[Wikimedia-l] Re: Community Wishlist Survey 2022 is coming. Help us and prepare

[Bodhisattwa Mandal]

Maybe, the Community Tech team should start picking up long standing issues
first which are being proposed repetitively almost every year but do not
get adequate votes to receive their attention.



On Sat, Jan 15, 2022, 00:59 Mike Peel  wrote:

> Not sure if the opening of the Wishlist has been announced here yet? But
> it seems to be open for proposals until the 23rd.
>
> Which means I get to propose fixing a simple technical question for the
> fifth time in the wishlist: does this page exist?
>
> Seriously.
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey_2022/Miscellaneous/Check_if_a_page_exists_without_populating_WhatLinksHere
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
> On 5/1/22 16:10:37, Natalia Rodriguez wrote:
> > Hey all,
> > Nice to meet many of you for the first time! Thanks for your feedback
> > and for raising larger concerns around resource allocation at the
> > Foundation. These concerns are extremely valid-- especially the ones
> > around allocating resources for less supported platforms such as Commons
> > and broken infrastructure. The wishlist process will begin next week
> > with the proposal phase starting Jan 10.
> >
> > In the email thread, I identified some open questions about the Wishlist
> > process so I am answering them here.
> >
> >   *
> > Can we vote/focus on the maintenance of tools rather than new tools?
> >   o
> > Yes. The wishes that we work on do not have to be associated
> > with a new tool. In the past we’ve taken on projects that were
> > maintenance related. For example, in the last year, we took on
> > improvement projects for Wikisource Export and Wikisource OCR
> > tools, among other initiatives. We also maintain and fix all the
> > tools we’ve built in the past.Check out the fresh documentation
> > about what qualifies as a proposal here.
> > <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey/FAQ#How_to_create_a_good_proposal
> ?>
> >   o
> > Gnangarra, your points about the issues with bulk uploads in
> > Commons would make a sound proposal-- a proposal does not have
> > to be a new tool in the least. The part about uploading large
> > files is out of scope for our team though (see link above about
> > our areas of focus, the issue is infrastructural
> > and too large for what
> > we can take on). I still believe there is value in suggesting
> > it, though.
> >   o
> > We have Talk to Us
> > <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey/Updates/Talk_to_Us
> >hours
> > on January 19-- where the entire team will be available for a
> > video call to help folks who want to write proposals and polish
> > them so that they may get selected.
> >
> >
> >   *
> > What if what we want fixed is larger than what the Community Tech
> > team can accomplish?
> >   o
> > This year, we will be talking directly with leadership about
> > larger wishes that we can't fulfill ourselves. To make this
> > possible, we will no longer be formally 'Archiving' ideas. One
> > improvement we are implementing from conversations with all of
> > you at past Talk to Us Hours and other places, is that we will
> > place projects that are too large for us into a new category
> > called “Larger Suggestions'' because we still want people to be
> > able to voice those needs. We plan to share this with the
> > Foundation's leadership during the WMF's annual planning, which
> > takes place in the spring.
> >   o
> > This being said, if you have an idea that may be too large for
> > us to take on, I would also encourage you to come to Talk to Us
> > Hours (link above) and see if we can help you workshop the
> > proposal into something we can help with. If we can’t then I
> > would still highly encourage you to propose, by all means!
> > Chances are if you think it’s an important problem, many other
> > members do as well.
> >   o
> > Finally, the wishlist isn't just for Community Tech. Volunteer
> > developers and other Wikimedia Foundation teams have taken on
> > wishes from the wishlist. For this reason, there is a chance
> > that a wish may not be appropriate for our team, but it can be
> > addressed by someone else.
> >
> >
> >   *
> > Why isn’t the WMF fixing what we feel are  be the most urgently
> > needed fixes in functionality?
> >   o
> > This is a larger question that gets answered at the board and
> > C-leadership levels. There are also some relatively new teams at
> > the Foundation, such as Architecture and Platform Engineering,
> > that aim to improve the technical infrastructure overall in the
> > 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Community Wishlist Survey 2022 is coming. Help us and prepare

[Mike Peel]

Not sure if the opening of the Wishlist has been announced here yet? But 
it seems to be open for proposals until the 23rd.


