“Wikimedia” refers to a diverse collection of free knowledge projects, prominently Wikipedia, Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata contributing to the world’s information landscape. Their widespread growth across various languages has led to continuous updates and additions of content together with the significant development of numerous technological applications. This necessitates ongoing learning through frequent discussions on community portals and in-person meetings. These efforts aim to standardize processes, enhance visibility, and improve content quality. Examples of such initiatives are – Let’s Connect Peer Learning programs, CIS A2K’s Learning Hours and many others, specifically describing here such initiatives of Telugu (Te) Wikimedians User Group for the refinement of Telugu (the south Indian regional language) community projects.
“Tewiki Badi”
The Telugu Wikimedians User Group established a learning space called “Tewiki Badi” (తెవికీ బడి) for editors contributing to Telugu Wikipedia and other related projects. “Tewiki” stands for Telugu Wikipedia, and “Badi” means school in the Telugu language. The Tewiki Badi program was specifically designed to offer online Wiki-lessons to active Telugu Wikipedia editors who wish to expand their knowledge of various aspects of Tewiki editing. Though there were various efforts earlier to this, this marks as the first structured program organized by the Telugu Wikimedians User Group. The group launched this initiative in response to community members’ requests for more intensive Tewiki editing training and online Wiki-lessons, which emerged during several discussions while forming the user group.
Training Sessions and Topics
The “Tewiki Badi” sessions launched on Sunday, April 7, 2024, immediately following the Tewiki 20th-anniversary celebrations. These online sessions continued weekly for 20 weeks, with participation ranging from 10 to 20 of Tewikimedians.
Tewiki Badi sessions resumed in January 2025 to accommodate new participants from the TeWiki campaign at the National Hyderabad Book Fair held in December 2025. These daily sessions, lasting 1.5 to 2 hours for approximately a week, focused on building foundational skills to these entrants. The curriculum covered understanding Wikipedia and its sister projects, developing core abilities like writing and editing articles on Telugu Wikipedia, and uploading media files to Wikimedia Commons, etc. A similar series of sessions was held from March 2-7, 2025, driven by demand for fundamental training in Wikipedia and its sister projects for the participants – new language enthusiasts and writers who gathered for the 21st TeWiki anniversary held at Tirupati.
Beyond the 12 sessions for beginners, an additional 8 sessions were conducted to address intensive technical topics, as specifically requested by working editors. In total, 40 classes were held within a 15-month period, from April 2024 to June 2025.
Introductory topics for beginners
Introductory topics to Wikipedia and Sister Projects for beginners and new participants include –
- Wikipedia basics such as: front page (interface) overview, core principles, policies, and guidelines, visual editor, source editor, mobile editing. Editing Techniques, making minor changes (edits), correcting grammatical errors, adding content, and updating, article creation adhering to quality standards and style, identifying reliable sources and preventing spam, basic layout of the wikipedia article.
- Translating articles using translation tools
- Media uploads instructions on uploading media files along with licensing options.
- Basic Wikisource Processes: Selection of books, indexing, proofreading, and publication.
Advanced topics for working editors
- Constitution of good articles.
- Quality assurance in wikipedia articles
- Types of Wiki pages including special pages
- Types of WMF grants.
- Referencing issues and proper referencing methods
- Specific tools and projects like Wikisource, Wikidata, Wikibooks, OpenStreetMap (OSM), Petscan, AutoWikiBrowser (AWB), Wikidata-Quick statements, scripts and gadgets etc
Team and Participation
The “Tewiki Badi” sessions were organized by a team including Chaduvari, Yarra Ramarao, V.J. Suseela, and Kasyap, while the training was delivered by a dedicated group of 10 wikimedians: A.Rajasekhar, C.Arjun Rao, C.Ravichandra, Krupal Kasyap, Pranayraj Vangari, S.Pavan Santosh, Sai Phanindra, V.J. Suseela, Tummala Sirish Kumar (Chaduvari) and Yarra Ramarao.
Participation varied depending on the session’s focus:
- Beginner sessions for new Wikimedians saw the attendance ranging from 18 to 30 individuals.
- Training sessions for working editors typically had 10 to 20 participants.
- Intensive technical sessions had a more focused group of 6 to 8 attendees.
The planned hour-long sessions often extended to two hours, fostering an environment of deeper engagement. Most sessions were highly interactive, driven by discussions, while technical sessions adopted a practical approach. Trainers remained available online after these sessions, ensuring continued interaction and support for enthusiastic learners. This collaborative environment, enriched by the participants’ shared experiences, created a valuable learning foundation for both trainers and attendees.
These sessions have significantly contributed to capacity building in society by motivating experienced Wikimedians to provide special guidance to newcomers. They initiated collaborative efforts to edit, rebuild and translate many of the support pages in Wikipedia and its sister projects, thereby strengthening the in-built support, ensuring sustainable growth and access to all collaborators.
Moreover, under the influence of these meetings, many veterans of the community have reviewed the help pages contained in Wikipedia and its associated projects and worked to make them more clear, comprehensive, and user-friendly. It is a continued support to society of information seekers by way of reconstructing old pages, adding new information and translating them from different languages. It played a key role in further strengthening of Wikimedia movement.
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