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The Wikimedia Forum is a central place for questions, announcements and other discussions about the Wikimedia Foundation and its projects. (For discussion about the Meta wiki, see Meta:Babel.)
This is not the place to make technical queries regarding the MediaWiki software; please ask such questions at the MediaWiki support desk; technical questions about Wikimedia wikis, however, can be placed on Tech page.

You can reply to a topic by clicking the "[edit]" link beside that section, or you can start a new discussion.
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New Project Proposal (WikiMentor)[edit]

I think people will like this project proposal. It's called WikiMentor, and is a place for people to mentor, or to be mentored. Enjoy, and put your name down if you're interested! WikiMentor Link Proposal BlackWidowMovie0 (talk) 20:30, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

Due to differences between project types and between languages, this would be best done "within each project," at least on larger projects. There may be a place for a "multilingual" or "multiproject within one language or set of related language" mentorship system, but it could be hosted here on Meta rather than be its own project. Davidwr/talk 00:32, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
@Davidwr: I would Support Support that. BlackWidowMovie0 (talk) 11:58, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
I quite like the idea of having a general Mentorship program that could draw resources from all other projects on Wikimedia as needed. I don't know how mentors would be verified and how the general thing would be structured, but i think this could be interesting if organized well. Support Support a mentorship program hosted on Meta, Oppose Oppose an independent project because it would be infrastructure overkill, in my opinion. YuriNikolai (talk) 16:34, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

New Project Proposal - Wikipragmatica[edit]

Hello everyone. Noob here. I've submitted a new project proposal that re-indexes Wikipedia, but also does a whole bunch of other nifty stuff. I look forward to our discussion. I've included the description below.

Wikipragmatica

This proposal presents a paraphrase graph database extension to Wikidata. The intent is to create a directed graph of paraphrase nodes and retained context edges initially of Wikipedia content, but ultimately Internet wide. Initially focusing on unstructured data (text), the vision is to be media agnostic harvesting sentence equivalent information. This foundational construct is intended to support a wide range of uses from indexing to misinformation detection to knowledge representation to enterprise work management.

History of the single-username policy[edit]

Perhaps some regulars retain memory of the events in 2008–2013.

I am aware that a global account always prevented unrelated homonymous registration anywhere in Wikimedia. But SULs were a minority, probably, as late as in early 2013. And certainly no policy has been in existence against new clashing local accs for years – for example, this registration in December 21, 2012 went through despite existence of the homonymous acc in enWP. But since some moment creation of new conflating accounts, likely, ceased to be possible.

  1. Until when registration of homonymous local accounts has been possible?
    Has been sealed off as late as on February 17, 2015 (https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/newusers&offset=20150217152830&limit=14 and wikitech:Deployments/Archive/2015/02#deploycal-item-20150217T1600), such sites as MediaWiki.org applied countermeasures earlier (wikitech:Deployments/Archive/2014/12#deploycal-item-20141205T0000). 12:12, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
  2. When new accounts (provided no name conflict) began to be attached to SULs automatically?
  3. How and when old users (who were reluctant to use Special:MergeAccount and had no name conflicts) were forced to SUL?
    P.S. “3.” perhaps is mostly answered in phab:T41817 and phab:T72392.
gu_id = 1 is
Tim Starling.
quarry:query/51873
11:54, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

And a related question: who is the owner of the first global account?

As a side note, I am also aware of (highly publicized) tilde-making events of March–July 2015 and one has not to remind me about that. Any substantiated suggestion will be welcome. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 09:36, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Much of this is covered in the migration to SUL, there was a migration document produced and it should still be around somewhere. There should also be much information in phabricator. — billinghurst sDrewth 10:49, 13 January 2021 (UTC)
You may say I was stupid neglecting to check mw:SUL finalisation before posting, but it is mostly focused on old accounts (my question “3.”) and is cryptic, anyway. Of course I could start an own investigation on phab:project/view/39/ first, including butting into several years-old “tasks” and spreading my questions there, mixing it with staunchly technical minutes about patches reverted due to a bug. Just hoped that here somebody helps to collect essential answers in a convenient place. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 13:32, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Found talk:Single_User_Login_finalisation_announcement by chance. There is an extensive archive. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 20:19, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

Serbian Wikimedia[edit]

Dear Wikipedists and Wikimedists,

a your ago a group of people consisting the Wikimedia of Serbia issued a document which banned a certain person from visiting meetings organized by the Wikimedia of Serbia.

