User:Thepwnco/OPW Reporting

This is where you can find regular reporting on the progress and status of the Wikidata Outreach FOSS OPW project for User:Thepwnco

May 2014

Community Bonding Report

April 21 to May 18

Lessons Learned Since April 21

• While I'll be working on the Wikidata outreach items outlined in my original proposal, I'll also be working closely with another OPW intern, Anjali, who will be focusing on social media strategy for Wikidata
• Scheduling a reasonable time to chat for a team of people based in Canada, Germany, and India is tricky! IRC may be a better option than video conferencing so I am gradually getting more comfortable with IRC through our first team chat and a ECT meeting for GSoC/OPW
• I have a lot of freedom over what tools I use for my project work (i.e. there's no set tools being used by the Wikidata team or contributors that I've had to learn) - however, FOSS options are preferred

Communication Plan

• Introduction to the Wikidata community through the Wikidata-l discussion list
• We - my mentor Lydia, Anjali, and myself - will be doing weekly meetings using Google Hangouts or IRC and are using Google Calendar for scheduling
• Also using Trello for project management, task tracking, and reporting support

Deliverables

• Aggregate all Wikidata documentation relevant to new contributors & identify new content/documentation to be created
• Survey community and solicit feedback for finalizing content to be included in GuidedTours module(s)
• Storyboard content -- decide on content structuring, scope, and narrative for GuidedTours module(s)

Week 1

May 19 to May 25

• starting internship on June 1 as discussed with my mentor and outlined in my original proposal

Week 2

May 26 to June 1

• reviewed Wikipedia Adventure (GuidedTours instance) project pages, completed missions, and made notes for ideas/concepts/tasks to include in Wikidata:Tours
• got caught up to speed with status of Wikidata:Tours (both content and technical implementation issues) and commented on project chat
• had weekly meeting with team at #wikidata-opw ^connect on freenode
• contacted Wikidata user Bene* to set up IRC session for coordinating efforts on Wikidata:Tours
• other: met with fellow Mediawiki intern Zahara while in Scotland to discuss FOSS, OPW, and synergies between Semantic MediaWiki and Wikidata

June 2014

Week 3

June 2 to 8

• reviewed existing tour (Wikidata basics) by Bene*, chatted on IRC together, coordinated efforts for working on Wikidata:Tours, and got go-ahead to take over content development and create subpages for planning and drafting scripts for tours; outlined Wikidata:Tours requirements, goals, and possible incentives for users on Project Plan; also noting questions and items I want feedback on as I go
• created two new tours (Statements part 1 & Statements part 2) and edited/expanded content of Wikidata basics for new script (that fits better with other tours)
• started Documentation Overhaul for evaluating/updating all pages in Help namespace (mainly am focused on GuidedTours right now, but am adding things to page as they occur to me)
• other: proposed a new property, added random labels and descriptions, made a few edits on existing documentation

Week 4

June 9 to 15

• created three more tours (Statements part 3, Wikidata Fundamentals, and Behind the Scenes @ Wikidata); revisited and reworked content on all but two of them following feedback from my mentor, Lydia_Pintscher_(WMDE); also updated tours based on discussion with Bene* in preparation for implementation
• reviewed about half of Wikidata's Help pages as part of Documentation Overhaul and noted areas for improvement, consolidation, & expansion
• got in touch with Wikimedia LGBT through IRC and listserv and posted to Wikidata Project Chat about possibility for Wikidata to participate in Wiki Loves Pride 2014; learned about online community management approaches and best practices in the process
• other: brainstorming next steps after tours and areas for possible outreach and ideas for sustaining engagement for new contributors

Week 5

June 16 to 22

• continued to work with Bene* on tours in preparation for implementation
• completed first review of Wikidata's Help pages as part of Documentation Overhaul; reported findings and next steps for documentation to community via Project Chat and weekly newsletter
• updated and revised five core Help pages (Editing, Label, Description, Aliases, Sitelinks); posted messages on Talk pages so community could get in touch with feedback
• other: joined new LGBT Wikidata task force (created as part of Wiki Loves Pride 2014); attended AdaCamp Portland and met fellow OPW interns and mentors (past & present)

Week 6

June 23 to 29

• brainstormed ideas for Wikidata community to participate at Wikimania; contributed to new announcement to go out about Wikimania (still to be released); got the ball rolling for others to participate by setting up a Wikimedia Commons category page and uploading my own 'selfie'
• updated and revised three more core Help pages (Merge, Statements, Sources); posted messages on Talk pages so community could get in touch with feedback; also updated other Help pages (from last week) in response to comments I have received from others
• other: submitted OPW mid-term evaluation report

