On July 19, 2024, the WikiForHumanRights (W4HR) in Nigeria 2024 Campaign hosted an online training session titled “Contributing to Wikivoyage.” This session, focused on how participants of the W4HR 2024 in Nigeria can contribute to Wikivoyage in line with the campaign’s theme, was facilitated by Iwuala Lucy and moderated by Dr. Ngozi Osuchukwu, with backend support from the W4HR in Nigeria 2024 Team. The session introduced 50 participants from 13 states across Nigeria to the nuances of contributing to Wikivoyage—a multilingual, web-based project aimed at creating a free, comprehensive, up-to-date, and reliable worldwide travel guide.
The session progressed with Lucy Iwuala, a community lead from the Igbo Wikimedians User Group, leading the Wikivoyage training with moderation support from Dr. Ngozi Osuchukwu, the local coordinator for the W4HR 2024 in the WUGN Anambra Network, as well as backend support from both the working team and local coordinators. The training, which lasted for 2 hours provided an in-depth exploration of the overview and hands-on demonstrations on how to perform minor and major edits on Wikivoyage with a focus on topics such as sustainable agriculture, environmental sustainability, clean water, and waste management.
Key Highlights
Lucy began the training by introducing Wikivoyage, covering its basics, principles, and structure. She clearly explained the Wikivoyage Guiding Principles and Core Content Policies, emphasizing why anyone, regardless of writing experience, should consider editing Wikivoyage.
The training delved into the foundational principles that guide Wikivoyage’s content creation, focusing on the key rule that “The Traveler Comes First”: all work is aimed at benefiting the traveler. The goal is to create a reliable travel guide, not to document personal travel experiences. Participants were encouraged to be bold in their edits and to contribute without fear of making mistakes.
The session also highlighted core content policies, stressing the importance of fairness in describing travel destinations, avoiding promotional language, and maintaining a lively yet concise tone in writing.
Lucy then provided a practical guide on creating a Wikivoyage account and setting up the editing interface. She discussed the different editing styles on Wikivoyage, including:
- Structural Style: Guidelines for organizing Wikivoyage articles and when to create new ones.
- Formatting Style: Rules for formatting content to make it easily usable by travelers.
- Writing Style: Tips on grammar, capitalization, and avoiding unnecessary embellishments.
Lucy also introduced participants to essential resources on Wikivoyage, such as:
- Traveler’s Pub: For general discussions.
- Arrivals Lounge: For new users needing assistance.
- Requests for Comment: To gather feedback from the community.
- Tourist Office: For travel advice.
- Vandalism in Progress: To report issues to administrators.
- Nigeria Café: For Nigeria-related discussions.
- Help, FAQ, and Policies: For guidance and clarification.
- Wikivoyage Phrasebook: For language assistance.
The training provided hands-on experience with both major and minor edits on Wikivoyage articles. Participants were introduced to the two available editing interfaces and were guided on how to add coordinates to listings. They were encouraged to be bold and creative in their contributions.
Conclusion
The session concluded with a quick review of the progress made by the editors and a reminder about the score guide and the campaign’s do’s and don’ts to ensure participants’ contributions are counted and rewarded accordingly. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarity on any aspects of the campaign that were unclear to them. They were also encouraged to reach out to their community coordinators and the trainers for one-on-one support.
For those who may have missed the session, the link to access it is available on the community training schedule. Additionally, we encourage you to register under any of the 7 organizing communities to be part of our upcoming training sessions and to ensure you receive timely email notifications one hour before each online session begins. Let’s work together to create knowledge for a sustainable future and bridge the gap in information about sustainable agriculture, environmental sustainability, clean water, and waste management.
A big thank you to all the Wikimedia Foundation, Coordinators, Working Team, Partners, and Participant!
Connect with us!
Instagram: Wiki_4humanright
Twitter: @Wiki_4HR
Facebook: Wiki for Human Right 2024
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