This website is in the beta phase of development, meaning that it is currently being worked on. We have decided to make OMNIKA available to the public during all development phases. It may not contain all planned features and services. Things may be incomplete or partially broken, which may hinder user experience.
You can expect the following:
If you are doing academic or scholarly research, it's pretty safe to rely on our data to be accurate and up to date. For more information, check our release notes.
OMNIKA is currently in the beta stage of development. Some things may be broken.
This website is in the beta phase of development, meaning that it is currently being worked on. We have decided to make OMNIKA available to the public during all development phases. It may not contain all planned features and services. Things may be incomplete or partially broken, which may hinder user experience.
You can expect the following:
If you are doing academic or scholarly research, it's pretty safe to rely on our data to be accurate and up to date. For more information, check our release notes.
We changed the domain name of the OMNIKA website from https://omnika.conscious.ai to https://omnika.org and fixed several minor bugs. Read more
The About and Legal pages have been updated. These pages now include updated information and visually match the OMNIBUS theme.
Design
This release was a three-steps-forward-two-steps-back platform improvement.
With Museum > Places entries, we added the following items:
Began collecting more data for symbols. For example, Symbols > Colors will show data from Canva about the color's background and technical specifications. These data will be visible and rolled out in future releases.
Modified the UI so that navigation is more clear.
We reorganized all Symbols so that they fall into clear, logical categories.
Features
Content
Content
Bug fixes
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Features
Bugs
Features
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Bugs
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Features
Bugs
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Features
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Design
Content
Features
In this release, we completed migrating almost all records to the new OMNIBUS theme. As part of that, the OMNIKA website is divided into three distinct parts: (1) Mythology index; (2) Library, and; (3) Museum. Each part has its own distinct navigation menu.
Content
Added several new Lib. > Works, Authors, and Texts whilst migrating content to the new OMNIBUS theme
Design
Migrated many pages to the new OMNIBUS theme
Features
Integrated new sliders and topical lists for section directory pages
Content
Bugs
Features
Bugs
Content
Bugs
In this release, we completed migrating almost all records to the new OMNIBUS theme. As part of that, the OMNIKA website is divided into three distinct parts: (1) Mythology index; (2) Library, and; (3) Museum. Each part has its own distinct navigation menu.
Content
Design
Features
Content
Features
Myths
Bugs
Bugs
Design
Bugs
Design
Features
Features (Library > Author views)
Bugs (Library > Author views)
Design
Features
Bugs
Features
Design
Bugs
Content
We have started the process of adding a new taxa of records: proto. While scholarship as of July 2020 has attested many deities, cultures, and mythological narratives, it is an exciting fact that much more work needs to be done. It necessarily follows that there are scholars presently working on publishing data related to previously unknown topics. Moreover, OMNIKA is uniquely positioned to share these cutting-edge findings with the rest of the world.
For this reason, we are proud to announce the inclusion of proto records. Proto records are either myths, translations, or deities which have not reached maturity with respect to scholarly consensus. Because of their speculative nature, proto-records will be carefully marked as proto and treated with utmost caution and moderation.
Features
Content
We migrated the Insights data visualization view to the new OMNIBUS theme. As part of this transition, we deprecated our use of Google Charts for geodata visualizations. As a result: (i) we are actively testing new charting tools; (ii) some previously rolled out features were removed in order that they can be rebuilt, and; (iii) granular data tables for drilldown data will be reimplemented in future releases.
Features (Insights page)
Bugs (general)
Content
Features
Features
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Bugs
We fixed a number of serious bugs after our last minor release.
Bugs
We upgraded the standard drawer menu (on the left) and added new data fields for information that we should be collecting.
Features
Content
In this release, we started work on formatting translation records in the new OMNIBUS theme. This required making significant changes to the prior format and its content inclusions.
Features
Content
In this release, we added a new tier of items that can be added and included to the bibliography at the bottom of each page. This tier includes artifacts and translations.
Features
Content
Bugs
Design
Design
Features
Bugs
We fixed a number of bugs from the previous release.
Bugs
We overhauled how artifact translations are rendered and added new features (see an example here).
