The Bengali Wikiquote community recently celebrated the successful completion of Quote Contest 2026, organized by the Bangla Wikiconnect team. Following the success of last year’s edition, the contest once again attracted enthusiastic participation from Bengali Wikimedians. Although the number of participants was slightly lower than in the previous year, both the number of created pages and the total word count surpassed all previous records.
Ztools: Overcoming Technical Barriers with a One-Stop Solution
In competitions organized within the Bengali Wikimedia community, word count is generally prioritized over the number of pages. This is where the widely used Fountain tool faces one of its biggest limitations. Due to the absence of several essential features, last year’s competition adopted the Checkmate tool for submissions and review management. However, after server crashes caused review data to be lost midway through the event, the organizing team returned to the more familiar Fountain tool this year.
To overcome Fountain’s inherent UI limitations, Wikimedian R1F4T developed a powerful custom tool called Ztools. By leveraging API and live data fetching from Fountain, Ztools served as a comprehensive one-stop solution for participants and reviewers alike.
The tool introduced several innovative features:
- Live Word Count Leaderboard: Displaying real-time word counts instead of only page numbers.
- Conflict Resolution System: Tracking and synchronizing differing decisions when multiple reviewers assessed the same page.
- Personalized Reviewer Dashboard: Allowing users to securely log in and view rejected submissions alongside reviewer comments.
- Direct On-Wiki Integration: Enabling users to post messages directly to the competition talk page from within the tool.
These features significantly streamlined the review process, enabling the final results to be published with unprecedented speed, transparency, and accuracy.
Behind the Numbers: Diverse Contributions
Out of 43 active contributors, the contributions of 31 participants were ultimately accepted. During the competition period, the community achieved remarkable milestones:
- 935 new pages were created on Bengali Wikiquote.
- 830 pages were submitted to the competition.
- 711 pages were accepted, representing an increase of 135 accepted pages compared to the previous year.
The most striking achievement was the sheer volume of content. Participants submitted an astounding 2,543,282 words, of which 2,148,202 words were accepted.
Contribution styles varied widely, demonstrating different approaches to enriching the project:
- Dr. Mosaddek Khandaker secured first place by contributing a remarkable 404,734 accepted words across just 19 pages.
- ARI earned second place by adding 312,212 words across 28 pages.
- Tuhin, who ranked third overall, submitted the highest number of pages, contributing 280 pages single-handedly.
A Six-Step Leap in Global Rankings
Due to reduced activity over the past year, Bengali Wikiquote had fallen from 31st to 33rd place in global rankings. Following the tremendous success of this event, however, the project made an impressive comeback, climbing six positions to reach 27th place worldwide.
Prizes, Recognition, and Diversity
The top 10 contributors received prizes and printed certificates. This group reflected the diversity and cross-border collaboration of the Wikimedia movement, featuring two female Wikimedians, alongside seven contributors from Bangladesh and three from India.
Collectively, the top 10 contributors alone were responsible for 595 pages and nearly two million accepted words.
Additionally, the 21 Wikimedians who ranked from 11th to 31st place received digital certificates in recognition of their valuable contributions.
The Tireless Efforts of the Reviewers
A dedicated team of seven reviewers made this large-scale competition possible. Together, they reviewed 871 pages, including duplicate submissions. Mehedi Abedin reviewed the highest number of pages, evaluating 275 submissions.
In a historic first for Bengali Wikimedia project competitions, the entire review process, including a grace period for corrections and re-evaluations, was completed and announced in just five days, setting a new benchmark for efficiency.
Community Feedback and the Road Ahead
Following the competition, a survey was conducted among 28 users who had at least one accepted submission. Encouragingly, 93% of respondents expressed their intention to continue contributing to Bengali Wikiquote regularly even after the competition.
Participants particularly appreciated the real-time updates made possible by Ztools. As a result, organizers plan to integrate direct access to the tool from the main competition page in future editions.
While some community members suggested placing greater emphasis on expanding existing pages, the organizing team intends to continue prioritizing the creation of new pages for now, as Bengali Wikiquote remains a rapidly growing project.
The spontaneous participation, dedication, and passion of the community transformed Quote Contest 2026 into a resounding success. With such enthusiasm and collaboration, the future of Bengali Wikiquote looks brighter than ever.
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