Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Updates for editors

• Readers of 42 more wikis can now use Dark Mode. If the option is not yet available for logged-out users of your wiki, this is likely because many templates do not yet display well in Dark Mode. Please use the night-mode-checker tool if you are interested in helping to reduce the number of issues. The recommendations page provides guidance on this. Dark Mode is enabled on additional wikis once per month.
• Editors using the 2010 wikitext editor as their default can access features from the 2017 wikitext editor by adding ?veaction=editsource to the URL. If you would like to enable the 2017 wikitext editor as your default, it can be set in your preferences. [1]
• For logged-out readers using the Vector 2022 skin, the “donate” link has been moved from a collapsible menu next to the content area into a more prominent top menu, next to “Create an account”. This restores the link to the level of prominence it had in the Vector 2010 skin. Learn more about the changes related to donor experiences. [2]
• The CampaignEvents extension provides tools for organizers to more easily manage events, communicate with participants, and promote their events on the wikis. The extension has been enabled on Arabic Wikipedia, Igbo Wikipedia, Swahili Wikipedia, and Meta-Wiki. Chinese Wikipedia has decided to enable the extension, and discussions on the extension are in progress on Spanish Wikipedia and on Wikidata. To learn how to enable the extension on your wiki, you can visit the CampaignEvents page on Meta-Wiki.
• View all 22 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week.

Updates for technical contributors

• Developers with an account on Wikitech-wiki should check if any action is required for their accounts. The wiki is being changed to use the single-user-login (SUL) system, and other configuration changes. This change will help reduce the overall complexity for the weekly software updates across all our wikis.

In depth

• The server switch was completed successfully last week with a read-only time of only 2 minutes 46 seconds. This periodic process makes sure that engineers can switch data centers and keep all of the wikis available for readers, even if there are major technical issues. It also gives engineers a chance to do maintenance and upgrades on systems that normally run 24 hours a day, and often helps to reveal weaknesses in the infrastructure. The process involves dozens of software services and hundreds of hardware servers, and requires multiple teams working together. Work over the past few years has reduced the time from 17 minutes down to 2–3 minutes. [3]

Meetings and events

• October 4–6: WikiIndaba Conference’s Hackathon in Johannesburg, South Africa
• November 4–6: MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference Fall 2024 in Vienna, Austria

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

The WikiForHumanRights campaign in Imo State had a comprehensive training program designed to empower participants with the skills to contribute to Wikipedia, WikiVoyage, Wikidata, and Wiki Commons. Focusing on the theme: Sustainable agriculture, environmental sustainability, clean water and waste management, and environmental protection.The campaign included four training sessions, which took place from July 6th to August 11th 2024. These sessions equipt participants with the skills of editing and contributing to Wikimedia projects, particularly in areas related to the W4HR campaign theme.

Training Sessions

The first training was on Editing Wikivoyage which was held on the 6th of July. Lucy Iwuala facilitated the training session at Pinewood Hotel, Owerri, where participants learned the basics of editing Wikivoyage. This session focused on the fundamentals of Wikivoyage editing, including how to create, edit, and share travel information. As such empowering participants to provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on destinations worldwide, including: attractions, activities, accommodations, restaurants, transportation, cultural insights, and other vital information.

On July 13th Chibuike Alphonsus led the second training session via Zoom, focusing on Wikidata; adding items to Wikidata. Participants learned how to create and edit Wikidata items. Thus, adding necessary properties.

The third training was on Improving articles on Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Protection and it took place on the 5th of August. Hence, the training emphasized the importance of improving articles related to sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. Participants learned how to identify and improve articles within these themes, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and relevance.

At the mid of the campaign it became important to highlight the significance of working within the scope and theme of the campaign. Participants were physically engaged to effectively continue making their contributions on the selected wiki projects, ensuring their contributions align with the campaign’s objectives. The final training was facilitated by Emmanuel Obiajulu and Chibuike Alphonsus on the 11th of August.

Conclusion

The WikiForHumanRights Campaign in Imo State demonstrated the power of collaborative learning and the importance of contributing to Wikimedia projects. By empowering participants with the skills to edit and contribute. Thus, working together to create a more inclusive and comprehensive Wikipedia environment, and also promoting the visibility of human rights and social justice articles on Wikipedia.

The Wiki-Green Conference stands out as a key platform for addressing issues relating to the triple planetary crises and other environmental challenges that affect environmental and human health, especially in the context of Ghana. Now in its fourth year, this yearly event, organized by the Wiki Green Initiative, continues to highlight the relationship between environmental sustainability and the open digital world, with focus on Wikipedia and its sister projects as avenues of awareness and sensitization.

A Convergence of Minds: Academics, Researchers, and Practitioners

Academics, researchers, practitioners and Wikipedians who are enthusiastic about the intersection of environmental issues and open digital world come together at the Wiki-Green Conference, engaging in  variety of talks, workshops, and sessions aimed at igniting conversation and producing useful insights on environmental sustainability and green economy.

Researches on the environmental effects of climate change that are unique to Ghana are presented by experts, providing a nuanced understanding of regional issues and potential solutions. Workshops center on the efficient use of open-source digital projects to address and document these problems. Experts in the field as well discuss how they are using technology to promote environmental causes and solving challenges, offering real-world examples of how digital tools can be used to project green citizenship.

The Intersection of Climate Change and Digital Innovation

The Wiki-Green Conference has always recognized the power of the digital world in shaping public discourse and mobilizing action. Over the past three years, the conference has focused on how open digital platforms, particularly Wikimedia projects, can be harnessed to raise awareness about climate change and pollution.

