2025-10-31 –, One and Only
WikiProjects has been around for a very long time in the Wikimedia movement. But still, they are mostly built by users themselves with little supporting infrastructure. At the same time, Wikidata has a unique potential to use WikiProjects due to the millions of items that otherwise easily slip through the cracks and the flexibility in modeling things in various ways. In this lightning talk, I will paint a picture of a future Wikidata that uses WikiProjects in a radically different way to inspire some thoughts and discussions.
WikiProjects, often used in our movement, especially in Wikipedia, has also found a place on Wikidata. Users use these to gather around topics, discuss how to model things and prioritize the work. But like many other things in our movement, they are mostly hacks in MediaWiki, by the users themselves, with little supporting infrastructure from the software.
At the same time, Wikidata is a unique project in the Wikimedia movement, with an astounding number of "pages" (items) per user. How to maintain all of that in a project in which you also don't read other items for pleasure? Errors can easily slip through the cracks and go undetected for a long time. It is also challenging for new editors, as the flexibility in modeling that makes it possible to capture all kinds of aspects on the world in Wikidata makes it possible to model the same things in slightly similar ways.
In this lightning talk, I want to make a science fiction take on how Wikidata that uses WikiProjects in a radically different way could look and feel. Central to the talk is the question: What if the WikiProjects were put front and center and fully supported by the software? The overview aims to inspire thoughts for improvements and spark discussions on what we can do differently both in the short and the long term.
Jan has been a Wikimedian since 2006. Nowadays, his majority of edits is on Wikidata, but he contributes to Wikimedia Commons and Swedish Wikipedia a lot too. He is active in a number of WikiProjects and is a member of bunch of User Groups and Chapters. Besides the editing, he does a podcast about Wikipedia and sometimes also live streams when he edits.