Wiki Loves X campaigns

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Wiki Loves X is general format for naming various sorts of Wikimedia community outreach campaigns. In general, the campaigns share a few clear characteristics:

Campaign: a clearly marked period of activity, with a start and an end.
Outreach: the campaign aims to engage a general audience (not a specialized community) to contribute to Wikimedia projects.
Scope: there is a topical theme to the campaign, which is clearly defined.
Specific: it is clear what specific data/media/knowledge the participants are asked to contribute.

In such campaigns, anyone who wishes to organize Wikimedia community events may call their campaign "Wiki Loves X", where X is an appropriate description of what knowledge participants are asked to contribute.

History

The first "Wiki Loves X" event was Wiki Loves Art on English Wikipedia in 2009, followed in 2010 by Wiki Loves Monuments, an international photo scavenger hunt to ask people worldwide to photograph heritage sites. From an organizational perspective, these campaigns set the precedent of using the word "Wiki" to describe Wikimedia community projects and also established the general model "Wiki Loves X" for community organized events. By using the term "Wiki" and designing their own logo, they branded the campaign and avoided any need to secure trademark permission for their outreach.

Trademarks and branding

"Wiki" is a general term for the wiki style of web application, and there are no trademark restrictions. "X" is a common symbol for any variable, and can mean anything a person wishes for it to mean or be replaced with anything. However, when you create a new project, please consider if it would be the most appropriate name, given the precedents.

For anyone who wishes to use the trademarks owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, including logos and words such as "Wikipedia" or "Wikimedia", please refer to the Trademark policy. Using such trademarks is often not part of a "Wiki Loves X" campaign.

"Wiki Loves X" campaigns historically have been grassroots community projects with no deep planning or formal affiliation with the Wikimedia Foundation or any Wikimedia movement affiliate.

Starting a Wiki Loves X campaign

Anyone can start a Wiki Loves X campaign at any time. One model for setting up a campaign is to follow guidelines for setting up WikiProjects, such as those at English Wikipedia's WikiProject Council.

There is no standard system or guidelines for managing or promoting Wiki Loves X events. For tutorials and some records of what has worked in the past, the "Learning Patterns" project at Grants:Learning patterns documents some outreach styles.

Common strategies for promoting any kind of outreach project on English Wikipedia include making a request at Mass message senders or the Geonotice notice to get a message to a new audience.

To add the campaign to the Wikimedia Commons mobile app, see their Github repository.

Resources

Examples

List of Wiki Loves X competitions

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.

Please add any additional "Wiki Loves X" competitions you may be aware of to this list. Inclusion on this list helps support communications efforts by the Wikimedia Foundation, affiliates, and others within the movement. Thank you!

Overview of Wiki Loves X campaigns
Campaign name (Active in bold)	Target project(s)	Dates	Status	Notes
Wiki Loves Africa	Wikimedia Commons	March–April	Active as of 2024
Wiki Loves Art	Central Bikol Wikipedia		Active as of 2023
Wiki Loves Bangla	Wikimedia Commons	January–February	Active as of 2024	External website
Wiki Loves Butterfly	Wikimedia Commons
Wiki Loves Children	Bengali and English Wikipedias and Wikibooks		Active as of 2022
Wiki Loves Classics	Wikimedia Commons	September	Inactive as of 2021
Wiki Loves Cultural Heritage	Wikimedia Commons		Inactive as of 2013
Wiki Loves Earth	Wikimedia Commons	May–July	Active as of 2023	External website
Wiki Loves Folklore	Wikimedia Commons	February	Active as of 2023
Wiki Loves (French) Translations	French Wikipedia	November	Inactive as of 2017
Wiki Loves Monuments	Wikimedia Commons	September–October	Active as of 2023	External website
Wiki Loves Music	German Wikipedia	September	Inactive as of 2022
Wiki Loves Music	Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese Wikipedias	May–June	Inactive as of 2019
Wiki Loves Onam	Multiple Wikis	August-October	Active as of 2023
Wiki Loves Public Art	Wikimedia Commons	May	Inactive as of 2014
Wiki Loves Pride	Multiple	June and October	Active as of 2023
Wiki Loves Renewables	TBD	TBD	Inactive as of 2022
Wiki Loves Science	TBD	TBD	Inactive as of 2018
Wiki Loves Scientists	English Wikipedia	Ongoing	Active as of 2022	External website driven
Wikipedia Loves Art	English Wikipedia	Various	Inactive as of 2016
Wiki Loves Muslim Academia	Multiple Wikis	January-February 2024	Active