SMW as Lego blocks
Wordpress is like Barbie's Kitchen. You get a kit that lets you do what it shows on the box... blogs, RSS feeds, blog management, with extensions you can create maps, events, and so on.
Semantic Mediawiki (SMW) is like lego blocks. You can combine the basic blocks to make just about any shape, with extensions you can create your own content types, special views and functions.
Wordpress is easier to use (except when it comes to quick hypertext document editing, where wikis, after a quick introduction, rule). But with SMW, you can recreate most typical functions, past what Wordpress can do, and also recombine pieces. You can take the pieces of a "table" (a map location embedded in a page) and make a mosaic (a collection of map locations about a topic). The SMW approach is a little more "less rounded," but you can re-use the pieces.
This is a characteristic of semantic sites. Each piece of content is well defined and re-usable. Wordpress supports some semantic features now, but I prefer the "lego" approach, where people can more easily create different components, without resorting to a complex and difficult to maintain low level language.
SMW can support this functionality for any site user, in a culture of transparently exchanging knowledge.
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