This year, the spotlight will be on how these platforms can further be utilized to project green citizenship. Participants will explore how digital tools and open knowledge repositories can serve as powerful vehicles for spreading information, encouraging green practices, and fostering a sense of global environmental responsibility. From Wikipedia articles to collaborative projects on Wikimedia Commons, these resources offer a way to democratize information and empower individuals to contribute to environmental solutions.

Theme for 2024: Projecting Green Citizenship

This year’s theme, “Projecting Green Citizenship,” delves into the concept of environmentally-conscious citizenship and its implications for individuals and communities. The conference aims to foster a deeper understanding of how each person’s actions and attitudes towards the environment can influence broader societal changes.

The notion of green citizenship transcends mere participation in recycling programs or reducing personal carbon footprints. It encompasses a proactive engagement in advocating for policies, educating others, and leveraging digital tools to drive collective action. At the core of this theme is the belief that a strong sense of environmental responsibility can lead to meaningful, sustainable change.

Preconference Activities for 2024 edition

Prior to the conference proper, series activities took place to provide justification for the issues that were to be discussed at the conference. A community outreach in two different region to fully understand the environmental challenges these communities face. During the outreach, interviews were conducted and various stakeholders were engaged. The volunteers together with the Wiki Green Initiative team sought to understand how language barrier impacted climate and environmental information dissemination. It was clear that citizens preferred being educated on environment in their native language.

Conference Activities

The 2024 edition was slated for 4^th August, 2004 at the CSIR-Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) in Accra, Ghana. Mr. Stephen Dakyi, a Wikipedian and a co-founder of the Wiki Green Initiative, opened the conference with an intriguing speech that emphasized equality in the accessibility of climate information. He went on to say that even though English is not spoken in the majority of the communities impacted by climate change in Ghana, discussions and literature on the subject are almost entirely in English.

The conference included a range of sessions, including panel discussions on issues like grassroots efforts for green development and the relationship between digital technology and environmental sustainability. The Wiki Green Team presented case studies from their community engagement projects from the communities they had visited in the Greater Accra Region and the Eastern Region.

In a practical workshop session, Mr. Otuo-Akyampong Boakye, a cofounder of the Wiki Green Initiative took participants through how they can access articles on climate change on Wikipedia and how they can add audio translation. He also shared steps for community entry for environmental projects.

To end the conference, Mr. Maxwell Beganim, shared a closing remark on the role of young people in the fight against environmental degradation. He charged the youth to action and inspired them to be green citizens

Post Conference Activities

Though the conference has ended other activities are still ongoing. Volunteers continue to translate articles into local languages and are still engaging communities to identify environmental challenges. The team is also loading photos from the conference and other materials on open platforms like Commons so others may have access to them.

Looking Ahead: A Call to Action

Attendees left with a renewed sense of purpose and practical strategies for integrating green citizenship into their daily lives and digital practices. The conference continues to build on its tradition of bridging knowledge gaps and fostering collaborations, ultimately contributing to a more informed and proactive global community.

In sum, Wiki-Green Conference 2024 promises was an enlightening and empowering event, offering valuable insights and fostering a collective commitment to a greener future. As we look forward to this year’s event, one thing is clear: projecting green citizenship is not just an aspiration but a necessary step towards ensuring a sustainable world for generations to come.

For further reading on the event:

“Women shouldn’t be afraid to put themselves forward.” – Sarah Wood

As we launch the 5th edition of the SheSaid campaign, Sarah Wood’s powerful words remind us of our mission: to amplify women’s voices and ensure they are seen, heard, and remembered.

That’s why the #SheSaid campaign exists—to highlight and celebrate the voices of women, making sure their words are given the recognition they deserve.

SheSaid has been closing the gender visibility gaps through the passionate efforts of our Wikimedia communities worldwide.  We have added thousands of quotes from women in multiple languages, significantly enriching Wikiquote’s collection. Together, we have made a remarkable impact. The 2023 SheSaid campaign added over 5,555 new and 1,786 improved articles. We’re making incredible progress, but there’s still much work ahead.. 

From September 1st to December 31st, 2024, we invite all Wikimedia communities and gender activists to join us in this collaborative effort to bring women’s words to the forefront.

What’s New in 2024?

We are back with new features and resources to make SheSaid 2024 our most impactful edition yet:

• New Communication Visuals and Resources: To support community participation, the Wiki Loves Women team has developed updated visuals, social media templates, and promotional materials. These tools will help you spread the word and invite others to join this important cause. Check out our resources on the SheSaid Commons category.
• Focus on Quality and Representation: SheSaid is not only about adding more quotes but also enhancing the quality of content on Wikiquote. This year, we encourage participants to verify, improve, and provide context for women’s quotes, ensuring that these entries are accurate, impactful, and well-represented.
• Expanding Language Communities: We’re always excited to welcome new language groups like Fante and Dutch! bThe total currently includes 20 participating languages, including  Arabic, Italian, Gungbe, Catalan, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, English, Bengali, Igbo, Central Bikol, Tagalog, German, Slovene, Swahili, Serbian, Telugu and Assamese. 
• Interactive Guides and Toolkits: Need help getting started? Our updated #SheSaid Tools and Resources page includes everything from how-to guides on adding quotes to tips for tracking results. We’re here to support your journey every step of the way. Please visit this page for more information about trainings and queries

You don’t know the #SheSaid Campaign?

