Wikimedia Forum/Archives/2022-03

New project proposal - WikiAnswers

Asking questions and being curious is often what brings us to Wikipedia. We come enthusiastic and bright eyed with a desire to help others learn with a deep respect for civility and openness.

Encyclopedia were the means by which people learned back then. A static repository of knowledge, curated by a well intended yet centralized authority, that you had to digest by yourself. And then Wikipedia came along, offering to those who cared enough a voice in describing reality. And people cared. And people learned and found answers to their many questions within those articles.

This proposal aim to make it even easier for people to learn and find answers to their many questions.

In a world of Machine Learning, Virtual Assistants and AI; Come and help us shape this story! — The preceding unsigned comment was added by SebastienDery (talk)

This section was archived on a request by:  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:13, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Why is the suppression log not public?

Why can't non-oversighters view the reason for suppression? Not the suppressed content, just the reason for it. Suppressed revisions are still visible in page history.

Typically there are only a few reasons for suppression and nobody bar oversighters and stewards can see the suppression log. If it did not need to be suppressed then it would be revdel'd with a reason. Check your wiki for one of the few reasons why suppression may be used.  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:12, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

This section was archived on a request by:  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:13, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Vandalism on Wikimedia Maps

On the English overlay of Wikimedia maps, over the Moscow Kremlin there is the phrase “Putin, make love not war! When it is difficult in your age, try Viagara ;-)” clearly in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. SecretName101 (talk) 04:30, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

Wikimedia Maps data are all from OpenStreetMaps, where you can contribute and fix error by editing directly. C933103 (talk) 02:20, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

This section was archived on a request by:  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:08, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

About Simple English Wikipedia

Does this Celebrate Women event have any version in Simple English Wikipedia? Haoreima (talk) 06:24, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

That would be a question for simple wikipedia, not us.  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:07, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

This section was archived on a request by:  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:07, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Invitation to Hubs event: Global Conversation on 2022-03-12 at 13:00 UTC

Hubs Dialogue Findings Summary

I'd like to invite everyone to an upcoming Saturday 12 March Global Conversation about Hubs, which are being explored as a way to help coordinate support for communities. Please see more details below.

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Hello!

The Movement Strategy and Governance team of the Wikimedia Foundation would like to invite you to the next event about "Regional and Thematic Hubs". The Wikimedia Movement is in the process of understanding what Regional and Thematic Hubs should be. Our workshop in November was a good start (read the report), but we're not finished yet.

Over the last weeks we conducted about 16 interviews with groups working on establishing a Hub in their context (see Hubs Dialogue). These interviews informed a report that will serve as a foundation for discussion on March 12. The report is planned to be published on March 9.

The event will take place on March 12, 13:00 to 16:00 UTC on Zoom. Interpretation will be provided in French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, and Portuguese. Registration is open, and will close on March 10. Anyone interested in the topic is invited to join us. More information on the event on Meta-wiki.

Best regards,

Kaarel Vaidla
Movement Strategy

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Feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Xeno (WMF) (talk) 17:56, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

A report on the findings of the Hubs Dialogue has been published on Commons ahead of the Global Conversation later today. Xeno (WMF) (talk) 01:33, 12 March 2022 (UTC)

This section was archived on a request by:  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:16, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Editing Wikipedias during trying times

Hello, WMF,

I was reading over the Ukrainian and Russian Wikipedias (as well as I could using Google Translation tools) and I think it would be an interesting blog article to feature how challenging it is to write well-referenced articles about a political struggle while it is going on. Reading over the article talk pages and the policy pages like disputes over page protection and proposals for article deletion, has been illuminating. I understand that these are language Wikipedias, not national Wikipedias, so they don't represent countries but language speakers. But just seeing how experienced editors and administrators work to uphold Wikipedia values for verifiability and NPOV in the face of pressure, internal and external, as well as indirect threat to block the website, has been admirable to me and I think would be valuable to highlight for the entire Wikimedia community. I know that these international disputes are occurring all of the time in different places but this is just one that I happened to look into that might have relevance for other Wikipedia projects where editors find themselves under pressure to present a particular point of view that might conflict with the content of reliable sources. I didn't know where to go with this suggestion but I found this forum page and so I'm posting it here where I hope someone at WMF communications might see it. Thank you. Liz (talk) 19:40, 4 March 2022 (UTC)

Happy Women's Day

Hello Lady Wikimedians! I wish you a very happy women's day! Today, we celebrate your political, social, cultural and economic achievements around the world. Cheers! :-) --Haoreima (talk) 08:11, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines ratification voting open from 7 to 21 March 2022

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Hello everyone,

The ratification voting process for the revised enforcement guidelines of the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) is now open! Voting commenced on SecurePoll on 7 March 2022 and will conclude on 21 March 2022. Please read more on the voter information and eligibility details.

The Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) provides a baseline of acceptable behavior for the entire movement. The revised enforcement guidelines were published 24 January 2022 as a proposed way to apply the policy across the movement. You can read more about the UCoC project.

You can also comment on Meta-wiki talk pages in any language. You may also contact the team by email: ucocprojectwikimedia.org

Sincerely,

Movement Strategy and Governance

Wikimedia Foundation

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:22, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

The Call for Feedback: Board of Trustees elections is now closed

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The Call for Feedback: Board of Trustees elections is now closed. This Call ran from 10 January and closed on 16 February 2022. The Call focused on three key questions and received broad discussion on Meta-wiki, during meetings with affiliates, and in various community conversations. The community and affiliates provided many proposals and discussion points. The reports are on Meta-wiki.

This information will be shared with the Board of Trustees and Elections Committee so they can make informed decisions about the upcoming Board of Trustees election. The Board of Trustees will then follow with an announcement after they have discussed the information.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Call for Feedback to help improve Board election processes.

Best,

Movement Strategy and Governance
--SOyeyele (WMF) (talk) 12:14, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

Some proposed projects receiving huge support yet not created

I don't get it. The Abstract Wikipedia (Wikistructure) was accepted within one year of discussion and has been developed. NonFreeWiki (2), Wikidirectory, and Wikijournal have huge support ratio, but they're not yet accepted. Have the interests in those projects waned a lot, or how else to explain the contradictions? George Ho (talk) 19:13, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

@George Ho: I had a similar criticism/question myself and it turns out that there were some fairly obscure discussions about Abstract Wikipedia ongoing for several years, around 2012/the launch of Wikidata. I'm not sure that is a very reassuring answer, but it's evidently true. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 21:49, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Enough about Abstract Wikipedia. I still think a few other proposed projects are also worth deserving. George Ho (talk) 22:09, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Sure, I only mentioned it because it was in your first message. Wikijournal is a proposal that I was opposed to because I wanted it to stay in Wikiversity, but there is a clear consensus for it. The WMF have been very conservative about making new projects and I think that is in part due to the failures of several projects to really take off (Wikinews, Wikiversity, etc.), but clearly I'm speculating. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 02:05, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Yet trying to close those local wikis were rarely successful. I wonder why. George Ho (talk) 03:22, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Even in situation where WMF feel hesitate, I personally think that it should clarify its position and hesitation so that communities do not wait endlessly over a proposal. In contrast with projects successfully launched, it give out a feeling to the wider public that there are some "closed circle" which one need to be in to successfully get their project discussed and accepted by WMF and be launched, and make editors feel like their voices aren't being listened. C933103 (talk) 02:26, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Ukraine/Russia crisis: put a banner on CentralNotice on the opportunity to access Wikipedia even without Internet

Facing the events in Ukraine through the resources of our projects could be considered naive and unrealistic. Nonetheless, our commitment is to sharing knowledge, merely by let everyone have access to it. There is a recent news from Russia, according to which the local authorities are intending to disconnect the country from the global Internet in a few days (supposedly, March 11). Limited to Wiki*edia, the effect will be impeding millions of citizen to have access to any page of our projects, including the ones not at all related to the current war events: maths, literature, first aid, psychology, hygiene. We can only imagine the negative impact this could have, not only in terms of knowledge and quality of life, but primarily in terms of life in itself.

Therefore, I have imagined to put a banner in CentralNotice to make people aware on the opportunity to use apps (for instance, Kiwix) so as to store Wikipedia, and maybe other projects, entirely offline in order to get access even without Internet connection. I am sure there are different ways to get the same result, but this is not a matter of "how", rather a matter of "what". And now promptness is key.

I firmly believe this could partially relieve the discomfort and pains of Russian people hindered to benefit from knowledge in Wikimedia projects as long as this authoritarian initiative will have effect. To be honest, I despair it will be matter of few weeks. --Nicolabel (talk) 09:02, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

 Strong support--Pierpao (talk) 11:04, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

There's already a CentralNotice banner being shown in Russia. It links to a page (in Russian) explaining ways to access Wikipedia in case it is blocked by the government. Kiwix is included: it should probably have more prominence on that page in my opinion, but my Russian knowledge is zero so I don't feel comfortable editing it. the wub "?!" 11:28, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

OK, I'm happy to know that the idea of a banner has been already implemented. This can be no more than a drop in the ocean, but the whole Wikipedia is made of single drops :) --Nicolabel (talk) 11:40, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

Pitching in from Kiwix: the banner has been up and running for more than a week, our traffic has nearly tripled increased fifty-fold as Russia now accounts for about 40% of new downloads. We generate updates on a monthly basis, could do more if need be - taking into account than compressing the whole Russian dump takes anywhere between 4 to 8 days (depending on server capacity).