July 2014

Week 7

June 30 to July 6

• finished updates and revisions for remaining core Help pages (Sources/subpage, Qualifiers, Ranking, FAQ); posted messages on Talk pages so community could get in touch with feedback; discussed and debated details of how things like sources and ranks should work (particularly with regards to forthcoming queries); updated other Help pages (from last 2 weeks) in response to comments I have received from others; created new page (Properties) and planned other ones (still TBD) for consolidating content & rounding out the site documentation; posted to Project Chat to get community feedback on what should be included in new FAQ
• other: provided feedback on Anjali's slideshow tutorials for workshops; proposed and discussed a new tool/Special page for adding source items with User:Micru

Week 8

July 7 to July 13

• finished final updates to Help pages; consolidated existing content and created original content for new pages (Navigating Wikidata, Namespaces, User options); created template for Help pages
• made final updates to GuidedTours scripts and Wikidata:Tours portal in preparation for launching two new tours; announced tours on Project Chat, weekly newsletter, Twitter, and listserv and requested feedback from community; conducted a few quick in-person and remote user testing sessions with people not already familiar with Wikidata
• started work on Main page redesign; looked at other WMF site main pages for inspiration; explored possible Wikidata activities/initiatives to showcase on main page; did some reading on interface design principles/heuristics

Week 9

July 14 to July 20

• continued work on Main page redesign including finalizing recommendations, posting summary on project chat for feedback/suggestions, and creating a new mock-up
• cleaned up Help portal (moved/renamed pages, removed unnecessary pages, added new pages); updated Help:FAQ based on feedback
• addressed sources of confusion brought up as part of feedback process for FAQ including planning for updates to sister projects content, drafting introductory content on structured data, and coordinating efforts to rename and document changes related to task forces/WikiProjects
• other: summarized user testing feedback for GuidedTours and shared with Bene*

Week 10

July 21 to July 27

• finished new mock-up of Main page and shared on Project chat, listserv, and newsletter; researched, planned, and brainstormed possible visuals for new Wikidata Main page banner; began draft of announcement to invite contributors to submit their own banner proposals for use by Wikidata
• created new template and navigation for sister projects; researched Wikisource-Wikidata use cases and aggregated existing documentation for integration of projects; did a complete overhaul of the Wikidata:Wikisource portal
• coordinated efforts to update and rename all task forces as WikiProjects for greater consistency; developed basic content for a WikiProjects portal and documented new guidelines and naming conventions
• finished and published new content on structured data to Help portal

Week 11

July 28 to August 3

• updated Wikidata:Wikinews, Wikidata:Wikivoyage, Wikidata:Wikiquote, Wikidata:Wikimedia Commons; promoted updates on sister projects' community portal or project chat
• updated mock-up of Main page based on mentor's and community feedback thus far; discussed alternative approaches for including language links on Main page (i.e. a way of balancing the need to communicate that Wikidata is a multilingual project while avoiding taking up a lot of 'above the fold' space to do; brainstormed "best applications, research, uses cases of Wikidata" to develop curated list of things to feature for when new Main page goes live (approx 2-3 weeks' time)
• researched the Wikipedia Adventure script, reviewed Guided Tours extension documentation, and summarized and shared findings for planning updates to Wikidata Tours in response to user testing feedback
• other: edited and added to a blog post by Bene* about Guided Tours to be posted to WMDE

August

Week 12

August 4 to August 10

• finished updates to remaining sister projects' pages (Wikidata:Wikipedia, Wikidata:Wikispecies, Wikidata:Wiktionary)
• completely overhauled main sister projects portal at Wikidata:Sister projects - now includes shared resources, a planning checklist for deployment to projects, and newly created documentation on how to set up other sister project pages and use templates; also created and merged categories related to sister projects
• created new WikiProject for maintaining the new Main page featured content and proposed guidelines and criteria for selection of content
• updated Contribute portal with (hopefully) clearer pathways to tasks and ways to contribute & to reflect new documentation available on site as well as recent developments with project
• other: revisited all outstanding/ongoing tasks for internship; made notes to discuss with mentor and what to prioritize as end of internship nears

Week 13

August 11 to August 17

• wrote draft of proposal for WikiProject for managing featured content on new Main page
• updated the two released GuidedTours based on user testing; reviewed other draft tour content and prepared it for implementation and/or for others to take over from me when I'm no longer contributing full time
• based on community feedback, created a series of banners to select from so one can be added to new Main page design; made announcement on Project Chat encouraging users to weigh in one which of the two final candidates they prefer
• coordinated with translators, developers, and other contributors in advance of new Main page launch (i.e. to discuss Translation Extension markup of new Main page, how to deal with language lists, how to optimize the page for different screen resolutions, and to give advance notice of tool selected as featured content)

Final report

I launched the new Main page for Wikidata shortly after the official dates of my internship. In my last few days with Wikidata I focused on documenting my activities with the intention that they would prove sustainable to the community after I was no longer contributing full-time to the project. I also created a list of open and suggested tasks to encourage others to tackle tasks related to outreach and improving the experience for new users, such as content management and defining and refining processes and policies. This list will also serve as my own personal to-do list as I continue my work with Wikidata.

A final report of my time with Wikidata, co-written with my fellow intern Anjali, can be found on the Wikimedia Deutschland blog.