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Tech News: 2024-17 edit
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- Starting this week, newcomers editing Wikipedia will be encouraged to try structured tasks. Structured tasks have been shown to improve newcomer activation and retention. [1]
- You can nominate your favorite tools for the fifth edition of the Coolest Tool Award. Nominations will be open until May 10.
Changes later this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 23 April. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 24 April. It will be on all wikis from 25 April (calendar). [2][3]
Future changes
- This is the last warning that by the end of May 2024 the Vector 2022 skin will no longer share site and user scripts/styles with old Vector. For user-scripts that you want to keep using on Vector 2022, copy the contents of Special:MyPage/vector.js to Special:MyPage/vector-2022.js. There are more technical details available. Interface administrators who foresee this leading to lots of technical support questions may wish to send a mass message to your community, as was done on French Wikipedia. [4]
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MediaWiki message delivery 20:28, 22 April 2024 (UTC)
Growth News, April 2024 edit
The Growth team will now send quarterly reports to keep you in the loop. Growth team weekly updates are available on wiki (in English) if you want to know more about our day-to-day work.
If you want to receive more general updates about technical activity happening across the Wikimedia movement (including Growth work), we encourage you to subscribe to Tech News.
Community Configuration edit
Growth features are currently configurable at Special:EditGrowthConfig
. This quarter we are working on making Community Configuration accessible for other MediaWiki developers while also moving Growth feature configuration to the new CommunityConfiguration extension.
An early version of Community Configuration can be tested at Spanish Beta Wikipedia. We plan to release the new Community Configuration extension to pilot wikis (Arabic and Spanish Wikipedia) in early May, 2024. The first non-Growth team feature to utilize Community Configuration will be Automoderator.
In parallel with the development, the Growth team will propose Community Configuration usage guidelines, Community Configuration design guidelines, and provide technical documentation.
Experiment Results edit
Add a Image experiment analysis results
The Growth team conducted an experiment to assess the impact of the “Add an Image” structured task on the Newcomer Homepage's "Suggested Edits" module. This analysis finds that the Add an Image structured task leads to an increase in newcomer participation on the mobile web platform, particularly by making constructive (non-reverted) article edits:
- The likelihood that mobile web newcomers make their first article edit (+17.0% over baseline)
- The likelihood that they are retained as newcomers (+24.3% over baseline)
- The number of edits they make during their first two weeks on the wiki (+21.8% over baseline)
- A lower probability of the newcomers' edits will be reverted (-3.3% over baseline).
Personalized praise experiment results
This feature was developed for Mentors as part of the Growth team's Positive Reinforcement project. When A/B testing on Spanish Wikipedia, we found no significant impact on retention, but we found a significant positive impact on newcomer productivity. However, we concluded that the results weren’t positive enough to justify the time investment from Mentors. We plan to discuss this feature with our pilot wikis, and consider further improvements before scaling this feature further. Meanwhile, communities willing to test the feature can ask to have it deployed. (T361763)
English donors encouraged to try editing
As in previous years, donors were directed to a Thank you page after donation (example). However, this year we tested a new “Try editing Wikipedia,” call to action on the Thank You page. This call to action linked to a unique account creation page. From this account creation page we were able to track Registrations and Activation (editing for the first time). During the English banner campaign, the Donor Thank you page led to 4,398 new accounts, and 441 of those accounts went on to constructively edit within 24 hours. (T352900)
Future work edit
Annual Plan
The Growth team and the Editing team will work on the WE1.2 Key Result in the coming fiscal year. We will start initial discussions with communities soon to help finalize our plans. (T361657)
Newcomer Homepage Community Updates module
We plan to A/B test adding a new Community Configurable module to the Newcomer Homepage that will allow communities to highlight specific events, projects, campaigns, and initiatives. We are early in the planning phase of this project that will take place first at our pilot wikis and wikis volunteering. We welcome community feedback on initial designs and plans, in any language at our project talk page.