I am providing you with a translation of the document

Dear sir ... ...,

I am addressing you as a legal representative of the Serbian Wikimedia regarding the friendly space policies which was adopted at the 20th extraordinary session of the Assembly of Serbian Wikimedia held on December 9th, 2018.

In the above-cited friendly space policies it is prescribed:

„Harassment also implies displaying vulgar images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, persecution, unwanted tracking, disturbing photographing or recording, constant interruption of conversation or other events, inappropriate physical contact and unwanted sexual attention.“

In this regard, I take the opportunity to inform you that a number of members of Serbian Wikipedia have informed us that your behavior and conduct have got the mark which is not allowed in accordance to the above-cited friendly space policies which represent a general act of Serbian Wikimedia.

Additionally, on February 6th, 2020 at about 10 A. M. without notice you directly came into contact with our legal representative, the lawyer Strahinja Mavrenski in the way that you without notice, standing before the office of lawyer Strahinja Mavrenski, requested a meeting, answers and explanations and you did not act according to warnings of the lawyer despite the fact that the lawyer had warned you that you could not enter the office without notice since the same behaviour would represent a violation of lawyer office and that he was not allowed to advise you since he represented another client who you had conflicting interests with.

No one can invoke their ignorance of law, and not only your behavior may represent a violation of the freedom of advocacy according to the law of advocacy, but it is also contrary to the provision of Article 9 Paragraph 4 Item 2 of the Statute of Serbian Wikimedia on which basis the Serbian Wikimedia adopted its friendly space policies which you violated with your rude behavior

Bearing the above in mind and in accordance with the authorization provided by the above-cited friendly space policies we inform you that you have been denied the right to attend events, meetings, conferences and other kinds of public gatherings organized by Serbian Wikimedia.

If you continue behaving in the same manner and if you, despite this note, come to one of public meetings organized by Serbian Wikimedia, we will be forced to report the mentioned behavior to competent institutions.

Miroslav Loci (m. p.)

So it is clear that the Executive Board of Wikimedia of Serbia hired a lawyer whose main task was to charge the person who had been proclaimed persona non grata by some members of Wikimedia of Serbia. The lawyer was paid for that service with the money provided by the donations made by people around the globe. The lawyer cooperated with the Wikimedia until a some time ago. As far as I know he expected more money for his "services" which I you can see do not have anything in common with the principle of free knowledge.

I can assure you that the banned person is not troublesome. In fact, he befriended a lot of people visiting Wikimedia's meetings and only few poeple which are members of Wikimedia's boards can not stand him due to some reasons. I think that no person can be banned from visiting meetings organized by Wikimedia's, especially those who made contributions to the Wikipedia.--Владимир Нимчевић (talk) 16:03, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

You will need to look up WM Serbia's page(s) look at their constitution and what it allows them to do. Though of course they can prohibit people from their meetings if they so choose and they have followed a due process and their rules allow it.  — billinghurst sDrewth 04:57, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Question[edit]

How do I appeal a siteban (community, not ArbCom) on en.wiki, dating back to Christmas Eve 2018? I used to be called “Lojbanist”, but my new SUL account (if I make one; I’m okay with being an IP editor) probably won’t have any variation of that name. I feel like I have matured in these 2 years, and I want to be able to contribute to en.wiki again. Which mailing list or IRC channel do I have to contact to appeal? 2001:569:BD7D:6E00:6DBB:3DCF:E9D8:97C8 01:39, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Follow that local wiki's process for appealing a block/ban in their block/unblock policy.  — billinghurst sDrewth 04:53, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
So UTRS? 2001:569:BD7D:6E00:5042:9D10:682:CD3A 14:49, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
You will need to deal with your global lock first. sulutil:Lojbanist. Since you revealed your password on your own, there is practically no chance you will be unlocked. — regards, Revi 15:02, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Moving Wikimania 2021 to a Virtual Event[edit]

Wikimania's logo.

