Grants:IdeaLab/Make non-article additions (citations, categories, etc) easier

Inspire campaign

Make non-article additions (citations, categories, etc) easier

I recently created an article (Consolidated Third) and struggled getting all the references and categories properly hooked up. I started on Wikipedia in 2003 back when this was all much simpler. The process needs to be simplified greatly as it's a barrier to newer users and users who do not edit often.

countryCanada

themeadministration

contact email• thenewteddy@hotmail.com

idea creator• Nickjbor

this project needs...

volunteer

developer

created on13:47, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

Project idea

What Wikimedia project(s) and specific areas will you be evaluating?

Is this project measuring a specific space on a project (e.g. deletion discussions), or the project as a whole?
English Wikipedia

Describe your idea. How might it be implemented?

Provide details about the method or process of how you will evaluate your community or collect data. Does your idea involve private or personally identifying information? Take a look at the Privacy Policy for Wikimedia’s guidelines in this area.
Make the process more "plug and play". This will likely mean writing out the references etc will take more letters, but it will be more user friendly. For example: with the program being able to parse that into the proper format, knowing that something that appears after "link:" is the link, etc.

Are there experienced Wikimedians who can help implement this project?

If applicable, please list groups or usernames of individuals who you can work with on this project, and what kind of work they will do.
dunno. I only really know one other wikipedian, and thats Earl_Andrew, but I dont want to suddenly put him on the spot.

How will you know if this project is successful? What are some outcomes that you can share after the project is completed?

Ideally, more people will add more references, and make more articles, now that the process is greatly simplified.

How would your measurement idea help your community make better decisions?

After you are finished measuring or evaluating your Wikimedia project, how do you expect that information to be used to benefit the project?
more edits means more information, which is the end goal of wikipedia.

Do you think you can implement this idea? What support do you need?

Do you need people with specific skills to complete this idea? Are there any financial needs for this project? If you can’t implement this project, can you scale down your project so it is doable?
I can not do this myself. I have no idea how to work the programs that would enable wikipedia to recognize new formatting for references.

Get Involved

About the idea creator

I'm 33, started on Wikipedia in 2003, contribute mostly to election pages from Canada and elsewhere, and enjoy eating ground beef.

Endorsements

• The formatting and citation requirements are the one of the most detrimental aspects of contributing to Wikipedia. Not Sure (talk) 15:36, 9 August 2018 (UTC)

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No funding needed?

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