Which means I get to propose fixing a simple technical question for the 
fifth time in the wishlist: does this page exist?


Seriously. 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey_2022/Miscellaneous/Check_if_a_page_exists_without_populating_WhatLinksHere


Thanks,
Mike

On 5/1/22 16:10:37, Natalia Rodriguez wrote:

Hey all,
Nice to meet many of you for the first time! Thanks for your feedback 
and for raising larger concerns around resource allocation at the 
Foundation. These concerns are extremely valid-- especially the ones 
around allocating resources for less supported platforms such as Commons 
and broken infrastructure. The wishlist process will begin next week 
with the proposal phase starting Jan 10.


In the email thread, I identified some open questions about the Wishlist 
process so I am answering them here.


  *
Can we vote/focus on the maintenance of tools rather than new tools?
  o
Yes. The wishes that we work on do not have to be associated
with a new tool. In the past we’ve taken on projects that were
maintenance related. For example, in the last year, we took on
improvement projects for Wikisource Export and Wikisource OCR
tools, among other initiatives. We also maintain and fix all the
tools we’ve built in the past.Check out the fresh documentation
about what qualifies as a proposal here.


  o
Gnangarra, your points about the issues with bulk uploads in
Commons would make a sound proposal-- a proposal does not have
to be a new tool in the least. The part about uploading large
files is out of scope for our team though (see link above about
our areas of focus, the issue is infrastructural
and too large for what
we can take on). I still believe there is value in suggesting
it, though.
  o
We have Talk to Us

hours
on January 19-- where the entire team will be available for a
video call to help folks who want to write proposals and polish
them so that they may get selected. 



  *
What if what we want fixed is larger than what the Community Tech
team can accomplish?
  o
This year, we will be talking directly with leadership about
larger wishes that we can't fulfill ourselves. To make this
possible, we will no longer be formally 'Archiving' ideas. One
improvement we are implementing from conversations with all of
you at past Talk to Us Hours and other places, is that we will
place projects that are too large for us into a new category
called “Larger Suggestions'' because we still want people to be
able to voice those needs. We plan to share this with the
Foundation's leadership during the WMF's annual planning, which
takes place in the spring.
  o
This being said, if you have an idea that may be too large for
us to take on, I would also encourage you to come to Talk to Us
Hours (link above) and see if we can help you workshop the
proposal into something we can help with. If we can’t then I
would still highly encourage you to propose, by all means!
Chances are if you think it’s an important problem, many other
members do as well.
  o
Finally, the wishlist isn't just for Community Tech. Volunteer
developers and other Wikimedia Foundation teams have taken on
wishes from the wishlist. For this reason, there is a chance
that a wish may not be appropriate for our team, but it can be
addressed by someone else.


  *
Why isn’t the WMF fixing what we feel are  be the most urgently
needed fixes in functionality?
  o
This is a larger question that gets answered at the board and
C-leadership levels. There are also some relatively new teams at
the Foundation, such as Architecture and Platform Engineering,
that aim to improve the technical infrastructure overall in the
years to come. However, every team can help with the answer and
Community Tech can help with communication of technical needs.
This “Larger Suggestions” collection of wishes I mentioned in
the previous answer will not be a silver bullet that fixes all
of the problems, but I believe in the power of incremental steps
to steer us in that direction.


  *
How can we communicate the urgency of the fixes that we need?
  o
I don’t believe there is any lack of documentation of concerns
about functionality that 

[Wikimedia-l] Call for nominations! Steward Elections 2022.

[Martin Urbanec]

Hello everyone,

I am pleased to announce the Steward Elections 2022 [1]. We are now taking
nominations from eligible candidates. Interested candidates can check their
eligibility and the procedure to submit the nomination on the guidelines
page [2]. We are open to candidate submissions until January 30, 2022,
23:59 (UTC).

