Grants:IEG/Wikiproject WikiBadge
gmail.com
Project idea[edit]
What is the problem you're trying to solve?[edit]
Editing Wikipedia is not only editing the "Article" pages. There are other namespace and talk pages as well. All the contributors are not equally active in editing the articles. Some are active in editing the Templates, some are Wikipedia namespace pages, some like to edit the Mediawiki and Module pages. Some are good at preparing the Help pages or the Policy pages. There are some other users who participate discussions on the different Talk pages and Village pumps. There are others who like to start new pages (could be article, template, policy, help pages and so on) and write upto a certain part and others continue on that. Along with these there are Wikimedia Commons, Wiki Data and other related sister projects. The point I want mention here is, there are different type of users with different interests. But not all type of contributions are acknowledged and/or encouraged and/or noticed. There are some tools to get the contribution statistics and it can not be viewed by all (because it needed to set up a js page). Along with this a leader board could be big inspiration for the contributors.
What is your solution?[edit]
Through this project we are going to build a tool to get the contribution statistics of all the users of a Wiki. Like the number of edits, new pages on each namespaces, total summary of the contributions of each editors. Based on these information we will give them the achievement badges. For example user will get a badge for this first edit, first new article, adding comment on the talk pages, 1000 edit milestone and so on. These badges will be added to the user page (may be a subpage). Along with this we will ask the users if they want to get a real badge on their postal address or not. If they agreed we will send them the badges whenever the get one on wiki.
There will be a leader board like page where we will display the top contributors of the week, month and all time. This is very helpful and encouraging for the new contributors. And it is proven that it works. Previously there was a tool (Will add the name) to show the top editors of the month (now it is not functioning) and it creates a competitive situation because no one wants to see his/her name at the bottom of the list or group of inactive users. Few years ago we launched a project to start five articles (not stub) in a week, we got a huge response form that. There we maintained a leader board for top editors (reference will be added).
First these tools will be implemented to the Bengali Wikipedia. But at the same time these tools can be used in the small and medium size Wikis to encourage the contributors.
Project goals[edit]
The goal of the project is to appreciate the uses for their contributions.
Project plan[edit]
Activities[edit]
First i will need to develop an application to get the user statistics. I found a few tools which could be used as a reference or can be used as a base data. After getting the user statics users will get their badges based on their contribution. Some badges will be provided once in a week and some will be provided instantly. For example users will get a badge for the first edit and it will be provided on the same day. When someone gets a badge s/he will be asked to give us their postal address/postbox number. After that a read barge will be sent for s/he. So the list of activities will be the following
- Develop a tool to get the user contribution statics
- Prepare the desired output form the statics tool
- List the users who are receiving the badges
- Develop and assign a bot to deliver these barges on the user talk page
- Dispatch the real badges to the postal address
- continue the cycle and repeat the tasks
Budget[edit]
Total budget: 15000 USD
This amount will be used to fund a six-month development effort and the badges which will be mailed to the users postal address. This includes hiring one or more additional developers, probably also include the temporary hiring of a designer to make the badge designs. In last 2/3 month i may need part time assistance to mail the badges to the postal addresses. Along with this a full time project manager will work in this project to make it successful.
When the tools will start performing (hopefully after 4/5 month) we will publish the statistics and start sending the badges. We have a budget to send badges for 10 weeks. All the contribution badges will be send once in a week. But there will be some other badges like the first edit, first image upload and so on. These badges will be sent daily in alternate days.
Here i would like to mention one important note that i am willing to complete the project lower amount than the $15000, and this is the maximum limit.
Details
- Project Manager/Coordinator: $7500
- Breakdown: $15/hour, 20 hours/week, 25 weeks (~6 months)
- Roles: Overall management and direction; find the existing tools/gadgets and guide the developers. Prepare the project pages, discuss with the community members, publish the lists of eligible editors who will receive the badges, schedule the badge dispatches and make it happen.
- Developer: $6500
- Breakdown: $13/hour, 20 hours/week, 25 weeks (~6 months) (multiple developer might work)
- Roles: Develop the tools,
- Making the Badges: $1000
- Make and send the badges to the mailing address of the contributors.
- Breakdown: 10 Category, 10 editors per category, 10 Weeks
Community engagement[edit]
- I will be the project manager and i will need some assistance in building the tool to get the user statics. It will be great if the community members can give their feedback about the whole project and help to make the project successful. I will need some help form the existing developer community about developing the tool and all the other type of members are welcome to join the team.
Sustainability[edit]
I will develop a good working version of the tool which will be used to get the user statics. But there will be options to improve the tool and add new features as well. Along with this i want to continue this offline badge distribution. For doing all of these, i will need additional funds. My primary plan is to ask support form the local chapter Wikimedia Bangladesh. If the project runs successfully there is a chance to ask additional grant from the foundation to continue the project in future.
Measures of success[edit]
- Distribute the badges for at least 10 weeks
- Increase the number of active editors
- Increase the page hit of the Wikipedia
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Get involved[edit]
Participants[edit]
Community Notification[edit]
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Endorsements[edit]
Do you think this project should be selected for an Individual Engagement Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the talk page of this proposal).
- Community member: add your name and rationale here.
- As a long-time en.wiki editor and regular in the education noticeboards there, I can see this being useful as a useful tool for motivating new users. Stuartyeates (talk) 06:02, 4 October 2014 (UTC)
- This would work wonders in keeping user motivated, but will also be good in other regions. ----Rsrikanth05 (talk) 11:44, 7 October 2014 (UTC)