#SheSaid is an annual campaign dedicated to addressing the gender imbalance on Wikiquote by highlighting quotes from notable women. Launched in 2020 by the Wiki Loves Women initiative from Wiki In Africa, the drive has been a collaborative effort by communities across the Wikimedia movement that ensures that women’s voices are represented online, especially in Wikimedia spaces. From leaders and innovators to artists, #SheSaid celebrates and preserves the words of women who have shaped our world.

SheSaid was created to close the online gaps related to the representation of women (and those identifying as women), especially those from currently and historically marginalised groups. Everyone is encouraged to participate and focus their efforts on featuring the women who inspire them.

How to Get Involved?

Getting involved with the SheSaid campaign is easy. Start by visiting the campaign’s meta page for information and updates, then head to Wikiquote and start adding quotes. Everyone is welcome to join the effort, regardless of gender, age, mother language, nationality. 

Emphatically, all genders are very welcome. Individual participation is welcome. Groups are welcome as well.

Don’t forget to follow us on social media:

• Website: www.wikiloveswomen.org
• Twitter: @Wikiloveswomen
• Instagram: @WikiLovesWomen
• Facebook Page: @WikiLovesWomen
• Facebook Group: Mind The Gender Gap
• Telegram Group: WikiGenderGap

#SheSaid… Give her a voice!

In April 2024, while reviewing some articles about relevant Bolivian women, the team at Wikimedistas de Bolivia noticed an information gap on Wikipedia about one of the country’s most important fashion designers, Daisy Wende. Once the article was created by a volunteer, we reached the Wende family to ask them for a picture that could illustrate the recently created page. After we expressed our intention to the family, our joy was immense when we received an invitation to digitize not just a picture of this great designer, who celebrated her 95th birthday this year, but also a vast amount of pictures from her professional career and images that tell the political and cultural history of Bolivia during the second half of the 20th century.

That is how we created a first sample of about 80 pictures from Wende’s archive, which helped us illustrate the article about the designer, and improve many other articles about Bolivia with images of politicians, local celebrities from Bolivian cultural circles, and pictures relating to the camelid wool and textile industry in Bolivia, depicting its past and present impact on the country’s economy, as Daisy Wende is one of the pioneers who popularized alpaca fibers outside Bolivia. Thanks to this, an effort by the team at Wikimedistas de Bolivia, family archives that may desire to release relevant documents were contacted, and there’s currently a category on Wikimedia Commons listing all the pictures donated by Daisy Wende and her family, which we strongly recommend. 

Below, you’ll find some digitized images that were released into free knowledge domain. These are very important to illustrating the history of Bolivia on Wikimedia projects. We look forward to continuing the digitization of the Daisy Wende archive, as well as other private collections that could join the Wikimedia ecosystem sharing their archival treasures with the free knowledge realm in Bolivia.

Luckily, I speak Leet.

– Amita Ramanujan, Numb3rs, CBS’s IRC Drama

There’s an episode of the CBS prime-time drama Numb3rs that plumbs the depths of Dr. Joel Fleischman’s¹ knowledge of IRC. In one scene, Fleischman wonders, “What’s ‘leet’”?

“Leet” is writing that replaces letters with numbers, e.g., “Numb3rs,” where 3 stands in for e.

In short, leet is like the heavy-metal “S” you drew in middle school: Sweeeeet.

 / \
/ | \
| | |
 \ \ 
| | |
\ | /
 \ /

ASCII art version of your misspent youth.

Following years of keen observation, I’ve noticed Git commit hashes are also letters and numbers.

Git commit hashes are, as Fleischman might say, prime targets for l33tification.

What can I spell with a git commit?

With hexidecimal we can spell any word containing the set of letters {A, B, C, D, E, F}—DEADBEEF (a classic) or ABBABABE (for Mama Mia aficionados).

This is because hexidecimal is a base-16 numbering system—a single “digit” represents 16 numbers:

Base-10: 0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 16 15
Base-16: 0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  A  B  C  D  E  F

Leet expands our palette of words—using 0, 1, and 5 to represent O, I, and S, respectively.

I created a script that scours a few word lists for valid words and phrases.

With it, I found masterpieces like DADB0D (dad bod), BADA55 (bad ass), and 5ADBAB1E5 (sad babies).

$ mkdir /tmp/BADA55-git && cd /tmp/BAD55-git
$ git init
Initialized empty Git repository in /tmp/BADA55-git/.git/
$ echo '# BADA55 git repo' > README.md && git add README.md && git commit -m 'Initial commit'
[main (root-commit) 68ec0dd] Initial commit
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
  create mode 100644 README.md
$ git log --oneline
68ec0dd (HEAD -> main) Initial commit

$ git cat-file -p 68ec0dd > commit-msg
$ sha1sum <(cat \
    <(printf "commit ") \
    <(wc -c < commit-msg | tr -d '\n') \
    <(printf '%b' '\0') commit-msg)
68ec0dd6dead532f18082b72beeb73bd828ee8fc  /dev/fd/63

$ truncate -s -1 commit-msg    # remove final newline
$ printf '\t\n' >> commit-msg  # Add a tab
$ # Check the new SHA to see if it's BADA55
$ sha1sum <(cat \
    <(printf "commit ") \
    <(wc -c < commit-msg | tr -d '\n') \
    <(printf '%b' '\0') commit-msg)
27b22ba5e1c837a34329891c15408208a944aa24  /dev/fd/63

$ time lucky_commit BADA555

real    0m0.091s
user    0m0.653s
sys     0m0.007s
$ git log --oneline
bada555 (HEAD -> main) Initial commit
$ xxd -c1 <(git cat-file -p 68ec0dd) | grep -cPo ': (20|09)'
12
$ xxd -c1 <(git cat-file -p HEAD) | grep -cPo ': (20|09)'
111