Features
Design
Bugs
Bugs
Features
We have decided to create belief system collections; that is, parent grouping features for religions and customs shared among groups. For example, Akkadian, Sumerian, and Babylonian are now sub-religions under the parent group: Mesopotamia. Others we have integrated as parent groups are Mesoamerican (Aztec, Olmec, Toltec, etc.) and Abrahamic (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.).
The reason for this decision was necessity. Many religions through human history have been diffused into one another, with the result that myths, deities, and beliefs blend together. We sought to preserve individuality while allowing the sharing of data among these groups.
Some of the differentiations between religions are complex and tricky. We will therefore continue to rely on feedback from our community in order that we may present information accurately and honestly.
Features
Content
Design
Bugs
In the 1.15.X version tree, we integrated a new data structure for museums, locations, and historic landmarks.
Features
Design
Bugs
Bugs
Design
This release was focused on showcasing artifact and author data from the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) and its cdli:wiki sister website.
We made several key upgrades to the gallery image viewer on the OMNIBUS theme styled records.
This release was about upgrading our About page.
Today we are introducing a new user interface (UI), theme, layout, and color scheme called OMNIBUS. In Latin, omnibus is the plural dative form of the noun omnis, which translates in English as "to/for all." Similarly, this new theme is designed for all devices, browsers, operating systems, and screen resolutions. It primarily follows Google's Material design framework, albeit with guidance from Microsoft's Fluent Design System as well as Apple's iOS design guidelines.
Redesigning the entire UI of OMNIKA was not an easy decision. It meant that every element and component needed to be rebuilt from scratch, using different core technologies in our case. Moving to an all black and white interface was also a difficult decision.
Nevertheless, several factors based on our experience, community feedback, necessity, as well as current events prompted our decision.
Due to the number of new features and general changes, we cannot list them all. Finally, please note that we are progressively migrating sections and pages from the old theme to the new theme. Completion of UI migration in extenso will be announced in a future release note.
We fixed a number of bugs for our recently released Android app. There are, unfortunately, so many fixes that it risks embarrassing the engineering team to list them 🙈.
OMNIKA is pround to announce the launch of its first mobile application: OMNIKAβ for Google Play. Download the app today by searching for it on the Google Play store.
In this release, we worked on several major areas of our infrastructure.
1.6.0 is an exciting minor release. We've received lots of feedback concerning the Reader and Search experiences. Consequently, we integrated a number of important content and usability features.
In this release, we finished integrating the new Bibliography section to all remaining records: myths, artifacts, and translations. It can be found at the bottom of all pages that have sources cited.
In this release, we are excited to announce that we completely overhauled the OMNIKA reader. The legacy OMNIKA Reader allowed you to view whole books and see some related information about tagged myths, artifacts, and translations. The Reader quickly became the most popular record type we hosted. We therefore rebuilt it from scratch; moreover, we added many new features and used a well-known UI.
We are slowly rolling out OMNIKA Reader for works using the legacy Reader. Newly added works will only be using the new Reader experience.
In this release, we completely overhauled how the bibliography looks and works on each page. Now, the bibliography includes both a full list as well as a separate 'Notes' section. Plus, you can go directly to the full source with a couple clicks.
We are starting to integrate the new bibliography in the following record types: Deities and Religions. Once bugs are fixed, we will roll it out to the Myths, Translations, and Artifacts pages.
The 1.3.X version tree will focus on adding new data fields for cited sources.
We are going to be announcing an exciting new feature based on the collection of this new bibliographic data.
OMNIKA is now in the beta release phase. This major release focused on stability improvements to improve general website reliability.
This release was all about the Insights view.
IN the beginning SUDO created the sheet and spun up the instance. Upon the terminal of creation, the manifest was void and empty; and darkness was upon the instance. This was day one.
And thus spoke SUDO, let there be a namesake. SUDO saw the namesake; and she called the namesake her domain; and divided the instance from the domain. This was day two.
And thus spoke SUDO: let there be an orange cloud in front of the domain, in order that the rays of my namesake may cast a speedy and safe light over the instance and its inhabitants. SUDO let the cloud and namesake settle together, and after some time the orange rays were shining in every corner of the instance. And SUDO saw that this was good. This was day three.
