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Ushahidi uses OpenLayers as its mapping technology. This means that it should be possible with minimal modifications to use any layer OpenLayers supports (like WMS from GeoServer) with minimal changes; look in the page you linked for Layer.Google, and replace it with a corresponding Layer.WMS.

Have a look at Open Data Kit. Open source and free. Actively used. With science behind. i2maps from NCG might be another option. In examples section of their website you will find Twitter Trends and Real-Time Twitter apps. Forthcoming gemma project from CASA @ UCL promises to be another alternative.

Yes, openlayers supports vector editing in the browser and provides means for saving those vectors back to a database. As you guessed when you said "this is maybe a too open question", the full "how" is an involved answer. Assuming that each user is not working from a blank slate, and can see the other submissions, it seems like the basic steps you want ...

http://wikimapia.org/ defines places in the simplest form (a box) and allows users to add information about the place. It has very widespread adoption (>1 million users) and is used by a none technical audience. Wiki's. A lot of information in Wikipedia is linked to a particular geography through category's and special tags. It doesn't need to be a map ...

I think it would be useful to consider what might motivate the masses to participate. While Greed and Fear are traditionally used to describe stock market behavior, I think it can be generalized to describe crowdsourcing. IMO a stockmarket is really a form of crowdsourcing - the crowd is used to determine the price of a share. I've worked on ...

You can try the Ushahidi approach We built the Ushahidi platform as a tool to easily crowdsource information using multiple channels, including SMS, email, Twitter and the web. People can submit reports by: Going to the web page Sending an SMS Using the Android app It was originally intended as a tool for monitoring election related ...

Try out http://opendata.socrata.com/. You can create a dataset that includes columns for some data and location columns. There is a Visualize tool that lets you visualize this data on a map, and there's also an Embed tool that lets you create a form that the public can use to submit new data. Here's an example: ...

You can easily set up your own Ushahidi deployment at Crowdmap. It's just a matter of filling out your profile and naming your deployment. Crowdmap is designed and built by the people behind Ushahidi, a platform that was originally built to crowdsource crisis information. As the platform has evolved, so have its uses. Crowdmap allows you to set up ...

I've develop crowdsourcing applications like this at Tomnod.com (crowdsourced analysis of satellite images). We use OpenLayers or GoogleMaps to present data to users on the web and allow them to edit (tag points, draw polygons, fill forms, etc.). The basics of our architecture are: PostGIS database (store GIS layers & crowd contributions) PHP REST ...

As already mentioned by others, your question too open. However since you have asked for a simple example, you can go through this tutorial. This describes how to use OpenLayers WFS-T Using a GeoServer Hosted PostGIS Layer. Although this assumes a specific software stack, like your db as PostGIS, your map server as GeoServer, this could be a good starting ...

Have you already decided which server side software stack you'll use ? Do you plan to have some geospatial server such as Geoserver or Mapserver ? In which database/format do you want to store your map data ? (sorry this should be a comment instead of an answer, but my current score does not allow me to do it)

I'd recommend taking a look at CartoDB. It basically provides a hosted instance of PostgreSQL, and sports a fairly easy to use API. I've seen it combined nicely with the Google Maps API Drawing Library (see this for an example)