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Wikidata weekly summary #625 edit
- Nubuke Wikidata Workshop - Sat. 27 April 1100 - 1400 GMT at the Nubuke Foundation, Lome Close Accra, Ghana.
- There's still time for nominating your favorite tool in the Coolest Tool Award! To nominate, follow this link. Deadline: 10 May 2024 - winners unveiled at Wikimania 2024
- Coordinate Me 2024 - an international Wikidata competition around content with geodata. The competition starts on 1 May 2024 and ends on 31 May 2024.
- Wikimedia Hackathon 2024 is just around the corner, taking place in Tallinn, Estonia from 02 - 06 May. We hope there will be lots of Wikidata hacking projects worked on.
Press, articles, blog posts, videos
- Blogs
- Diff Blog: Museums around the world, according to Wikidata - Wikimedia's own blog, Diff, has this interesting graphic showing museums around the world. To explore further, check the Wikidata Query.
- Papers
- Bringing PanglaoDB to 5-star Linked Open Data using Wikidata - This paper documents the experiences mapping PanglaoDB's free text cell types and genes i Wikidata to improve reusability and fairness. By Tiago Lubiana & João Vitor F. Cavalcante.
- Exploring Wikidata for Social Science Research (Portugese) - Highlights the relevance of open resources such as Wikidata for the Social Sciences, providing access to information that facilitates research in the social, economic and cultural areas. By Wenceslao Arroyo-Machado.
- Integrating Wikidata with Data Sleuthing Techniques For Enhanced Knowledge Discovery of Hidden Figures - this is a training resource to find and enrich Items on Natural History collector's.
- Videos
- The Data Mine: Wikimedia Content Quality 2024 - a short video on how to find mismatched data between Wikidata on other data sources.
- MWCon Spring 2024 (Day 3) - This session of the MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference explores the different extensions you can use with Wikibase. See the rest of the program here
- Getting Started with OpenRefine - Introducing OpenRefine, importing data, filtering and faceting and bulk editing, as well as how to connect to other data sources for reconciling your data. By Margaret Heller & Diana Rusch.
- A Decade of Scholarly Research on Open Knowledge Graphs - Houcemeddine Turki host this presentation of the LREC-COLING 2024's findings. You can read the full paper here.
- Beyond Wikidata: building a universal knowledge graph with MediaWiki and Wikibase - James Hare explores Wikibase as a focused alternative to creating a knowledge graph around a specific theme or project.
Tool of the week
- Antvaset's Wikidata Ontology explorer - explore Wikidata's Ontology in this top-down tree explorer. By Anton Vasetenkov.
Other Noteworthy Stuff
- Wikimedia Deutschland closed their Call for Software Contributions! Discover the project proposals submitted and share your feedback.
- Release of Wikibase Suite: Wikibase 1.39.7WMDE .18 - minor security release compatible with MediaWiki 1.39.7
- OpenRefine 3.8.0 was released
Newest properties and property proposals to review
- Newest properties:
- General datatypes:
- RTE substation ID (identifier of electrical substations operated by RTE in France)
- API formatter URL (URI template from which "$1" can automatically be replaced with the effective property value on items; for API access and other machine-readable data)
- leaf morphology (characterization of aspects of the shape of a plant’s leaves)
- creative director (person who makes high-level creative decisions)
- beneficial owner (natural person or persons who ultimately owns or controls a company or organisation)
- official server list URL (website, officially recommended by the developer of the software, that lists public server instances of the software)
- EBITDA (accounting measure: net earnings, before interest expenses, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are subtracted)
- date popularized (point in time the subject became well known to the public, if different from its inception)
- number of accepted contributions (number of accepted submissions, e.g., conference articles to a conference)
- electoral symbol (symbol allocated to a political party or candidate for use on ballots)
- authorised capital (maximum amount of share capital that the company is authorised to issue to shareholders)
- number of submissions (number of submissions, e.g., submitted papers to a conference)
- follows spelling pattern (spelling rule, pattern or paradigm followed by this form)
- risk group (risk group of a biological agent guiding its initial handling in labs according to the risk group classification defined by the WHO laboratory biosafety manual)
- timetable/schedule URL (link to the timetable or the schedule (in PDF, HTML, image format) for the given service or the event schedule. The current timetable/schedule should have preferred rank.)
