WikiTribute

This is a proposal for a new Wikimedia sister project.

WikiTribute
Status of the proposal
Status	rejected
Reason	no support. Pecopteris (talk) 03:46, 20 August 2023 (UTC)
Technical requirements

A dedicated area on wikipedia.org wherein the subjects are deceased people beloved by friends, family, coworkers, with a special section for people to write of fond memories, sign condolences, etc.

Proposed by

Matt Campbell (User:Mcc99)

Alternative names

WikiEpitaph
WikiMemoriam

Domain names

tribute.wikipedia.org
memoriam.wikipedia.org
epitaph.wikipedia.org

Mailing list links

wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

Also see http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/

General Description and Ideas For Consideration

Many people would like to see their departed loved ones memorialized for all to see on a popular web site but dedicated such sites get little regular traffic.  However W'pedia gets lots of it and has many notable personages in it, including even adult movie stars and rookie pro athletes.  Why not beloved departed people who touched many more lives and in more enduring ways than 19-YO adult movie starlets and 20-YO jr. first baseball basemen?

But if the Wiki gods allowed Uncle Jed to be memorialized on en.wikipedia.com, what's next?  Fluffy the beloved Calico?  Not that I'd object to a beloved-departed-kitties portal on Wikipedia, given my love of cats, but you get the idea.

Running the same Wiki software the main site has but all the "topics" are deceased "ordinary people" beloved by friends, family, coworkers, with a special section for people to write of fond memories, sign condolences, etc., would be great.  And the WF could charge, understandably, for the service.  Maybe only $10 one-time, or yearly, or another kind of pricing, or not at all but keep that nice WF donation button discretely in the upper left corner of the page.  I think donations would go up. :)

Of course, to avoid malignance and punks messing up the pages, there'd be rules:

1. The person creating the tribute page must be a first degree blood relative or same by marriage or adoption and _within_ three generations of them (i.e., grandchildren can write about their grandparents but not great-grandparents, people about great-uncles and -aunts but not great-great ones, and cousins of any kind cannot write of each other).  Cases lacking an available such person can be handled by a person showing evidence that the person has no such living or competent relatives and that they are at least qualified enough to write at least a minimal bio for the deceased.  Proof of blood/marriage 1st degree relationship can be provided via gov't ID (scanned image or mailed-in copy) plus evidence of cohabitation or family relationship via copy of a hospital record, marriage certificate, pieces of authoritative mail, church or geneological book entry, etc.  Just something to show it well enough to convince a reasonable person that the applicant is who they say they are with a qualifying relationship.
2. The page requestor would have to submit evidence of the person in question actually having died.  A copy of a death certificate, obituary, etc.
3. Once approved and the bio submitted and approved for content by you guys, the page would be locked, with the tribute page creator being the only permitted editor unless they grant permission to another registered user of W'pedia.  The Wikigods likewise could still edit any page they feel they need to regardless of the page creator's wishes; i.e., you retain full control of all content regardless of anything.
4. Any submitted stories/anecdotes for the deceased and guestbook section entries would require the tribute page creator's approval before they appear.
5. Any other person who can show they are likewise a 1st degree relative of the deceased can ask the WF to suspend the page should it contain something they think is not true.  If they can show that's the case, the incorrect info will be removed by you.  All decisions final.  If the page creator complains too much, the whole page gets taken down without prejudice to another relative should they want to create a different page to the same deceased person.
6. Regardless of relationship, a person with legal right of authority over the deceased's estate will have the power to ask for and insist any such page they do not own be taken down, again, without prejudice to them should they seek to make a similar page on your site but only so long as they meet the qualification of 1st degree relationship within three generations.  However at no time aside from the page creator, authorized editors of it, and the Wikigods can anyone else be allowed to edit the bio or any other part of it.  But as mentioned above, the legal admin'r of the estate can upon proof of that status insist the page be taken down, but not cherry-pick its content.
7. All decisions by the Wikigods are final.  But arbitrated decisions are available from Wikipedia's own arbitration panel -- *for a price*.  Otherwise, you have little time for anything more than a little squabbling among relatives.  So long as all parties to the dispute can participate (and *pay*), sure, you'll listen (via email) to them kvetch about each other and "poor dead Uncle Irv" -- so long as it's worth your time and not too annoying.  Threats of lawsuits cause you to remove the page from your site and the relatives can go sue each other.  Ain't nobody got time for that foolishness. :)

Think of the endless fun you'll all have back at the office.  You'll actually arm wrestle each other for the opportunity to be next on the arbitration committee.

But seriously, I don't anticipate a lot of that.  Most people play it cool after even resented relatives die, and no one wants to be known as the one to air the clan's dirty laundry.  Most of your income, in fact I'll predict 99% of it, would come from page fees/donations and very little from "arbitration services".  I think the admin overhead per page'll actually be much less than for an ordinary, easily-defaced topical page on your site.

This idea came to me recently as I thought about how for example, a lot of people may like to read about my recently-departed dad on a site like Wikipedia.  He was a very beloved teacher and major participant in our local community in numerous charitable efforts and his funeral mass was attended by easily 300 people, maybe closer to 400.  But there's only an ugly online funeral guestbook with little room for people to write about him and his effect on their lives.  A well-known site like Wikipedia hosting a tribute page to someone like him would feel very satisfying to many and also be worthy availability of exposure while not setting a precedent to permit durned near anyone to add a page praising everyone in their family tree.