$ cat > .git/hooks/post-commit && chmod +x .git/hooks/post-commit
#!/usr/bin/env bash

echo 'L337-ifying!'
lucky_commit BADA55
$ echo 'A repo that is very l33t.' >> README.md && git commit -a -m 'l33t'
L337-ifying!
[main 0e00cb2] l33t
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
$ git log --oneline
bada552 (HEAD -> main) l33t
bada555 Initial commit

19/09/2024-25/09/2024

Mapping campaigns

• The Trufi Association reported about their project to fully map the Zamora (Mexico) public transport system
  in collaboration with Codeando México and with the support of HOT. They observed that the project revealed fewer routes and vehicles than expected, leading to better informed urban mobility planning.
• Yulia Fedorova presented ► the Missing Maps project, in collaboration with HOT, along with a mini-guide on how to join in with volunteer mapping. Tools such as the Tasking Manager were also presented.

Community

• Ezra Edwards blogged about the first mapathon in Pakistan. The collaborative event took place in Islamabad, Karachi, and online.
• Jennifer made an embroidered OpenStreetMap logo using the InkStitch plugin for Inkscape, an open-source machine embroidery design platform.
• Kajord spent 11 nights backpacking in Glacier National Park (U.S.A.) and mapped the area around the Hole-in-the-Wall Camp.
• CycleStreets has proposed a complete overhaul of the Bicycle page on the OSM wiki. The work is already underway, with several gaps being addressed, and feedback via the OSM Community forum is welcome.

Imports

• Tallcoleman shared some lessons learned from the completion of the Toronto public toilet import project.

Events

• Jennifer shared ► a report from FOSSGIS e.V. and the local OSM group’s participation in the 22nd Kiel Open Source and Linux Days. They presented a talk titled ‘20 Years of OpenStreetMap‘ and managed the OSM stand, which featured tactile maps, maps with surveillance cameras, and a game where visitors could complete a map of Kiel that had been stripped of its labels.
• The IVIDES.org hosted a seminar in support of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, with the participation of scientists who acted during the critical phase of the disaster (we reported earlier). Special keynotes included a systems approach to environmental planning, collaborative mapping, free software and open data in disaster risk reduction, and critical geography. Raquel Dezidério commented ► about the event in her diary.

OSM research

• Bobby Xiong et al. modelled the European high-voltage grid based on OpenStreetMap data.
• HeiGIT reported that they have conducted a data quality assessment of open source data (including OSM) using their ohsome quality API. They analyzed aspects such as currentness, completeness, comparison with external datasets, and the activity of OSM contributors. The results of the analysis were to support the efforts of the World Bank to develop an analytical tool, the Gender Enabling Environments Spatial Tool, designed to assess localities based on how supportive they are in enabling women to access employment or business opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

OSM in action

• Jordi Gauchía has developed IceNav, an ESP32-based satellite navigator device using OSM offline maps.
• The Ostsee-Zeitung newspaper has utilised ► an OpenStreetMap-based map to display the locations of flea markets in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
• Transitous is a community-run, provider-neutral international public transport routing service. It uses the MOTIS routing engine, which utilises the OpenStreetMap basemap. You can check out the live demo at MOTIS.
• Jiří Eischmann observed ► that Czech state organisations extensively used OpenStreetMap to assist with the recent flood disaster, including for flood services, radar maps, and flood risk maps.
• Auto Motor und Sport is a German automotive publication that focuses on delivering news, reviews, and insights into the automotive industry. In one of their articles, they used ► an OSM-based map as an illustration.
• The volunteer project Companionaid, for women’s safety, has launched a map of (un)safe places in Russian cities, from which women can collect information about dangerous places in cities. An OSM-based map is used as the background.

Licenses

• The Fédé des pros d’OSM (OSM Pros’ Federation) announced the publication of their practical guide Tout Savoir
  Sur La Licence ODbL (All about ODbL Licensing).

Software

• Rudo Kemper has created a webpage to convert Google Maps GeoJSON data into GPX and KMZ files, allowing them to render properly in Organic Maps.

Releases

• Sarah Hoffmann announced the release of version 4 of pyosmium, a Python wrapper for the Osmium C++ library, used for reading, writing, and processing OSM data. This major update includes several new features, such as iterative processing, filter functions, and an OSM data writer with automatic reference completion.
• Eugene Kizevich announced the release of OsmAnd Web Version 1.01. You can explore the latest version directly at OsmAnd Map.
• osm2pgsql version 2.0.0 has been released.

Did you know …

• … that you can geolocate an image by comparing the height of an object with the length of its shadow?
• …that there is an in-depth course on validating OSM data on the UN Maps Learning Hub? It has been available since the beginning of the year and was used for a 20-hour training course organised over several weeks, followed by weeks in which participants applied their new knowledge. To access it, you will need to create an account on the Moodle platform used by the UN Maps Learning Hub.

OSM in the media

• [1] Diario Norte, a online news outlet based in Argentina, reported ► that Federico Pértile mapped 629 trees (while also identifying the species of each one), 324 streetlights, 268 benches, and 74 trash bins around the Plaza 25 de Mayo de 1810 in Resistencia City, Argentina, on OpenStreetMap and then shared a 3D map visualisation of the area.
• OpenStreetMap data powered The Washington Post’s story about the size and territory of supermarket chains in the US.