- deterioration (to indicate types of deterioration presented by an artwork, building, artifact, etc.)
- External identifiers: Oxford Reference overview ID, Theatrical Index company ID, Touhou Wiki ID, Traineras club ID, Traineras competition ID, Slovenian organization number, Featherbase ID, TUESPWiki ID, Theatrical Index theatre ID, Supreme Court of Canada case number, SNS Info Saúde, OSHA Occupational Chemical Database ID, National Library of Uruguay authority ID, museum-digital tag ID, museum-digital person ID, government.ru person ID, arch2.iofe.center person ID, Digital Athenaeus Catalog author ID, China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ID, BFO class ID, identifiant Sculpturo, Michigan Historical Marker ID, Barry Hugman's Footballers player ID, droitne.ch author ID, Statbunker player ID, ffspb.org player ID, beachsoccer.com team ID, WildTangent Games ID, HCERES organisation ID, az.lib.ru author ID, Hanslick Online person ID, ID of member of the Chambre des députés, Algerian National Statistics Office ID, mosff.ru staff ID, PeerTube channel address, WDF player ID, The Spriters Resource game ID, Cemu Wiki article ID, Génération Nintendo game ID, British Comedy Guide person ID, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam ID, Zillow zpid, Aragonario ID (6th version), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World ID, Algerian trademark number ID, Dictionary of Qur'anic Usage ID, Delisted Games ID, Algerian commune ID, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women ID, The Islamic World: Past and Present ID, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions ID, pressball.by football manager ID, Duden sense ID, GovTrack person ID, PlantZAfrica Plants of the Week ID, Kritikanstvo game ID, Kritikanstvo publication ID, Kritikanstvo critic ID, myabandonware.com game ID, FürthWiki article ID, IAFD film UUID, A Dictionary of Arabic Literary Terms and Devices ID, Rugby Romania ID, Scottish Register of Tartans ID, Asociation Espanola de Amigos de los Castillos ID, NICE Paintings ID, Sonic Retro article ID, Algerian district ID, English & Scottish Football League transfers player ID, The Spriters Resource platform ID, Encyklopedia Medyków Powstania Warszawskiego ID, Cerist.dz CCDZ ID, Flora Croatica Database taxon ID, Quadrinhopédia artist ID, SPV profile ID, CPV profile ID, Kunstenpunt Knowledge Graph ID, The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ID, Hindawi Foundation book ID, The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English ID, Pennsylvania State Senate ID, Vanhan kirjasuomen sanakirja ID, Suomi–ruotsi-suursanakirja ID, FilmVandaag ID
- General datatypes:
- New property proposals to review:
- General datatypes:
- WEM facility code ()
- Type of representation (Property to indicate the '''representation type''' as a qualifier for Wikimedia Commons SDC Depicts statements of such Wikidata items, indicating the media type of the media file as can be derived from its registered property in Wikidata, being different from P18 (image).)
- is fake of (the kind (class) of elements this item falsifies / is a fake for)
- tartan (item's tartan; Tartan is a Scottish cloth pattern symbolizing a clan, region, or group.)
- hasFeldpostNumber (Property to link German military units to their respective Feldpost numbers, referencing the specific identifier used during the military communications in the world wars.)
- total deposits (total value of deposits held by a bank or financial institution)
- Total loans (total value of loans given out by a bank or financial institution)
- source of transfer & destination of transfer (entity that a transferred item is initially associated with, before this process associates it with another entity (the destination of transfer) [aliases: source / sender])
- rythme narratif (video game mechanic based on the rhythm of the player's actions)
- event role (item that describes a role in an event class)
- Patent Abstract (Abstract of the patent)
- category for this time deaths (category item for people who died in this time)
- category for this time births (category item for people who born in this time)
- is ontological root of (forms the root element of the ontology)
- founder of (Organization, religion, or place that was founded or co-founded by subject. Inverse of P112.)