Hello. Apologies if you are not reading this message in your native language. Please help translate to your language. Thank you!

Wikimania will be a virtual event this year, and hosted by a wide group of community members. Whenever the next in-person large gathering is possible again, the ESEAP Core Organizing Team will be in charge of it. Stay tuned for more information about how you can get involved in the planning process and other aspects of the event. Please read the longer version of this announcement on wikimedia-l.

ESEAP Core Organizing Team, Wikimania Steering Committee, Wikimedia Foundation Events Team, 15:15, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Logo for Wikifunctions wiki[edit]

The upcoming Wikifunctions wiki needs a logo. Please help us to: discuss the overall goals of the logo, to propose design ideas and specific designs, and to give feedback on other designs - until 23 February. More details about design recommendations and ideas are on the talkpage. You can read an explanation about "functions" and the related Abstract Wikipedia initiative on the main project page. Thank you! Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 22:38, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Project Grant Open Call[edit]

This is the announcement for the Project Grants program open call that started on January 11, with the submission deadline of February 10, 2021.
This first open call will be focussed on Community Organizing proposals. A second open call focused on research and software proposals is scheduled from February 15 with a submission deadline of March 16, 2021.

For the Round 1 open call, we invite you to propose grant applications that fall under community development and organizing (offline and online) categories. Project Grant funds are available to support individuals, groups, and organizations to implement new experiments and proven ideas, from organizing a better process on your wiki, coordinating a campaign or editathon series to providing other support for community building. We offer the following resources to help you plan your project and complete a grant proposal:

Program officers are also available to offer individualized proposal support upon request. Contact us if you would like feedback or more information.

We are excited to see your grant ideas that will support our community and make an impact on the future of Wikimedia projects. Put your idea into motion, and submit your proposal by February 10, 2021!

Please feel free to get in touch with questions about getting started with your grant application, or about serving on the Project Grants Committee. Contact us at projectgrants(_AT_)wikimedia.org. Please help us translate this message to your local language. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:00, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Is the usage of Wikimedia logos in community publication fine?[edit]

I seek to use File:Wikimedia logo white.svg in the PDF version of the Wikipedian, one of the zhwiki local Wikimedia community publication. Does the usage of the logo meet Trademark policy#policy-noncommercial? Or I have to apply for a license as Trademark policy#policy-publications says, since PDF is a sort of publication? —— Eric Liu（留言．百科用戶頁） 15:58, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

It depends on how the logo is used in the Wikipedian. Ruslik (talk) 20:02, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
@Ruslik0:If it were solely used as a symbol on the back cover, to show that the Wikipedian is a Wikimedia community publication? —— Eric Liu（留言．百科用戶頁） 09:42, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
@Ericliu1912: See Trademark policy. --ZabeMath (talk) 17:40, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

New Wikipedia Library Collections Available Now (February 2021)[edit]

Hello Wikimedians!

The TWL owl says sign up today!

The Wikipedia Library is announcing new free, full-access, accounts to reliable sources as part of our research access program. You can sign up to access research materials on the Library Card platform:

  • Taxmann – Taxation and law database
  • PNAS – Official journal of the National Academy of Sciences
  • EBSCO – New Arabic and Spanish language databases added

We have a wide array of other collections available, and a significant number now no longer require individual applications to access! Read more in our blog post.

Do better research and help expand the use of high quality references across Wikipedia projects!

This message was delivered via the Global Mass Message tool to The Wikipedia Library Global Delivery List.