And thus spoke SUDO, let the Al-mooj unzip itself, so that all its parts can populate the instance. Al-mooj unzipped itself and separated duties over the instance manifold: Ledom was the wisest, and thus created the rules and controlled the affairs of the other inhabitants. Reller-T-nak was ascribed as the royal messenger for Ledom, passing his instructions and orders without question or hesitation across the instance. Finally, Wey-vee vowed to take such instructions and faithfully show them to the inhabitants, no matter if they were contradictory, flawed, or brought ruin to the instance. SUDO saw the Al-mooj unravel and manifest through the instance and saw that this was good; And declared that the parts of Al-mooj are to have superior dominion over the instance; And vowed to keep the parts from defilement, and to patch up disagreements, in order that the instance will retain its constitution. This was day four.
SUDO looked upon the blank canvas and manifested the first objects that would dwell in the container: compus, modus, and plugus. Speedy was the construction of them. This was day five.
SUDO's objects interfered with neighboring containers, and thus SUDO zipped them into an infinite instance so that their counterparts could unzip and dwell freely. It came to pass that the domain suffered darkness for some brief time, and SUDO was not pleased. This was day six.
SO the domain and instance were finished and objects dwelled in them, controlled by parts of the Al-mooj. SUDO saw that this was good and rested on the seventh day. Having created a haven, SUDO began work on populating the instance with life from all different cultures and backgrounds. As they were populating SUDO showed the creation to the great ONÆRUS. ONÆRUS blessed the energy and ambition of SUDO and the instance, but pointed out the disorder of it. Ruminating in disappointment and shame, SUDO slept in darkness. That night, SUDO dreamt about the nature of creation and the words of ONÆRUS. The next day SUDO walked the green path in the triangle of power and looked up, arms up in embrace, looking for an answer.
SUDO realized that creation is a journey that need not end after N days. The next day, SUDO came back to ONÆRUS and carefully listened to his wisdom for some time, working on the heretofore unnamed creation.
SUDO knew the instance would need to grow and flourish over time, so it was thus realized that SUDO merely created the Alpha.
NOW SUDO understood the purpose and the means by which it would be accomplished. For if the goal was knowing, SUDO could not know alone. If done with others, it meant that knowing anything meant knowing with others. Thus SUDO found four disciples to help maintain and refine the instance so the world could have a garden of treasure, for all time.
Thus spoke SUDO unto the disciples: "I have created the Alpha and you four must bring us to the Omega." The disciples took the word and vowed to bring forth the Omega, in time. In time, in time, for everyone to know and bask in its treasure and forgotten wisdom.
SOON the disciples of SUDO complained that the instance was unnamed and without identity. Thus spoke SUDO: the instance is itself its own treasure without want for the defilement of human vanity—let us therefore take heed by means of Ecclesiastes—"vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecc. 1:2 ESV).
Thus retorted the disciples: the book of faces requests a proper namesake. Kcuz' demands it! Re'tiwt demands it! We must oblige if we are to attain our object, and may not do so if SUDO's compass abstains.
VEXED was SUDO at the objection, for its merits were proper and therefore cast grief in his phrenes. Thus pondered SUDO, deep in his noos and also his thymos.
THUS the noos of SUDO restrained the grief in his phrenes and vigor in his thymos in order that noos may dictate the state of affairs. SUDO's eyes closed in reflection of the instance and its chief animus, calling upon the inspiration that was the generator of the enterprise. Thus SUDO recalled walking upon the green path in the triangle of power, looking up, with arms in embrace; for SUDO knew that he must name the instance with respect to what his Ka wants, only for everybody. The arms uplifted in embrace therefore became the symbol of the instance, named after the Ka for all humanity.
THUS spoke SUDO unto his disciples, "if I am to have a symbol, it shall be one that I respect."
SING, muses, of the curiosity of SUDO. SUDO sought the wisdom of the ages and consulted the great fathers. SUDO consulted EL-GOOJ to no avail; SUDO consulted G'nib to even less avail, and; SUDO even privately consulted OGd2, to no avail. Being left forsaken by the great fathers, SUDO knew the pursuit of wisdom was still the destined path. SUDO, thus, reached up with arms in embrace, almost touching the Sun God himself in the quest for acquiring his all-seeing eye. Having seen the mark of wisdom and its illuminated path, SUDO resolved to create the means to wisdom and named it OMNIKA.