Other “geo” things

• Julia Fritzsche has directed a documentary The Answer to Almost Everything: How Powerful Are Maps? It discusses the political aspects of map-making, from a historical perspective to some practices that still exist today.
• Matthew Daniels has collected all the outdoor basketball courts in the United States based on OpenStreetMap and Google satellite imagery. The site also has the option to leave comments and likes on these courts and group them by colour.
• Michael Tandy explained the complexity of address data in ‘Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Addresses’, their 2013 classic on the subject.
• Wildfires in Peru have reached critical levels, severely affecting ► the flora and fauna in various regions of the country. In response, CONIDA, the Peruvian space agency, has intensified its satellite monitoring ►, providing authorities with accurate and timely data. This information is crucial for making quick and effective decisions based on the scale of the disaster.
• The Tokyo Cartographic Co., Ltd and MIERUNE Ltd have released ► ‘Mamore! Saigai Boueitai’ (守れ！サイガイ防衛隊 / Protect! Disaster Defense Squad), a map-themed educational game about disaster prevention.

Upcoming Events

Where	What	Online	When	Country
Marpingen	Craft Mapping an der “Marpinger Grenzstein-Tour”		2024-09-29
Defence Colony Tehsil	12th OSM Delhi Mapping Party		2024-09-29
City of Edinburgh	Geomob Edinburgh		2024-10-01
Salzburg	OSM Treffen Salzburg		2024-10-01
San Jose	South Bay Map Night	✓	2024-10-02
	Missing Maps London: (Online) Mapathon [eng]		2024-10-01
Stuttgart	Stuttgarter OpenStreetMap-Treffen		2024-10-02
Essen	FOSSGIS-OSM-Communitytreffen Nr. 22		2024-10-03 – 2024-10-06
Montrouge	Réunion des contributeurs de Montrouge et du Sud de Paris		2024-10-03
Pontarlier	Cartographie collaborative pour tous		2024-10-05
Chanakya Puri Tehsil	OSM India casual online mapathon		2024-10-06
London	London pub meet-up		2024-10-07
中正區	OpenStreetMap x Wikidata Taipei #69		2024-10-07
München	Münchner OSM-Treffen		2024-10-08
Ifẹ̀	State of the Map Nigeria 2024		2024-10-09 – 2024-10-11
Lorain County	OpenStreetMap Midwest Meetup	✓	2024-10-10
Bochum	Bochumer OSM Treffen		2024-10-10
	OSMF Engineering Working Group meeting		2024-10-11

Note:
If you like to see your event here, please put it into the OSM calendar. Only data which is there, will appear in weeklyOSM.

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We welcome link suggestions for the next issue via this form and look forward to your contributions.

Sep 28, 22:43 UTC
Resolved - This incident has been resolved.

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Sep 28, 20:58 UTC
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The WikiWomen Summit at Wikimania 2024 was the second landmark event dedicated to promoting and advancing gender equity within the Wikimedia movement. Taking place as part of the global Wikimania conference, the Summit served as a platform for women and their allies to come together, share experiences, and collaborate on actionable strategies aimed at increasing the participation of women in Wikimedia projects. It also addressed the challenges and systemic barriers that continue to limit their involvement. By fostering a vibrant community of women and gender-diverse contributors, the event sought to amplify their voices in the Wikimedia space and beyond.

The Summit included a series of panels, workshops, and networking sessions, focusing on topics such as:

• Strategies for increasing women’s representation and participation in Wikimedia projects
• Overcoming gender bias in content and community governance
• Building stronger networks for women and gender-diverse contributors
• Showcasing the impact of women-led initiatives and affiliates in advancing equity

Participants had the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations about how to collectively support women in Wikimedia spaces and beyond. The event concluded with a call to action for continued advocacy, collaboration, and capacity-building efforts to achieve a more inclusive Wikimedia movement.

The Summit’s colour theme was blue, symbolizing trust, wisdom, and stability—qualities essential to building a strong, inclusive, and collaborative movement. Blue also reflects the depth and vast potential of women’s contributions to Wikimedia.

A major highlight of the Summit was the call to action issued by the co-founders of the WikiWomen Summit, Vanj Padilla and Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight. In their closing remarks, they emphasized the need for continued advocacy, collaboration, and capacity-building efforts. A key part of this call to action was the suggestion that the WikiWomen Summit could be held at any geographic Wikimedia conference in the future, functioning as a cost-effective lunchtime event. This idea would allow the Summit to remain a recurring fixture at Wikimedia events around the world, with each iteration uniquely tailored to its location and participants. The proposal includes planning support, facilitated through a Telegram group, to ensure that each WikiWomen Summit is well-organized and impactful.

Another key highlight was the Declaration of the WikiWomen Camp 2023, which was supported by participants during an interactive session using Aha Slides, receiving an average support rating of 4.2. The declaration outlines commitments to advancing gender equity and enhancing the presence of women in the Wikimedia movement. You can read the full declaration here

This Summit served as an essential platform for promoting gender equity and ensuring that women’s voices remain central to the future of Wikimedia. In addition, there was an intention to organize and support smaller WikiWomen Summits at future Wikimedia events, ensuring continued collaboration and engagement on gender equity issues. The next WikiWomen Summit is planned for Wikimania 2025 in Kenya, where the momentum from this year’s Summit will continue to grow.

Call for Task Force Members

The Summit also highlighted the ongoing call for members of the WikiWomen Task Force, a new initiative aimed at building a strategic framework to support women in Wikimedia. The Task Force will focus on key areas such as community engagement, capacity building, and addressing systemic barriers within the movement.