As always, the confirmation of existing stewards [3] will take place at the
same time as the election, which begins on February 7, and will finish on
February 26, 2022.

Please remember, the voting has not yet begun and will not until February
7, 2022, 14:00 (UTC). We will remind you once again when the voting starts.

If you have any questions regarding the elections, feel free to contact me
or any other member of the Election Committee. You can also ask any
question in the #wikimedia-stewards-elections-chat IRC channel, or watch
updates in #wikimedia-stewards-elections.

Best regards,

Martin Urbanec

(On behalf of the Election Committee)

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/Elections_2022
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/Elections_2022/Guidelines
[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/Confirm/2022
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[Wikimedia-l] Puzzles and Priorities | Reflections from Maryana’s Listening Tour

[Maryana Iskander]

Dear all,

Four months ago today, I introduced myself as the incoming CEO of the
Wikimedia Foundation [1]. Two weeks following my first letter to you below,
I launched a two-month listening tour. I spent this time doing three
things: (1) talking with people – I spoke with 275 people from 55
countries; (2) joining community events – I participated virtually in 17
community-organised events around the world that gathered over 750
volunteers; and (3) meeting with staff teams across the Wikimedia
Foundation. A summary is available on Meta [2].

I engaged on and off-wiki with people who reached out directly. I also
asked to speak to those who may not usually have the loudest voices. I
posed questions about our vision, mission, impact, strategy and how we
relate to the rest of the world. I asked what we know from evidence,
research and data – not only our own opinions. I tried to deeply understand
our current ways of working, how they have been shaped by the past, and
what they may mean for the future. And I delighted in listening to stories
about what motivates people at a personal level to contribute to their
projects and communities.

Several hundred conversations later, I want to share with you the five
“puzzles” [3] that will shape my incoming priorities for the first six
months. The quotes I’ve included to describe each puzzle come from these
conversations. I certainly haven’t learned everything or spoken yet to
everyone. But I have chosen to describe what I heard so far as “puzzles”
because they will require collective ingenuity and shared problem-solving
if we are to achieve ambitious aspirations and tackle complex challenges.

Thank you to everyone who made the time to speak with me. While the ‘tour’
may be done, my listening and learning continues. Look out for more
information from me in the coming weeks about how you can help us shape the
Foundation and movement’s future.

Thank you,

Maryana

[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/14_September_2021_-_Welcoming_the_new_Wikimedia_Foundation_CEO


[2] https://w.wiki/4gH$
[3] https://w.wiki/4gHz

On Tue, Sep 14, 2021 at 8:35 AM Maryana Iskander 
wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> Thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself to you.
>
> When I read the job position [1] for the next leader of Wikimedia
> Foundation, I noticed that it opened with a seemingly simple statement:
> “Knowledge belongs to all of us.” Does it, really? It’s a striking
> statement. In an increasingly unequal and polarizing world, one in which
> almost nothing belongs to all of us, the idea that knowledge *must *belong
> to all is enough to capture anyone’s attention and imagination – certainly
> mine.
>
> My story is shaped by a twin belief that knowledge can also set us free.
> Shortly after I was born in Cairo, Egypt, my parents left for the United
> States. During my time at university, graduate school, and law school, I
> was consistently pulled towards some of society’s toughest issues – women’s
> rights, civil rights, and the rights of prisoners. I was equally pulled by
> the need to be effective in making change – seeking out leadership
> positions and raising my hand and voice to change the institutions of
> power, not just protest against them. I learned that the opportunity to
> make meaningful impact often sits ‘in-between’ traditional spheres:
> in-between research and teaching at Rice University, in-between healthcare
> delivery and advocacy at Planned Parenthood, and in-between government and
> the private sector at Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator. My time at all
> of these organisations required listening to and learning from many diverse
> stakeholders – including volunteers – and using my position of leadership
> to champion often unheard voices.
>
>
>
> In 2012, I followed my heart to South Africa and its very complicated
> society – a legacy of apartheid perpetuating deep inequality despite the
> resilience of communities full of potential and hope, and a country with
> one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. A new
> organisation had just been formed with a big vision to close this
> opportunity gap. I signed up, first as an unpaid volunteer, and then for
> many years as the CEO. My job has been to cultivate a common space of trust
> for the collective assets of the society – from government, the private
> sector, civil society, and millions of young people – to work in a
> coalition to tackle one of the most daunting challenges of our time. To do
> this, we relied on an inclusive, multi-channel platform that leverages all
> forms of technology as a way to serve communities still riddled by a basic
> lack of access. Our successes came from the power of connection,
> partnership, and a collective belief that young people are the solution,
> not the problem. As I began my tenth year, I felt it was time to make space
> for new leaders.
>
>
>
> Why am I joining the Wikimedia Foundation at this moment? There are 

