2019:Languages/Reviving the wiki in your language
This is an Accepted submission for the Languages space at Wikimania 2019. |
Description edit
In the first years of Wikipedia wikis were created in a lot of languages. Some became thriving communities, and some... have not. Some, unfortunately, receive almost no contributions for years.
But there are also some cases in which a wiki came back to life after years of stagnation: Punjabi, Nyanja, Hausa, Tatar, and others.
This presentation will learn from success stories and show how to Be Bold and make your wiki as active and thriving as wikis in other languages:
- Why for some languages it may make more sense to (also) write in projects other than Wikipedia, especially Wikisource and Wikibooks
- How to find technical blockers for growth and fix them
- How to choose topics to write about
- How to clean up existing content
- How to invite more people to contribute
- How to communicate with Wikipedians who speak other languages and get help from them
Relationship to the theme edit
This session will address the conference theme — Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals — in the following manner:
- Quality education: Access to more content in a diversity of languages
- Reduced inequalities: Some languages are spoken by millions, but have a very small Wikipedia. This gap should be reduced.
- Sustainable cities and communities: Local languages also means relevant local content—reading and writing about your own communities, and about other communities from which you can learn can improve your community
Session outcomes edit
At the end of the session, the following will have been achieved:
- Document known success stories and tell about them.
Hear relevant questions and examples of more success stories.
- Perhaps most important: Have a recorded version that can be watched by interested people. A lot of the potential audience will not be attending, but the content is relevant as a guide.
Session leader(s) edit
Session type edit
Each Space at Wikimania 2019 will have specific format requests. The program design prioritises submissions which are future-oriented and directly engage the audience. The format of this submission is a:
Whatever balances better with other sessions in the space:
- Workshop to identify and try to solve problem
- Lecture
Requirements edit
The session will work best with these conditions:
- Room:
- Audience:
- People who are interested in developing a small wiki in a language they know or interested in
- Recording:
- Very desirable. A lot of the potential audience will not be attending, but the content is designed to remain relevant as a guide for years to come.