Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Bosnian Wikibooks, Wikinews, Wikiquote and Wikisource

This is a proposal for closing and/or deleting a wiki hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is subject to the current closing projects policy.

The proposal is currently open for discussion by the community.

Type: 2 (non-routine proposal)
Proposed outcome: closure
Proposed action regarding the content: For Wikibooks, Wikinews and Wikiquote, import them to the Wikimedia Incubator (under the sh macrolanguage code), For Wikisource, import and merge them into s:mul:Category:Srpskohrvatski
Notice on the project: Wikibooks diff, Wikinews diff, Wikiquote diff, Wikisource diff
Informed Group(s): Bosnian Wikipedians (diff)

Proposal

In continuation of this request and following the local community's decision to broaden the projects' domain to the entire Sprachraum of the macrolanguage, I'm initiating this project closure proposal based on subsequent consultations with MF-Warburg, a member of the Wikimedia Foundation Language Committee. This proposal covers the Bosnian Wikibooks, Wikinews, Wikiquote, and Wikisource.

During the local discussion, it was noted that the aforementioned projects do not have local administrators to maintain them, nor an active editorial base, whatsoever. The Bosnian Wikibooks contain only 32 pages in total, with no growth over the past 10 years after its initial project closure proposal. The Bosnian Wikinews was soft-closed in August 2020, following its first and second project closure proposals. Although the Bosnian Wikiquote and Wikisource are significantly larger in size, all revival attempts so far have failed, unfortunately, and the community is apparently leaning towards incubation.

The proposed solution would involve moving these projects to the Incubator under the sh macrolanguage code. This approach would enable the projects to attract editors from the entire language area, aligning with the practices of other polycentric language projects. Subsequently, each project should be viewed on a case-by-case basis regarding the incubation period, as MF-Warburg pointed out.

This Type 2 closure request is submitted with the intention of formalizing the local community's decision. All colleagues are welcome to provide their feedback and comments.

Thank you in advance, Aca (talk) 19:56, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Comment The following listing covers all of the previous and current proposals for closing B. wikiprojects:

Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Bosnian Wikinews (2010, closed as rejected)
Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Bosnian Wikinews - 2nd proposal (2011, closed as rejected)
Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Bosnian Wikibooks (2015, closed as rejected)
Bosnian Wikinews – No. 3 (2020, closed as approved/aka a soft-closure):
1. Talk:Language committee/2020#What to do with Bosnian Wikinews?
2. Steward requests/Miscellaneous/2020-08#Bosnian Wikinews inactive
Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Bosnian Wiktionary (2025, still open)

--نوفاك اتشمان (talk) 16:31, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the links! They are all included above. :) – Aca (talk) 19:41, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Hm, perhaps, dunno. --نوفاك اتشمان (talk) 17:12, 17 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]
+ Support Conditional support: If and only if the local B. wikicommunity has explicitly expressed such a desire, although I'd like too see more of the *native* B. editors confirm their previous local decisions and/or make their final ones here on Meta-Wiki. --نوفاك اتشمان (talk) 16:49, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Support. – Svārtava (t ɕ) 14:47, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose --GoodBosnian (talk) 15:23, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose --Agusbou2015 (talk) 15:55, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Agusbou2015 But why? Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 22:55, 31 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support. The change combines the user bases of two sets of projects that, linguistically, are the same language, improving the quality and viability of the projects and is in line with movement values. In addition, the change has critical support in both communities. / Deni (talk) 17:52, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support. These projects have seen little to no activity for years and lack the community needed for meaningful development. Keeping them open only fragments efforts and misrepresents the state of the Wikimedia movement. Given the linguistic closeness of ex-Yugoslav communities, similar underused projects across the region should be considered for unification. One well-maintained version per project type (e.g. a shared Wikibooks or Wikiquote) could foster collaboration, improve quality, and ensure sustainability. ✪ Z1KA 20:13, 27 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Could be, but that project's name should not exclude name "Bosnian", while including "Serbian" and "Croatian"; Should be either BCS or Shtokavian. GoodBosnian (talk) 20:23, 28 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
That's actually a good point. In local contexts, we are free to use more inclusive terms like "(standard) Shtokavian". That way, no one will feel left out, and we will be able to spread free knowledge for the entire diasystem, or macrolanguage, or whatever you call it. :) – Aca (talk) 07:21, 29 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Fair enough, but my point was about the project's actual name, not just how we refer to it locally. If "Serbian" and "Croatian" are explicitly mentioned, then "Bosnian" should be too—or we go with something neutral like BCS or Shtokavian across the board.

Otherwise, it feels like one standard is being left out, and that goes against the idea of equal footing in a shared diasystem. GoodBosnian (talk) 22:10, 29 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Well, the project name in English is usually aligned with relevant en.WP article about the language. Currently, that article is called Serbo-Croatian in accordance with the COMMONNAME rule. I know It's not inclusive enough, but neither is the title LGBTQ. The most inclusive term here would be "Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian" (BCMS), with two remaining standards included. You should also note that the term Serbo-Croatian might encompass all language varieties within these boundaries (with Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west), therefore including Bosnian and Montenegrin in that very sense. (Brozović, 1988). In any case, you are free to request the move on English Wikipedia, and if consensus for emerges, I will be first to change the project name(s) in English accordingly. :) – Aca (talk) 09:16, 30 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Support, not really strong(ly) support, just per Croatian Wikipedia Disinformation Assessment-2021 , that assessment suggests to merge Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian into one Serbo-Croatian projects. --Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 08:33, 31 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Just wonder, should this also be extended to Bosnian Wikipedia or not? Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 08:34, 31 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
No? The wiki is still active there and has 3 active admins. – Phương Linh (T · C · CA · L · B) 08:36, 31 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Hide on Rosé But I would rather consider also submitting such PCPs for Croatian Wiktionary, Croatian Wikibooks, Croatian Wikiquote and Croatian Wikisource. Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 22:50, 31 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Liuxinyu970226: Thank you for your input! As noted above, this proposal covers the Bosnian Wikibooks, Wikinews, Wikiquote, and Wikisource. Bosnian Wikipedia is not covered, as it has an active editing community, and there's no local consensus for the merger. As for the Croatian sister projects, I'd suggest starting а local discussion at Croatian Wikipedia after this PCP. After that, we will see if there's a local consensus for such a motion. – Aca (talk) 11:22, 1 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support. According to inactivity--Fenikals (talk) 12:03, 3 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]