--12:57, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

New Project Proposal - Western Region, Ghana[edit]

Hello, I am announcing a rapid gran proposal about a Hybrid Art and Feminism events in the Western Region of Ghana. Please have a look at my proposal here We seek to extend Wikimedia events and activities to the Western Region of Ghana and we need your support. Thank you in advance. --Fibs Addison (talk) 21:16, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Compensations for Officers[edit]

Hello,

I read the following form 990 of the Wikimedia Foundation [1] and I wondered about the height of the compensation for the Officers of the Wikimedia Foundation and other employees I found on page 49. From my point of view it is not good if a non-profit organization pays that much for a little number of employees. It is bad for the image also I wondered that I havent read one of the compensations in a news paper article and so I dont know how many people no that it is published. From my point of view there should be a limit for compensation for officers and employees. What for a mechanism is used to evaluate the height of the compensation. --Hogü-456 (talk) 19:30, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

While the WMF does have a number of roles that I just don't feel it needs, it's fairly high on a per person basis because of the developers (and testers, database admins etc etc) who draw significant salaries once they've had a couple of years experience. Assuming no major change in the last year, the WMF does pay near the bottom of the range, being an NGO Nosebagbear (talk) 19:59, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
FWIW Wikimedia Foundation salaries has these numbers in a less obscure format. Tgr (talk) 08:15, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
The kinds of jobs are one reason for the compensation. I dont understand why the compensation for the Officers is so high. I think there should be no person at the Wikimedia Foundation who earns more than 200.000 Dollar in a year. I think this is enough for a Officer in a non profit organization in the size of the Wikimedia Foundation. At a non profit organisation there should be a responsible way of using money and from my point of view this means a limit in the Compensation. It is not in the interest of the public and the donors to pay high amounts of money to a few persons. The search for a new CEO at the Wikimedia Foundation offers the Chance to think about that topic and I think there are people who are able and willing to do the job of the CEO for a lower amount of money as at the moment. --Hogü-456 (talk) 20:22, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
If you do some online looking then most CEOs for charities of the scale WMF is now at ($100m/year) generally get compensation far in excess of $300,000/year. I'd much rather have a better CEO than save 0.1% of the annual salary (even cutting everyone to $200k would be only a c. 0.25% saving) Nosebagbear (talk) 21:07, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Call for Feedback: Community-and-Affiliate Board Seats[edit]

Hello! The WMF starts a Call for Feedback about community-and-affiliated seat selection processes, resulting from the recent approval of bylaws amendments. This call for feedback started on Monday Feb 1 and will run until March 14.

Full details at Call for Feedback:Community Board Seats. Discuss on the Talk page for general comments. Translated pages welcome discussions in multiple languages. If you are a user of Telegram, you can receive updates in the announcement Telegram group or join the discussion in this discussion Telegram group.

We are looking for a broad representation of opinions. We welcome conversations in any language and in any channel. If you want us to organize a conversation or a meeting for your wiki project or your affiliate, please contact us. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 15:56, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Please no Google Form or Google Meet or whatever proprietary :) ask us how![edit]

