Wikimedia.org

(Redirected from Wikimedia website)

Wikimedia.org is currently a portal with logos to our projects.

Just brainstorming. More on the talk page.

This page is a brainstorming proposal for the following idea:

  • Change meta's name to www.wikimedia.org
  • Merge various cross-project content into www.wikimedia.org
  • Use namespaces to create semantic structure
  • Spend UI/UX resources to make simple design changes across the board to improve usability / discoverability of information
  • Current wikimedia.org is arguably ineffective use of central brand portal
  • Simple, memorable address
  • Opportunity to create clean design and information architecture
  • Opportunity to sensibly merge various wikis into a single multi-purpose wiki. Benefits of the sensible merge are:
    • In day-to-day use, it's easier to search one wiki for a document, than two. For instance, many outreach materials live on Meta, in addition to those on Outreach.

Why not edit

Check out the talk page for discussion about possible negative consequences. Nutshell:

  • Need to protect Meta as its own unique space with distinct culture, content & community

Wikis to supersede edit

  • meta.wikimedia.org (renamed)
  • strategy.wikimedia.org
  • outreach.wikimedia.org
  • Perhaps: Subsets of various other wikis

Namespaces edit

  • Research: for research projects
  • Proposal: for proposals/ideas
  • Grant: for grantmaking
  • Outreach: for outreach hub and planning pages
  • Bookshelf: for outreach resources (outreach:Bookshelf type stuff)
  • Report: for reports
  • Archive: for documents kept for historical interest only

Perhaps:

  • Event: for events
  • Wikimania: for Wikimanias
  • Tech: for technical pages spread across mediawiki.org/wikitech.wikimedia.org/labsconsole.wikimedia.org which aren't strictly related to MediaWiki development and documentation.
  • Journal: for a peer-reviewed Journal

Process edit

  • Rename meta.wikimedia.org to www.wikimedia.org (meta URLs should redirect) -- see considerations in bugzilla:19986 and check which ones would apply here
  • Start copying content from merged wikis using cross-wiki import
  • Any extensions used on wikis need to be supported on the new wiki; i.e., Strategy has DPL enabled.
    • Liquid Threads content will either have to be flattened, or Liquid Threads enabled on a per-page basis
  • At point of no return, mark merged wikis as read-only and add prominent "we've moved" message
    • Key pages (or all pages) should have cross-wiki automatic redirect enabled. Brochures, external sites, etc. advise newbies to go to certain key pages; upon their first arrival, they should not have to contend with a UI problem. For instance, outreach:GLAM/Newsletter (and redirects that point there) are linked in many places on the web, in private email messages, etc. GLAM personnel seeking the newsletter should not have to deal with a soft redirect when they first enter the site.
  • Identify key entry points (main page, namespace indexes, etc.) and iteratively implement redesigns