As the summit concluded, it was clear that the event has become an essential platform for advocacy, collaboration, and capacity-building with efforts to achieve a more inclusive Wikimedia movement. The discussions and initiatives that emerged from the Wiki Women Summit at Wikimania 2024 are expected to have a lasting impact, helping to create a more inclusive and equitable Wikimedia movement for all.

Those interested in contributing to this work in the movement, nominated themselves or others by 15 September 2024. Learn more about the Task Force here and nominations here. You can also share your experience as a woman working in our movement, by taking the Engagement Survey here.

For more updates and to stay connected, join the WikiWomen Collective on Telegram.

You can watch the WikiWomen Summit proceedings at Wikimania at the following links:

• Day 1: Full session program
• Map Up, Rise Up: Outcomes from the WikiWomen Camp: Main programme session

Hello, I’m Adriano from Brazil and it’s great to be here on Diff, which, by the way, I’m an avid reader of. My Wiki journey began in 2013, when I started my undergraduate studies in Computer Science. What at the time was just an occasional query turned into something much bigger: my participation in Wikimania 2024.

I obviously already used Wiki a lot, but this was limited to reading the Review Scores infoboxes of my favorite albums. Until there came the day where I tried to edit a photo caption, but it was promptly rejected.

Just like memes on social media, at Wikimania I learned that no experience is individual in nature. In a conversation that took place during a side event, it was clear to me that many editors, especially Portuguese-speaking ones, shared frustrations like my own at the beginning of their journey.

The participants’ different perspectives — and, why not say it, their frustrations also — are some of the most fascinating aspects of Wikimania. Each presentation seemed to bring with it an almost imperative feeling to speak up, comment and share.

I was selected to participate in Wikimania on a full scholarship. I received the good news in March 2024, after submitting my first time application in December. When my scholarship was confirmed, it was surreal. Although everyone around me was extremely happy for me, I still couldn’t believe my good fortune.

The idea of ​​participating in the largest Wikipedia event in the world seemed unreal (in fact, I still think of it as a side event in my life). I should mention that this was my first ever trip abroad.

I was advised to choose the activities I wanted to participate in before the beginning of the event (including  this Diff article) so as not to get lost among the many available options. I chose technology and higher education with Wikimedia tools related activities, because during the last year I developed a MOOC on Introduction to Audioligy on Wikiversity as a Wikimedian in Residence. This project was the result of a collaboration between the Bauru School of Dentistry and Wiki Movimento Brasil, with support from FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation).

As far as technology goes, I participated in a hackathon where I learned how to create a simple robot in Python (and, to my surprise, it was really simple). In terms of higher education, I attended the talk “Student engagement with openness”, which presented the experience of a Wikimedian in Residence at the University of Edinburgh.

As someone on a full scholarship, I had to select four hours of any day of the event to help with the organization. I must confess that I was a little apprehensive at first, but I agreed to be a Room Manager.

It was a bit of a challenge trying to balance the scheduled time for everyone who was presenting without interrupting the talks. However, as with most Wiki activities, things tend to self-organize very well. Choosing the role of Room Manager ended up being the right decision because, in addition to being stress free, it provided me with the opportunity to talk to a lot of people.

Besides the event itself, perhaps the most enriching aspect of Wikimania was being able to talk to so many people. I made friends with people from Portugal, met an Armenian (and I now know the difference between Western and Eastern Armenian languages), and met those who work at the Czech Republic Wiki Movement. I do regret not having taken a photo with a Norwegian friend.

There were many opportunities to interact, especially during side events and tours, such as the tour that included visits to the Symfonia Science and Musical Education Center, the University of Silesia and the city center, among other places.

So, I think what will always stay with me when I look back on Wikimania 2024 will be the interactions I had with other Wikimedians. Friendships made and cultural exchanges were as important to me as the technical and pedagogical discussions. I took in these experiences not only to improve as an editor but also who I am in a global community.

Bring on Wikimania 2025!

Here is a quick overview of highlights from the Wikimedia Foundation over the second half of September 2024. Previous editions of this bulletin are on Meta. Let askcac@wikimedia.org know if you have any feedback or suggestions for improvement!

Upcoming and current events and conversations

 Talking: 2024 continues

• “Wikimania Katowice coverage travels around the world” – a curated list of community and media coverage of Wikimania 2024. Over 100 pieces so far have been published about the event.
• WikiForHumanRights will lead a conversation about the future of the campaign with the Africa region on September 25 at 15:00 UTC.
• Let’s Connect: “Technology for Language Diversity in Wikimedia” will take place on September 26 at 15:00 UTC.
• Wikisource Conference 2025, the deadline for scholarship applications  has been extended to September 29.
• Big Fat Brussels Meeting 9 will be held in Brussels, Belgium from September 29–30.
• WikiConference North America will be held in Indianapolis, USA from October 3–6.
• WikiIndaba Conference 2024 will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from October 4–6.
• Wikimedia Technology Summit (WTS 2024): will be held in Hyderabad, India from October 4–5.
• ESEAP Community Call will be held on October 6 at 07:00 UTC.
• Wikimedia+Libraries International Convention 2025 is accepting submissions until October 6.
• The Language and Product Localisation team is hosting two office hours to discuss this year’s plans and gather feedback from event organizers. The first session is October 5 at 16:00 UTC (Europe-Africa-Americas friendly), and the second is on October 6 at 03:00 UTC (Asia-Pacific friendly).

