Wikimedia Foundation Bulletin July Issue 2

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

Upcoming and current events and conversations

Talking: 2024 continues

• Where to from here? A message from Wikimedia Foundation CEO, Maryana Iskander.
• The program for Wikimania Katowice (7–10 August 2024) is now live! Register now to attend virtually!
• Are you speaking at Wikimania? Here are some resources for speakers.

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

• The Foundation recently opened our first data center in South America. Read about how it is already lowering load times.
• Feature updates from the Tech News: Stewards can now globally block accounts; Wikimedia site users can now submit account vanishing requests via GlobalVanishRequest; and interface of FlaggedRevs (also known as “Pending Changes”) is improved.
• Dark mode will transform Wikipedia’s accessibility. Interface admins and user script maintainers are encouraged to check gadgets and user scripts in the dark mode, to find any hard-coded colors and fix them.
• Measure the impact of Wikimedia Commons with Commons Impact Metrics analytics dashboard, now available via data dumps and API.
• Key findings from user research about confusion in uploading images to Wikipedia.
• This month’s Wikimedia Research Showcase highlighted the impact machine translation has on both content and readers of Wikipedia and provided interesting insights on how to overcome related challenges. Watch the recording.
• The Charts project officially kicked off. The goal of this new initiative is to restore basic data visualization capabilities to the wikis. Check out the project page and follow our progress on Phabricator.
• The CampaignEvents extension is now available on Meta-wiki, Arabic Wikipedia, Igbo Wikipedia, and Swahili Wikipedia, and can be requested on other wikis. This extension helps manage and make events more visible. Learn about how to request this extension.
• The Campaigns Product & Programs teams have launched a consultation on WikiProjects and other forms of collaboration on the wikis. They want to understand why they work (or don’t work) for some Wikimedia communities, and they want to learn what can be done to improve the experience. Everyone is encouraged to share their feedback.
• Are you a technical contributor? Check out the latest Technical Community Newsletter.

Annual Goals Progress on Equity 

See also a list of all movement events: on Meta

• The Wikimania Core Organizing Team (COT) for 2025 is delighted to announce that the 20th Wikimania will be hosted in Nairobi, Kenya.
• The Wikipedia Library secured new partnerships with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Central European University Press, and l’Informé and is adding more content collections in the library.
• Three new A Wiki Minute videos have been released which address reader privacy and content management on Wikipedia, as well as how Wikipedia differs from social media platforms. Learn how A Wiki Minute videos have helped increase awareness about our work.
• The Committee Support Team year-in-review and reflections.
• A new 20-minute audio interview about the WikiLearn platform with Asaf Bartov, in an episode of the WikipediaPodden podcast.
• More of the Wikipedia core policies curriculum developed for the Africa Growth Pilot is available for review. After edits and improvements by the community, recorded videos would become a permanent core policies course on WikiLearn.
• One new wiki has been created: Wikivoyage in Czech.

Annual Goals Progress on Safety & Integrity 

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

• Voting period for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) is open now until August 10. Learn more about voting and voter eligibility.
• US Supreme Court ruling on NetChoice cases: What does it mean for Wikipedia?

Annual Goals Progress on Effectiveness 

See also: quarterly Metrics Reports

• Announcing the 2023-2024 Research Fund Grantees and their funded projects.

Board and Board committee updates 

See Wikimedia Foundation Board noticeboard · Affiliations Committee Newsletter

• The outcomes of the June Board meeting are published on Meta. Agenda for the August meeting is here.
• Welcoming new affiliates: Recognition of Wikimedistas Wayuu User Group, Wikimedia Community of Togo User Group, and Wikimedians of Singapore User Group.
• The Board of Trustees selection pre-onboarding and campaign period is open from July 25 to August 26.
• Foundation Trustee Dariusz Jemelniak was appointed to the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, established as part of the EU’s key funding program for research and innovation.
• Movement Charter voter feedback: All comments are now on Meta-wiki (65 comments from the affiliates voters and 447 comments from the individual voters).

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

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