versions are available from the download list.
Wikipedia Download
(October/November 2010 compilation, by Ahuv.net)
|
Wikipedia Language Version |
Definitions count* (including redirects) |
Size |
Dump Date |
.torrent File |
1-click Torrent Download (supports resume) |
Http Download (Megaupload / Rapidshare |
|
English Wikipedia (3 versions available): |
||||||
|
En - MAX |
3,483,000** |
3.99 GB |
11‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
4 Part Rar: 1 2 3 4 |
|
En - Medium |
764,000 |
1.04 GB |
11‑Oct‑10 |
 |
 |
 |
|
En - Mini |
224,000 |
97 MB |
11‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
 |
|
Wikipedia en español (Spanish Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Es - MAX |
1,361,000 |
876 MB |
05‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
Wikipédia en français (French Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Fr - MAX |
1,239,000 |
1.17 GB |
17‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
2 Part Rar: 1 2 |
|
Deutschsprachige Wikipedia (German Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
De - Jumbo |
1,033,000 |
1.56 GB |
13‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
2 Part Rar: 1 2 |
|
Polska Wikipedia (Polish Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Pl - MAX |
795,000 |
575 MB |
01‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
Wikipedia in italiano (Italian Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
It - MAX |
793,000 |
778 MB |
03‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
ウィキペディア日本語版 (Japanese Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Ja -MAX |
751,000 |
1.31 GB |
02‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
2 Part Rar: 1 2 |
|
Русская Википедия (Russian Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Ru - MAX |
720,000 |
852 MB |
23‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
|
|
Nederlandstalige Wikipedia (Dutch Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Nl - MAX |
707,000 |
488 MB |
01‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
Wikipédia em português (Portuguese Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Pt - MAX |
681,000 |
431 MB |
31‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
|
|
中文維基百科 (Chinese Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Zh - MAX |
325,000 |
386 MB |
09‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
한국어 위키백과 (Korean Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Ko - MAX |
211,000 |
152 MB |
04‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
ويكيبيديا العربية (Arabic Wikipedia, 2 versions, see above): |
||||||
|
Ar - proper |
183,000 |
126 MB |
21‑Jan‑11 |
|
||
|
Ar -winMobile |
183,000 |
137 MB |
21‑Jan‑11 |
|
||
|
Türkçe Vikipedi (Turkish Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Tr - MAX |
169,000 |
139 MB |
07‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
Dansk Wikipedia (Danish Wikipedia): |
||||||
|
Da - MAX |
135,000 |
108 MB |
02‑Nov‑10 |
|
|
|
|
ויקיפדיה העברית (Hebrew Wikipedia, 2 versions, see above): |
||||||
|
He - proper |
111,000 |
205 MB |
28‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
|
|
He - winMobile |
111,000 |
228 MB |
28‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
|
|
ویکیپدیای فارسی (Persian Wikipedia, 2 versions, see above): |
||||||
|
Fa - proper |
109,000 |
77 MB |
29‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
|
|
Fa - winMobile |
109,000 |
85 MB |
29‑Oct‑10 |
|
|
|
** this version includes about a million more redirects in special definiton
lists.
Please link to this page
Many hours and efforts have been invested in the compilation project. If you think that these Wikipedia files are valuable, you are encouraged to link to this page from forums, blogs etc.
This page address:
http://ahuv.net/wikipedia
Commenting is available through my blog:
http://ahuv.net/blog