Annual Goals Progress on Infrastructure 

See also newsletters: Wikimedia Apps · Growth · Research · Web · Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia · Tech News · Language and Internationalization · other newsletters on Mediawiki.org

• MediaWiki Product Insights: The latest edition includes details about: research about hook handlers to help simplify development, research about performance improvements, work to improve the REST API for end-users, and more.
• Tech News: Find out about the new automated Special:NamespaceInfo page, the latest Wishlist focus area, Template recall and discovery, and more recent tech updates.
• Wikidata Query Service: A new change to Wikidata Query Service will impact certain uses. The project will enter a transition period until the end of February 2025. For more details, visit the announcement page.
• Wikimedia Enterprise: Enhanced Free API Accounts: Recurring Credits and More Frequent Updates, early beta release of Structured Contents in Snapshot API, and early beta dataset release to Hugging Face.
• Wikifunctions: Status updates from September 20.
• Wikipedia Mobile Apps: Over 20,000 images have been added via the “Add an Image” feature on both iOS and Android (T372954)!
• Knowledge is Human: Read about ongoing work on the 2024 iteration of the “Knowledge is Human” public awareness campaign
• Server Switch: A server switch was completed successfully on September 25 with a read-only time of only 2 minutes 45 seconds.

Annual Goals Progress on Equity 

See also a list of all movement events: on Meta

• Wikimedia Research Showcase: Watch the latest showcase with the theme of Curation of Wikimedia AI Datasets.
• Conference and Event Fund: Updates and changes to the Conference and Event Fund program beginning in September 2024.

Annual Goals Progress on Safety & Integrity 

See also blogs: Global Advocacy blog · Global Advocacy Newsletter · Policy blog

• UN Summit of the Future Action Days: Watch the Wikimedia event titled “The Power of the Commons: Digital Public Goods for a more secure, inclusive, and resilient world” at The Summit of the Future. This is expected to result in a negotiated Global Digital Compact, which represents the final phase of our movement-wide campaign to impact the text of the Global Digital Compact.
• Wikipedia and the Digital Services Act: Lessons on the strength of community and the future of internet regulation.

Foundation statements

• Ahead of UN General Assembly, Wikimedia Foundation calls on governments to ensure the future internet is shaped by communities for the public interest.

Other Movement curated newsletters & news 

See also: Diff blog · Goings-on · Wikimedia World · Signpost (en) · Kurier (de) · other newsletters:

• Topics: Education · GLAM · The Wikipedia Library
• Wikimedia Projects: Milestones · Wikidata
• Regions: Central and Eastern Europe

Subscribe or unsubscribe to the Bulletin

An annual international gathering of Wikimedians from Africa and the diaspora, Wiki Indaba aims to bring together contributors and supporters of Wikimedia projects on the continent to promote free knowledge and the sharing of African content on these platforms. 

The 10th edition of Wiki Indaba themed “!ke e: /xarra //ke,” which means “United in diversity,” will be held from October 4th to 6th, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the second time. In June 2014, Wikimedia ZA organized the conference for the very first time, and will also host this edition; which will also be a celebration of the 10 years of Wiki Indaba since its inception.

In October 2023, in Agadir (Morocco), at the 9th edition of Wiki Indaba Wiki Indaba 2023, Wikimedia South Africa received the torch for the organization of this year’s conference. From this point on, planning for Wiki Indaba in Johannesburg began, integrating various aspects to ensure the event’s success.

Planning

In December 2023, a pre-survey was launched to gather opinions and suggestions from African Wikimedians. The aim was to ensure that the convention responded to their interests, experiences and expectations. The survey gave them the opportunity to express their perspectives, preferences and aspirations of what they wanted the 2024 conference to address.

Designed to cover a wide range of topics, the responses collected helped to shape the conference program, tailor discussions to the most relevant issues, and create an environment conducive to maximizing engagement and experiences that best meets the needs of the African Communities.

Resources

The financial resources for Wiki Indaba in Johannesburg are the result of a collaborative effort involving various contributors and organizations, with the Wikimedia Foundation at the forefront. The organizing team benefits from the support of local and international volunteers.

Scholarship selection

Since July 21, 2024, the results of the scholarship applications were sent to each successful applicant. Subsequently, all the documents required to apply for a visa were provided to those needing one for their trip. 

The selection of participants for Wiki Indaba 2024 in Johannesburg was based on their experience and significant contributions to the African Wikimedia community. The scholarship committee took into account various criteria, such as history of contributions on Wikimedia platforms, frequency and quality of content added, as well as involvement in community initiatives. This approach enabled the team to select contributors who have demonstrated commitment and real investment in enriching online knowledge. Experience, both in writing content and in collaborating with other members of the community, was also a key factor. The committee ensured a diverse cohort, including seasoned and less experienced contributors, to encourage diverse exchanges and mentoring within the community. By emphasizing experience and contribution, Wiki Indaba 2024 reinforces its commitment to the continuous improvement and development of the African Wikimedia community.

Inclusive initiatives

Internally, the core organizing team (COT) is actively working to make the event more inclusive. To this end, micro-financing will be made available to communities to enable those who wish to organize an activity in connection with Wiki Indaba to do so. In addition, the communication team with the creative support of user Queen_Asali, designed a mascot ZA, our smart, sharp and bold South African newbie who will be our Wiki Indaba mascot-in-residence for this year’s Indaba. ZA   embodies the spirit of ubuntu, and will be a great resource for the participants. She will be available 24/7 ready to help you and answer all your questions related to Wiki Indaba 2024. Be sure to have great conversations with her.

Program Preparation

The 2024 Wiki Indaba program is now live on Meta. During the call for submissions, a call for papers was launched, and the programs team took time to keenly review each submission to ensure that they met the needs of the participants. The conference will be packed with a diverse range of program formats including panels, feedback, conferences, lightning talks, training courses and workshops, among other activities. 