- writing technique (technique used for writing on stone, paper or other support)
- identifiant Inventaire du patrimoine immobilier culturel ()
- External identifiers: TMDB award IDs, Algerian National Assembly ID, YList ID, Stichting Erfgoed Nederlandse Biercultuur brewery ID, Brill ID, Encyclopedia of Canonical Hadith ID, case number (mainland China), AccessAble venue ID, Pitchbook Company Profile, Cbonds Company Profile, New Oxford American Dictionary ID, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam ID, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics ID, PEGI game ID, Jerusalem Film Cinematheque person id, The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture ID, Algerian province ID, World Encyclopedia ID, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages ID, Gentoo Guru ID, Oxford University Press ID, FilmVandaag ID, FBW-Kennung, Duden node ID, Cambridge University Press ID, Taylor & Francis book ID, AbeBooks book ID, COBISS ID, Dhliz person ID, LGD Block Code, Edinburgh University Press ID, BD Gest' work ID, Gentoo Wiki ID, Barnes & Noble ID, Vanguard Books ID, Douban Personage ID, De Gruyter ID, Thriftbooks ID, eBay item, numéro d'établissement d'une ICPE, Columbia University Press ID, Kōmako id
- General datatypes:
- Deleted properties:
You can comment on all open property proposals!
Did you know?
- Query examples:
- Two or more statements on a certain property - generates a list of all elements where there are two or more statements on a certain property (without deprecated statements).
- Explore data about Tabakalera participants - find biographical information of film director's that have participate din the San Sebastian Film Festival Tabalakera cultural centre.
- Mothers on Wikidata - explore the mother and child relationships of Wikidata items.
- Presidents of French Universities - curious about which individuals have presided at French Universities and Higher education institutions? This query explores that!
- Showcase Items: Jerzy Spława-Neyman - A polish Statistician, the first to introduce a confidence interval to statistical hypothesis testing.
- Showcase Lexemes: Pfeil (DE) - Arrow, part of the Weekly Lexeme Challenge.
Development
- You can see all open tickets related to Wikidata here. If you want to help, you can also have a look at the tasks needing a volunteer.
Weekly Tasks
- Add labels, in your own language(s), for the new properties listed above.
- Comment on property proposals: all open proposals
- Suggested and open tasks!
- Contribute to a Showcase item.
- Help translate or proofread the interface and documentation pages, in your own language!
- Help merge identical items across Wikimedia projects.
- Help write the next summary!
Tech News: 2024-18 edit
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- The appearance of talk pages changed for the following wikis: Azerbaijani Wikipedia, Bengali Wikipedia, German Wikipedia, Persian Wikipedia, Hebrew Wikipedia, Hindi Wikipedia, Indonesian Wikipedia, Korean Wikipedia, Dutch Wikipedia, Portuguese Wikipedia, Romanian Wikipedia, Thai Wikipedia, Turkish Wikipedia, Ukrainian Wikipedia, Vietnamese Wikipedia. These wikis participated to a test, where 50% of users got the new design, for one year. As this test gave positive results, the new design is deployed on these wikis as the default design. It is possible to opt-out these changes in user preferences ("Show discussion activity"). The deployment will happen at all wikis in the coming weeks. [5]
- Seven new wikis have been created:
- You can now watch message groups/projects on Translatewiki.net. Initially, this feature will notify you of added or deleted messages in these groups. [13]
- Dark mode is now available on all wikis, on mobile web for logged-in users who opt into the advanced mode. This is the early release of the feature. Technical editors are invited to check for accessibility issues on wikis. See more detailed guidelines.
Problems
- Kartographer maps can use an alternative visual style without labels, by using
mapstyle="osm"
. This wasn't working in previews, creating the wrong impression that it wasn't supported. This has now been fixed. [14]
Changes later this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 30 April. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 1 May. It will be on all wikis from 2 May (calendar). [15][16]
Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.