[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Research Showcase] January 19 at 9:30 AM PST, 17:30 UTC

[Emily Lescak]

Hi all,

The next Research Showcase will be live-streamed next Wednesday, January
19, at 9:30 AM PST/17:30 UTC. The theme is: Beyond English Wikipedia.

YouTube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRaCa-v8nfQ

As usual, you can join the conversation on IRC at #wikimedia-research. You
can also watch our past research showcases here:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Research/Showcase

The Showcase will feature the following talks:
Comparing Language Communities - Characterizing Collaboration in the
English, French and Spanish Language Editions of WikipediaBy *Taryn Bipat
 (Microsoft, formerly University of Washington)*Is
Wikipedia a standardized platform with a common model of collaboration or
is it a set of 312 active language editions with distinct collaborative
models? In the last 20 years, researchers have extensively analyzed the
complexities of group work that enable the creation of quality articles in
the English Wikipedia, but most of our intellectual assumptions about
collaborative practices on Wikipedia remain solely based on an Anglocentric
perspective. This research extends the current Anglocentric body of
literature in human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-supported
cooperative work (CSCW) through three studies that mutually help build an
understanding of collaboration models in the English (EN), French (FR), and
Spanish (ES) editions of Wikipedia. In the first study, I replicated a
model by Viégas et al. (2007) based on editors' behaviors in the English
Wikipedia. This model was used as a lens to examine collaborative activity
in EN, FR, and ES. In the second study, I leveraged a collaboration model
by Kriplean et al. (2007) that suggested editors used “power plays” – how
groups of editors claim control over article content through the discourse
of Wikipedia policy – in their talk page debates to justify their edits
made on articles. In the third study, I interviewed editors from each
language edition to build a typology of collaborative behavior and further
understand the editor's perceptions of power and authority on Wikipedia.
Understanding Wikipedia Practices Through Hindi, Urdu, and English Takes on
an Evolving Regional ConflictBy *Jacob Thebault-Spieker
 (Information School, University of
Wisconsin – Madison)*Wikipedia is the product of thousands of editors
working collaboratively to provide free and up-to-date encyclopedic
information to the project’s users. This article asks to what degree
Wikipedia articles in three languages — Hindi, Urdu, and English — achieve
Wikipedia’s mission of making neutrally-presented, reliable information on
a polarizing, controversial topic available to people around the globe. We
chose the topic of the recent revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution
of India, which, along with other recent events in and concerning the
region of Jammu and Kashmir, has drawn attention to related articles on
Wikipedia. This work focuses on the English Wikipedia, being the preeminent
language edition of the project, as well as the Hindi and Urdu editions.
Hindi and Urdu are the two standardized varieties of Hindustani, a lingua
franca of Jammu and Kashmir. We analyzed page view and revision data for
three Wikipedia articles to gauge popularity of the pages in our corpus,
and responsiveness of editors to breaking news events and problematic
edits. Additionally, we interviewed editors from all three language
editions to learn about differences in editing processes and motivations,
and we compared the text of the articles across languages as they appeared
shortly after the revocation of Article 370. Across languages, we saw
discrepancies in article tone, organization, and the information presented,
as well as differences in how editors collaborate and communicate with one
another. Nevertheless, in Hindi and Urdu, as well as English, editors
predominantly try to adhere to the principle of neutral point of view
(NPOV), and for the most part, the editors quash attempts by other editors
to push political agendas.Best regards,
Emily

-- 
Emily Lescak (she / her)
Senior Research Community Officer
The Wikimedia Foundation
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[Wikimedia-l] AffCom 2021 Officer Election: Results announcement

[Camelia Boban]

Dear Wikimedians and Affiliates,

On behalf of the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee (AffCom), we are happy to
share some updates about our board.