We are discussing the opportunity of generating more nimble updates (e.g. only conflict-related articles, as a mini-digest) but haven't moved forward on it (yet). The other Kiwix guy (talk) 12:27, 8 March 2022 (UTC) edited to clarify that global traffic tripled but Russia-based downloads increased fifty-fold

@The other Kiwix guy Firstly, that's really interesting to know, thanks for noting it. I don't know if we're in a formal grant phase at the moment, but if a request can be dropped in the right ear in the WMF side, I feel like the communities will hammer on top as much as you might wish. En-wiki, for example, is definitely looking for a way to help that doesn't require formally taking a wiki position on a war. Kiwix support would be a great example Nosebagbear (talk) 15:40, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

 Support Is there any resource on hosting a mirror? I think Russia will be amenable towards having a sovereign Wikipedia mirrors hosted on their premises (which they may already have.) It is not just the content they take issue with,but the fact that the US (through wikimedia mostly) has too much power over the content. This should solve that part of the issue, although the content will still have been developed under US control.--TZubiri (talk) 15:19, 8 March 2022 (UTC)

• {{oppose}} This should've run as the RfC discussion. Furthermore, we've already seen almost the whole media rallying support for Ukraine. I'm unsure how displaying WMF's support for Ukraine would make any difference to anyone or any project other than pushing everyone to favor Ukraine... which may be what the media has already been doing. George Ho (talk) 10:52, 9 March 2022 (UTC); edited, 01:09, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

  Dear friend, spreading among Russians how to access Wikipedia during the Internet rescrictions IMHO cannot be considered favouring the Ukrainian PoV, unless you believe that the Wiki*edia content is partisan in itself. Should it be the case, improving entries is perhaps more compliant with the 5 Pillars than merely helping Mr. Putin in depriving his citizens from access to knowledge. By the way, question solved as the banner already exists. --Nicolabel (talk) 14:42, 9 March 2022 (UTC)

  You misunderstand, this is not about virtue signalling, nor about the war necessarily, it's about Wikipedia going down in a region, and about providing a backup plan to users who might want to still access it in the future. TZubiri (talk) 09:10, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

  Oh, I must have misread, so I'm rescinding my vote. However, I worry that it's editor-bait. From what I read, one was arrested in Russia for editing such articles. Furthermore, I wonder how effective the campaign is. The government would likely censor Wikipedia, campaign or no campaign. George Ho (talk) 01:09, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

@TZubiri: You can use kiwix-serve to host a read-only mirror of any ZIM content you want. Legoktm (talk) 20:43, 10 March 2022 (UTC)

I'll take a look at that project, but I think an editable wikimedia server would be more appropriate, there will be a lot of forking, but those are the rules of the game. TZubiri (talk) 09:11, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

As requested, I've written a short blog post on how to use kiwix-serve to set up a read-only mirror. Legoktm (talk) 01:52, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

• I believe the most successful previous campaign to promote Kiwix from a CentralNotice was on the Arabic Wikipedia several years ago. Now we don't want to get in the way of the Russian Wikipedia banner, but promoting Kiwix elsewhere is a good idea. Kiwix helps users protect themselves from censorship (in many countries; Italy for instance Project Gutenberg was blocked). Kiwix promotions don't need to get too specific about the detailed issues in each territory, although specific news can help get a sense of urgency. There can also be more targeted campaigns, for instance if the Kiwix mirrors become overloaded we could ask active users to help reseed the busiest ZIM files' torrents. Nemo 21:12, 10 March 2022 (UTC)

Cult of personality in the Wikimedia projects

I want to warn you about cult of personality that clearly can be seen in the Wikimedia projects based on user access levels. Locally, there are many violations that go unnoticed globally. Looks like there in no executive guarantee for Wikimedia Foundation policies. --Ruwaym (talk) 15:45, 9 March 2022 (UTC)

@Ruwaym: Communities are self-managing. There is neither executive guarantee nor executive participation. An expectation of such is unreasonable. The community holds the community and advanced rights holders accountable.  — billinghurst sDrewth 11:01, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