Hello :) Talking with User:Civvi (WMF) (for the Code of Conduct survey) and User:JHernandez (WMF) (for the WikiTech Annual Survey) and User:CKoerner (WMF) (for the Community Wishlist) and here and there, we were reasoning that it would be better if everyone would pay more attention to respect digital freedoms and the privacy of other people. Maybe with this rule of thumb: "in private you do what you want, but in public you give your best!" In short, Google Form and Google Meet are not our friends :D I don't want to repeat myself so here my latest thoughts: Talk:Wikimania 2021/Call for participation#Please no Google Form. Having said that. How can someone contribute to stop this trend as soon as possible and as broadly as possible at least for the Wikimedia Foundation staff? Feel free to include me in whatever discussion and I will do my best to find a good freedom-respectful solution! Thank you for your work! <3 --Valerio Bozzolan (talk) 11:01, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Hey @Valerio Bozzolan (Boz), I just saw your ping here. Since you've posted Greg replied on wm-l with an update on Foundation use of the tools you mention. I encourage you and others reading this to read and engage there if desired. CKoerner (WMF) (talk) 14:43, 18 February 2021 (UTC)
You can't do everything yourself AND get work done. When it comes to WMF and google forms, don't look at the forms. Look at it like 'WMF buys a certified data silo with very capable apps, backups and uptime guarantees from Google at a ridiculously low price'. Taking any component out of that will only increase the overall price for WMF. It's economics. In my opinion, the only way to improve this is to make something better than the big companies can make and turn it into an independent non-profit organization from which the WMF can buy the resource. Because it's not just the software; it is the hosting, the integrations and the knowhow. This by definition is hard as the big companies are well funded and have the customer base to support it and anything else likely will not. It can be done of course WMF itself is such an example in another space, but it was 'first' and here you won't be first. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 10:20, 19 February 2021 (UTC)
I know my position on this is different than many (and at one time nearly all) of the rest of the movement, but I will just say that I applaud the foundation prioritizing security and functionality over FOSS. I'd feel differently if we were ever talking about moving away from mediawiki to something proprietary but outside our core expertise in FOSS (wiki software), I don't know that our mission (advancing the world's knowledge) needs to be advanced by using FOSS. Of course where the evaluation of security/functionality is close between FOSS and propiratary sofware, let's use FOSS but it should, in my opinion, be a secondary rather than primary consideration. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 04:51, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
I think Microsoft Teams is more user friendly, for what it’s worth. TonyBallioni (talk) 02:13, 22 February 2021 (UTC)
@TheDJ and TonyBallioni: I understand that I'm a minority spending lot of time trying to free myself, incidentally creating a Free encyclopedia :^) I don't want to bother anyone with my contributions. @CKoerner (WMF): Thank you. I was very happy to be able to free the Wikimania 2021/Call for volunteers in the last hours. Please, if you see another Google Form, feel free to count on all my support! You are all welcome in this project: Wikimedia Italia/LimeSurvey. --Valerio Bozzolan (talk) 10:37, 22 February 2021 (UTC)
I find Teams and Google Meet both very crash-heavy for those without good internet. Zoom is significantly more tolerant Nosebagbear (talk) 22:46, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Second office hours - Call for Feedback: Community Board seats[edit]

Hi all, I want to announce the second office hours for the Call for Feedback: Community Board seats.

The Call for Feedback about Community Board seats selection processes is happening February 1 and March 14. With the help of a team of community facilitators, we are organizing conversations and gathering feedback. It is not too late to join the conversation! Talk to you all soon! Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 23:05, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

Wikivoyage Mobile App[edit]

I wrote this same article to Wikipedia:Village pump (idea lab) page but I share my ideas one more time to here. Wikivoyage is one of the best projects of Wikimedia. In last days, I'm so concentrated to develop the new opened Turkish Wikivoyage page. And I think, an official mobile app for Wikivoyage is a good idea. It can be perfect for the travelers around the world. The people mostly use their smart phones during traveling. This project will not make much sense if there is no app of WV. UcuncuUlus (talk) 13:25, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Call for Feedback: Community Board seats - Midpoint update[edit]

Hi all, I am writing here to let you know a few things:

  1. The third weekly report is now available for the Call for Feedback: Community Board seats.
  2. This is the middle of the Call for Feedback, which means we are halfway through! If you have not joined the conversation, please do so. The facilitation team does not want to miss hearing your feedback.
  3. For the second half of the Call for Feedback the plan is to promote further discussion around four topics that need disentanglement: regional quotas, candidates' skills, vetting of candidates, and the connection of Board elections with the Global Council and the Regional Hubs.

Do reach out if you have any questions or comments. Best, JKoerner (WMF) (talk) 16:50, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

Where do I request interwiki additions[edit]

Because I want to add wd: to the global interwiki table for Wikidata. --LightningComplexFire (talk · contribs · CA) (enwiki talk · enwiki contribs) 17:14, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

@LightningComplexFire: Is there a reason why you can't use wikidata: (e.g. wikidata:Q1)? --ZabeMath (talk) 17:47, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
@ZabeMath: It would just be nice to add wd: --LightningComplexFire (talk · contribs · CA) (enwiki talk · enwiki contribs) 18:01, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
@LightningComplexFire: Talk:Interwiki map --ZabeMath (talk) 18:07, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
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