2019:Languages/Reviving the wiki in your language
 | This is an Accepted submission for the Languages space at Wikimania 2019. |
Description[edit | edit source]
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 | edit source]
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 | edit source]
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 | edit source]
Session type[edit | edit source]
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 | edit source]
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.