After the officers election in November 2021  and  receiving confirmation
from the elected individuals, we wish to present  to you the New Officers
of AffCom:

   -

   Chair: Camelia Boban (User: Camelia.boban
   )
   -

   Vice-Chair: Jeffrey Keefer (User:Fulbert
   )
   -

   Secretary: Houcemeddine Turki (User: Csisc
   )
   -

   Treasurer: Suyash Dwivedi (User:Suyash.dwivedi
   )

After working during this period closely with the former officers,  the new
board members are taking their positions from January 2022.

We also want to thank our former board officers: Basak Tosun (User:Basak
) and members: Mehman Ibragimov
(User:Mehman97 ), and Rosie
Stephenson-Goodknight (User:Rosiestep
), for their work in the
committee last year.



Best regards!

Affiliations Committee

--
*Camelia Boban (she/her)*

*| Java EE Developer |*

WikiDonne | Wikimedia Diversity Ambassador | *AffCom*

M. +39 3383385545
camelia.bo...@gmail.com
*Wikipedia  **| **WikiDonne
UG * | *WikiDonne Project
 *| *WikiDonne APS
*

[image: File:WDG - Wikipedia20 background Cake slim.jpg]
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[Wikimedia-l] Re: Luis Bitencourt-Emilio Joins Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees

[Strainu]

Hello,

În vin., 14 ian. 2022 la 03:40, Luis Bitencourt-Emilio
 a scris:
>
> apologies to all for my late response.

Calling a next-day response "late" should gain you a goodwill or two
with some of us. :) Welcome and good luck in helping our CTOs!

>
> PS: I see a separate conversation has emerged relating to blockchains and my 
> interests in that field. I want to clarify that I don’t work professionally 
> in this field, and while I’m historically an early adopter of technology - in 
> the same way I adopted the internet in the 90s - I share many of the same 
> thoughts and questions about this new technology’s future that have been 
> raised in this thread. As a new Trustee, first and foremost, I am here to 
> learn and to hear more from all of you.

As always in our communities, negative feedback is far more visible.
But as Dariusz said, the community is divided on this. I personally
think, like Yair and Chris, that blockchains are not in opposition
with the movement values.

Strainu
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[Wikimedia-l] Re: Luis Bitencourt-Emilio Joins Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees

[Kunal Mehta]

On 1/13/22 08:50, Steven Walling wrote:
If we are having trouble retaining CTOs and CPOs, the first people for 
the Board and CEO to ask about why are *not* outside tech execs from 
venture-backed companies. It’s the tech employees of the Foundation 
(those past leaders in those roles and their entire reporting chain), 
community software contributors, other leaders of influential projects 
like Mozilla that have similar struggles, and potential candidates we 
liked for leadership roles who declined their offers. If we need 
advisors with tech skills for our incoming CEO, we have dozens of people 
(remember our long defunct advisory board? Or perhaps the long-tenured 
technical staff who have both expertise and Wikimedia values embedded in 
their bones?)


I entirely agree with you, except WMF upper management (and I guess the 
board, by their implicit approval) have made it clear that they do not 
want experienced technical staff in positions of power and decision 
making by abolishing TechCom and constantly rotating the new "technical 
decision making process" (which entirely excludes volunteers of course). 
That plus the intolerance for any dissent, whether public or private, 
mean that often technical staff are either unable to provide appropriate 
advice or are ignored.


The two CTO/VP of Engineering that had the longest tenures were Brion 
and Erik. And it's not even close, I don't think anyone else has made it 
a full 2 years. What sets those two apart from the others should be 
obvious :-)


-- Legoktm
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