All 2013 projects | Key theme 1: Focusing on the communities – Goal 1: Collaboration – Change 1.3: Better support for volunteers

Project description: Tools at your service

Tools at your service – This project involves the provisional continued operation of the Toolserver. A plan is currently being drafted on transferring these functions to the infrastructure of the Wikimedia Foundation. (P6)

Contact / Project Manager: Silke Meyer (Team Communities)
Total budget: €20,000, plus up to €35,000 for follow-up projects

Implementation period: January 15, 2013 – May 26, 2013 (Phase 1)

What is the project about?

This project is about providing an infrastructure with which community members can develop and operate tools that benefit Wikipedia and its sister projects.

Wikimedia Deutschland will ensure that there is an inviting and well-functioning environment for this purpose – initially it will remain on the Toolserver.

In parallel, a realistic and reliable plan will be drawn up by the end of May 2013 in cooperation with the Wikimedia Foundation for moving the functionalities of the Toolserver and integrating them into the WMF infrastructure. This plan will then be carried out. In the course of this project, the communication flow to WMF and the communities will be expanded.

How will this project help us meet our annual goals?

The Toolserver is one of the most successful projects in the history of the Wikimedia communities. The infrastructure and the tools created with the Toolserver are used by numerous developers. The Toolserver makes an invaluable and continuous contribution in many ways, for example in improving the quality of Wikipedia articles.

The functions have become so important that they are classified as critical for projects to succeed. It is therefore vital to ensure that the quality of these functions is maintained or improved in order to adequately support the work of the communities.

The organic development of the Toolserver means it is currently reaching its limits in several respects. Together with the Wikimedia Foundation (whose role in providing database replicas, for example, is of decisive importance) we therefore need to find a way to resolve these issues that is technically sound and that also fits in with the way the communities work.

What are the key milestones along the way and by when should we reach them?

No.	When	What
1.	January and February, 2013	We will allocate staff at Wikimedia Deutschland and Wikimedia Foundation.
2.	By May 25, 2013	We will draw up a technically and socially sound roadmap together with the Foundation.
3.	May 25-26, 2013	Presentation of the roadmap at the Wikimedia Deutschland general assembly.