CentralNotice with information about protecting your identity targeting editors in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

Given the current events in general and the recent arrest of an editor in Belarus (The Verge article) in particular I feel like it may be appropriate to create a geotargeted CentralNotice with information about protecting your identity to editors in the region. I am personally not qualified for writing such a notice but I hope this message may help someone qualified to see this proposal. Trialpears (talk) 01:26, 12 March 2022 (UTC)

 It is doubtful We should be cautious. Russian police authorities would also see the same warning. We would risk exacerbating the climate of distrust towards users and we would risk sabotaging any attempts done by WMF to intercede for Bernstein--Pierpao (talk) 11:43, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Folklore 2022 ends tomorrow

International photographic contest Wiki Loves Folklore 2022 ends on 15th March 2022 23:59:59 UTC. This is the last chance of the year to upload images about local folk culture, festival, cuisine, costume, folklore etc on Wikimedia Commons. Watch out our social media handles for regular updates and declaration of Winners.

(Facebook , Twitter , Instagram)

The writing competition Feminism and Folklore will run till 31st of March 2022 23:59:59 UTC. Write about your local folk tradition, women, folk festivals, folk dances, folk music, folk activities, folk games, folk cuisine, folk wear, folklore, and tradition, including ballads, folktales, fairy tales, legends, traditional song and dance, folk plays, games, seasonal events, calendar customs, folk arts, folk religion, mythology etc. on your local Wikipedia. Check if your local Wikipedia is participating

A special competition called Wiki Loves Falles is organised in Spain and the world during 15th March 2022 till 15th April 2022 to document local folk culture and Falles in Valencia, Spain. Learn more about it on Catalan Wikipedia project page.

We look forward for your immense co-operation.

Thanks Wiki Loves Folklore international Team MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:40, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Brainstorming a new NonFreeWiki (3), or what else

Seems that neither NonFreeWiki nor NonFreeWiki (2) has garnered enough support from the whole community. I don't think notifying communities about the latest (or recent) proposal would garner more votes. I'm thinking about creating the third proposal of "NonFreeWiki" but with less and less necessities, like the " 'traffic light' system" one. The issue is where to discuss a file nominated for deletion: NonFreeWiki or a local wiki? Furthermore, I wonder whether this would produce more admins in NonFreeWiki than in Commons. I'm almost out of ideas of a central repository project storing non-free content. George Ho (talk) 22:30, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Join the Community Resilience and Sustainability Conversation Hour with Maggie Dennis

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The Community Resilience and Sustainability team at the Wikimedia Foundation is hosting a conversation hour led by its Vice President Maggie Dennis.

Topics within scope for this call include Movement Strategy, Board Governance, Trust and Safety, the Universal Code of Conduct, Community Development, and Human Rights. Come with your questions and feedback, and let's talk! You can also send us your questions in advance.

The meeting will be on 24 March 2022 at 15:00 UTC (check your local time).

You can read details on Meta-wiki. Xeno (WMF) (talk) 02:47, 18 March 2022 (UTC)

Leadership Development Working Group: Reminder to apply by 10 April 2022

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Hello everyone,

The Community Development team at the Wikimedia Foundation is supporting the creation of a global, community-driven Leadership Development Working Group. The purpose of the working group is to advise leadership development work. Feedback was collected in February 2022 and a summary of the feedback is on Meta-wiki. The application period to join the Working Group is now open and is closing soon on April 10, 2022. Please review the information about the working group, share with community members who might be interested, and apply if you are interested.

Thank you,

From the Community Development team

The Community Development team Cassie Casares (talk) 18:39, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines ratification voting is now closed

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Greetings,

The ratification voting process for the revised enforcement guidelines of the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) came to a close on 21 March 2022. Over 2300 Wikimedians voted across different regions of our movement. Thank you to everyone who participated in this process! The scrutinizing group is now reviewing the vote for accuracy, so please allow up to two weeks from the close of voting for them to finish their work.

The final results from the voting process will be announced here, along with the relevant statistics and a summary of comments as soon as they are available. Please check out the voter information page to learn about the next steps. You can comment on the project talk page on Meta-wiki in any language. You may also contact the UCoC project team by email: ucocprojectwikimedia.org

Best regards,

Movement Strategy and Governance
Xeno (WMF) (talk) 01:25, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

Results from the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines ratification vote published

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The Trust and Safety Policy team published the results of the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines ratification vote. The vote ended 21 March 2022. See the results and read more on Meta-wiki.

Xeno (WMF) (talk) 03:57, 6 April 2022 (UTC)