Wikipedia:Skrivstuga/Wikimania volunteer edithaton

AFTER THE SHOW EDITHATON

VOLUNTEERS WELCOME

What, When and Where

We have all been volunteers at Wikimania Stockholm 2019. For some of you it was the first encounter with the Wikimedia-movement, and although you knew of Wikipedia you never, or rarely edited it. Let us change that! Being stronger toghether, we meet to edit Wikipedia, experienced Wikipedia editors and newbies alike. In Wikipedia-lingo this is called an Edit-a-thon (in Swedish it is "Skrivstuga", i.e "Writers Cabin").

When	Tuesday, September 3, 18.00 - 21.00
Where	Stockholm, Goto10, Hammarby Kaj 10A 59°18′12.63″N 18°5′0.68″Ö
How	Bring a computer, if possible. A few can borrow. A short introduction, then we edit, and help each other.
Who	You and me both. Hopefully there will be more than one experienced Wikipedians attending that can support newbies.
Eat	There will be pizza or similar. Vegeterian too.

Preparations

The three hours will fly, the more prepared you are, the more you will feel to have accomplished.

Tip #1: Create an account

Everything is easier with an account on Wikipedia. You can create an account from any language version, it will be valid on all Wikipedias. Here is the link to the english version: Why create an account. On the top there is a link to create an accont, or go to a preffered languge version using the links to the left.

Tip #2: Figure out a subject to write about

This is harder than it seems. Remember we are witing in an encyclopedia, that is its own genre, with its own kind of content. Keep it simple, make sure the subject is notable. Finding the article in another language is a good start. But no gurantee.

• Genre: The genre is encyclopedic. That is long for "dull and dry". This is one of the five pillars.
  • No "weasel" words. Avoid stuff like "legendary" and "world fmous".
  • Avoid activism. Even if you burn for a subject, let the subject speak for itself.
• Be neutral. This is another of the five pillars. Called Wikipedia:NPOV
• Notability. Make sure the subject is notable. Play it safe for your first article.
• Play it safe: Write about something you are sure is notable, and that you are sure to be neutral about. Then when you found out how Wikipedia works, follow your heart.

Tip #3: Translate

Translating an existing article with an interwiki is a good way to start. When translating a long new article, start small. Make sure to publish (because it is fun). It can also be used to enhance an existing article with information from one language to another.

Tip #4: Use the sand box

Wikipedia is really about publishing directly. But, the first time it is good to do some work in your sand box. The sand box is a personal space, where you can experiment with the format and formulate an article in peace. As Wikipedia is a place where many users help out it is good to publish early, then others can help. But, if it is too early, with too little formatting and the notability is unclear, someone may just delete the article. Then it is hard to get it in track again. It is not supposed to be like that, but it is reality. If writing in English Wikipedia the sand box is highly recommended. Then you can ask an long-timer to publish it to English. New-timers will be put on review list in English Wikipedia.

Attendee

Use the facebook event to signal your intent to attend: [1].

Please write your user name here if you are attending. It is not mandatory but it will make it possible to keep track of everything being done and gets Wikimedia Sverige some nice statistics.

• LittleGun, a.k.a Magnus. (I will hold a brief introduction on how to edit.)

Questions

Please feel free to ask anything here. Just click edit in the section name.

Question 1:

Are we going to talk about editing other wiki projects like wikidata, commons or for example Wiktionary? Is there any difference in updating to them as opposed to updating to the encyclopedia?

My intention was to only talk about Wikipedia. There is differences in scope and techniques.

For Wikipedia the main purpose is to write and maintain encyclopedic articles. So the focus is sources and disposition. Wikipedia articles is usually continuously updated and rearranged.

Commons is mainly for uploading photos (other media files too). I can absolutely answer to questions and show how to upload to Wikimedia Commons. Usually you upload, fix the meta data and use the picture. Then not much happens with the entry.

Wikidata is a database. It have a user interface for entering pieces of data. I have very rudimentary skills in editing Wikidata, but are happy to show the very basics. Wikidata to me is most interesting when used; but that is something else completely and I have no skills in that at all. Sometimes I update an entry when writing an article, and there is none or it is very empty. Most of the entries in Wikidata is made by bots importing complete sets of data. And for a Wikipedian it is when creating articles and linking them to other projects.

Wiktionary is an dictionary. It is maybe most similar in editing to Wikipedia, but have its own disposition. There is an Wiktionary for each language, but all language versions lists the words in every language. This is very confusing to me. I have never edited in Wiktionary, but if possible we can try it out together.--LittleGun (diskussion) 2 september 2019 kl. 16.17 (CEST)