Grants:IdeaLab/Wikademy
Project idea edit
What Wikimedia project(s) and specific areas will you be evaluating? edit
Is this project measuring a specific space on a project (e.g. deletion discussions), or the project as a whole?
English Wikipedia, specifically policy creep/ learning curve for new users
Describe your idea. How might it be implemented? edit
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.
First, we create a tutorial program to help new users gain a better grasp of policy. Then, admins/experienced users can point new, disruptive editors there, instead of arbitrarily posting things like "I'm here to help if you need me".
Are there experienced Wikimedians who can help implement this project? edit
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.
Some users with programming skills would be able to help.
edit
My guess is that the learning curve for the project will become much less sharp, and there will be a marked decrease in blocks of users with less that six months experience.
How would your measurement idea help your community make better decisions? edit
After you are finished measuring or evaluating your Wikimedia project, how do you expect that information to be used to benefit the project?
The project will benefit from a wealth of great users who just needed a chance.
Do you think you can implement this idea? What support do you need? edit
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 have some programming skill, but not enough to implement the project effectively. I will need help from users with more experience and expertise than I have to do this right.
Get Involved edit
About the idea creator edit
I am "Sleyece". I edit on English Wikipedia mostly. I was blocked indefinitely (albeit quickly reversed) within three months of starting as a user. Similar stories are not uncommon, and it rises heavily out of new users being dropped in the preverbal deep end. They often, as I did, don't have a good understanding of policy and conduct, and they are blocked before they have a chance to understand and flourish.
Participants edit
- Developer Would like to participate in this. Since my profession is developer i've choosed it. Rajasuba (talk) 08:14, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
- Volunteer To collaborate to achieve the goals of the idea. Sundayayandele (talk) 09:45, 28 July 2018 (UTC)
Endorsements edit
- I agree. The editors are busy people who don't have time to go through pages of rules and regulations. There should be an easy and fun way to teach and encourage them. Jane955 (talk) 00:03, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
- I would combine this idea with the one for a certificate course in editing and level tests. I've worked in the training & certification industries and I could easily see an online course for this and also a track for editing. Auldhouse (talk) 16:42, 22 July 2018 (UTC)
- support, combine with certificate idea, and look to translate the new print manual from NL Slowking4 (talk) 01:23, 23 July 2018 (UTC)
- Wikipedia has long been thought intimidating for newbies, and our userbase has been decreasing for a long time, partially because of that. But I think this just might be the solution to our problem! Jjjjjjdddddd (talk) 08:08, 23 July 2018 (UTC)
Support I was about to be blocked on English Wikipedia but was saved. Harshrathod50 (talk) 06:52, 26 July 2018 (UTC)- Good idea. There is already another similar system on en.wiki, called The Wikipedia Adventure, but with all due respect to its developers, it looks a bit like a 5-year old's school book. L293D (talk) 20:26, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
Expand your idea edit
Would a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation help make your idea happen? You can expand this idea into a grant proposal.
No funding needed? edit
Does your idea not require funding, but you're not sure about what to do next? Not sure how to start a proposal on your local project that needs consensus? Contact Chris Schilling on-wiki at I JethroBT (WMF) (talk · contribs) or via e-mail at cschilling
wikimedia.org for help!
Project plan edit
Activities edit
Build and Test the Software
Impact edit
It will exponentially increase participation and efficacy of new users on English Wikipedia.