The speakers are well-prepared to deliver enriching and engaging discussions designed to enhance skills, share knowledge, and foster innovation on topics such as African languages on Wikipedia and capacity building for local communities. Wiki Indaba 2024 will be a hybrid event that will provide networking opportunities, allowing participants (both in-person and online) to connect with peers, experts, and community leaders during dedicated networking sessions that are tailored to drive the Afrika Agenda and contribution to the Wikimedia movement.

This is our second blog to showcase the Hindi Wikimedians User Group’s most recent achievement and results through our activities focussed on Engaging, Encouraging and Empowering both the current and future community members to boost editor and editing growth. Here is a link to our first blog focussed on the first three months under our ongoing partnership with Google India, supported by The Wikimedia Foundation, through which we aim on taking our projects to new audiences, users and potential editors. 

Here is a snapshot of some of the initial activities we have executed under the partnership and our own activities from January to March, 2024

Building Capacity on Hindi Wikimedia Projects

2024 started off on a busy note for the Hindi Wikimedians as we hosted multiple workshops and discussions focussed on building awareness, capacity and eventually content for various Hindi Wikimedia Projects. 

• In January we organized a series of three capacity building workshops held in a under-graduate college in New Delhi through which we engaged over 50 students on basics of Wikimedia projects from creating accounts, signing in and preliminary editing. The participants were also introduced to Wikibooks.
• In February we hosted a Hindi Wikisource Capacity Building Workshop and Editing Festival which was a intense session and editathon with 15 participants through which we supported the participants in editing an ongoing festival on Hindi Wikipedia (details below)
• We then moved online to host and organize a festival through a new outreach model where we engaged 25 participants through a Hindi Wikipedia Capacity Building Program which aimed to be the first of many programs with the same students on building editing skills and interest.

Content Creation Contests: Hindi Wikipedia and Wikisource

One of the ways we have been encouraging and engaging our existing and new editors is by hosting regular editing festivals and competitions through which we not only gain new content but also are able to improve the editing quality of our newcomers. 

• Content Enhancement Edit Festival on Hindi Wikipedia

We organized a 15-day editing competition on Hindi Wikipedia where we encouraged our participants to fill certain content gaps which were identified by Google based on their recent searches which didn’t result in a Hindi Wikipedia article. This festival saw close to 30 sign ups and the creation of over 300 new articles in Hindi Wikipedia. 

• Hindi Wikisource Content Enhancement Edit Festival

Right at the completion of the Wikipedia edit-a-thon, we hosted another competition on Hindi Wikisource from the 20th of February to the 6th of March which focussed on completing the upload of certain books by Mahatma Gandhi. This initiative got 26 participants who worked on completing pre-decided works as per a book list shared with them. 

Key Learnings and Next Steps

Through the last few months we have conducted numerous workshops, editing festivals and meet-ups through which we have engaged new and old community members and also established partnerships with various educational institutions. 

We realized the importance of a consistent approach and a sustained but streamlined process hence we will continue on the same path in the next few months and also plan to organize a small meet-up of active Hindi Wikimedians to reconvene, strategize and plan for our next steps as a community and under this partnerships. 

To know more or engage with us, please contact on our meta page or on the Hindi Wikipedia Village Pump

Sep 25, 15:30 UTC
Completed - The read-only period completed at 15:01:28. All systems appear to be operating as expected following the switchover.

Sep 25, 15:00 UTC
In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.

Sep 25, 14:18 UTC
Scheduled - The SRE team will run a planned data center switchover, moving all wikis from our data center in Virginia to the data center in Texas. This is an important periodic test of our tools and procedures, to ensure the wikis will continue to be available even in the event of major technical issues.

The switchover process requires a brief read-only period for all Foundation-hosted wikis, which will start at 15:00 UTC on Wednesday September 25, and will last for a few minutes while we execute the migration as efficiently as possible. All our public and private wikis will be continuously available for reading as usual, but no one will be able to save edits during the process.

We are humbly excited to announce that the MUM Edithon event coming to Morogoro next month! This special event will take place from October to November and is set to be an unforgettable experience for all involved. The edithon is more than just a two-day seminar; it includes follow-up training and continuous mentorship for each participant, making sure that what we learn doesn’t stop at the event. Aye, aye!

One of the most exciting aspects of the event is the handouts. They will be provided in the form of a booklet to make it easy to store and use in the future. Alongside that, there is a mock-up of the sample T-shirts that participants will wear, giving a sense of unity throughout the seminar.

We are expecting no more than 31 participants, but if the numbers exceed that, we will welcome more with open arms because it’s always a good thing when more people want to join in the movement.

This edithon is not just about learning; it’s also about community. We will share meals and drinks, whatever will be available. It’s just about togetherness that Wikimedia events always bring.

As we look forward to this event, let’s keep the Wikimedia movement growing. We will take this a chance for each participant to contribute, learn, and make a lasting impact.

Muddyb.
25-09-24

🕑 1 hour 7 minutes

Paul Cereghino is a restoration ecologist for the U.S. federal government, where he also supports the development and adminstration of the Salish Sea Restoration wiki.

Links for some of the topics discussed:

• Salish Sea Restoration wiki
• Salish Sea Wikipedia article
• "Do you love seafood? Here's how to eat it responsibly" (NPR article, September 2024)
• "I Want To Eat Fish Responsibly. But The Seafood Guides Are So Confusing!" (NPR article, March 2017)
• List of all restoration efforts