User:SSethi (WMF)/Sandbox/Event: Vital Knowledge Drive 2026
Event: Vital Knowledge Drive 2026
[edit]Overview
[edit]Vital knowledge is a set of articles that provides the breadth and depth of topics needed for a usable Wikipedia language project. Communities define it based on notability, relevance, predicted readership, and connections between articles. These are essentially the articles a language community has prioritized for improvement. See a related list of vital articles on English Wikipedia here.
Wikipedia only works when people like you contribute. Even though many internet users in [COUNTRY] use [TRADE_LANGUAGE] Wikipedia because it is easier to find on searches like Google, [LOCAL_LANGUAGE] Wikipedia often contains more relevant information. But, [LOCAL_LANGUAGE] Wikipedia only works if humans like you create content relevant to people who write it! Especially as more and more parts of the internet are translated by software like Artificial Intelligence, having content written in local language on websites like Wikipedia, helps us preserve our languages and cultures.
Join this 3-week structured initiative, which will guide you step by step through contributing to Wikipedia. This includes:
- Weekly activities posted on this wiki page. Each activity takes about 2-5 hours per week.
- Support and guidance throughout the process.
- Recognition for top contributors via a Wikipedia blog post.
- Weekly emails and reminders to registered participants.
Week 1 - March 23rd: Learn Wikipedia Basics
[edit]
Start here: Learning goal
This week, you’ll take your first steps into editing Wikipedia with confidence. You’ll get to know Wikipedia’s Five Pillars, set up your own account, and make a simple edit on a vital article using the Visual Editor.
Activities
- Explore Wikipedia’s best practices - start by learning about Wikipedia’s Five Pillars. See Figure 1.
- Create an account on this wiki if you don’t have one yet.
- Choose an article from the Vital Article List below and make a simple edit using the Visual Editor tool. Examples of simple edits include:
- Correcting grammar or spelling mistakes.
- Fixing factual errors and adding citations to reliable sources
- Fixing wiki syntax errors (e.g., formatting, headings, templates)
- Repairing broken/red links
Video 1: Demonstrating how to make simple edits, such as fixing broken links, using the Visual Editor.
- Before clicking "Publish change", add a short edit summary describing the improvement you made. This helps people watching the page understand your contribution. See Video 1.
- (Optional) Enroll in this new course (available in English only) and watch a ~3-hour video to gain a deeper understanding of Wikipedia’s core principles and content policies. See Video 2.
Wrap-up: Quick check before you move on
- Did you go through Wikipedia’s Five Pillars?
- Are you logged in or set up with a new account?
- Did you make a simple edit and add an edit summary?
If so, you’re in great shape for Week 2!
Reflection prompt:
What’s one best practice you found most interesting or new? What changes did you make using the Visual Editor, and how did you notice they were needed?
Feel free to share the article(s) you worked on and what you hope to continue improving. Share your thoughts on [this event’s talk page].
Week 2 - March 30th: Expand sections of articles using translation tools
[edit]Start here: Learning goal
This week, you’ll learn how to expand Wikipedia articles by translating sections using the Section Translation tool. You’ll practice choosing the right language pair, generating machine translations, and improving them with clear, accurate edits.
Activities
- Explore the Section Translation tool to expand articles by translating short sections. Start with sections that are quicker and easier to translate. See Video 3.
- Choose an article from the Vital Article List below. Each title links directly to the Section Translation tool.
- Verify that the language pair matches your proficiency (e.g., English → Telugu). The source will appear on the left, and you can click the boxes on the right to generate a machine translation.
- You can select translations via MinT or Google Translate. Choose whichever produces the most accurate result.
Video 4: Demonstrating the history page - how to undo an edit, compare edits, and thank contributors for their work. - Before publishing, improve the machine translation: edit each paragraph for accuracy, clarity, and neutrality. You must improve the generated content by at least [x%] before publishing.
- Refer to the translation guidelines shown on the right side of the tool for helpful tips.
- Review any follow-up edits or feedback on your contributions by checking the article’s History page, and make any needed adjustments. See Video 4.
- Once you’re comfortable with shorter sections, repeat the steps to expand longer sections of the vital articles.
Wrap-up: Quick check before you move on
- Did you translate at least one section using the Section Translation tool?
- Did you confirm the correct language pair and improve the machine translation before publishing?
- Did you check your contributions in the article’s History page and review any feedback?
If yes, you’re ready for Week 3!
Reflection prompt:
What was the most helpful tip or technique you learned while using the Section Translation tool this week? How did using it compare to making edits with the Visual Editor? What did you notice about the machine translation quality and did MinT or Google Translate produce better results for your language pair?
Feel free to link to the article(s) you translated. Share your thoughts on [this event’s talk page].
| Vital Article List |
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Week 3 – April 6th: Create missing articles using translation tools
[edit]Start here: Learning goal
This week, you’ll learn how to create a new article in your language Wikipedia by translating an entire article from another language Wikipedia using the Content Translation tool. You’ll build on the skills from the last two weeks to go from section-level edits to creating complete articles.
- In previous weeks, you translated only specific sections. This time, you’ll translate a complete article that does not yet exist in your native language.
- Use the Content Translation tool (the parent tool of Section Translation) to create a full article from another language.
- Choose an article from the Vital Article List below. Each article title links directly to the Content Translation tool.
- Follow the same tactics as previous weeks:
- Confirm the language pair
- Generate machine translations (MinT or Google Translate)
- Improve and human-review the translation for accuracy, clarity, and neutrality before publishing
- Refer to the translation guidelines for support
- After publishing, check the article’s History page to review any feedback or follow-up edits, and adjust as needed.
Wrap-up: Quick check before you move on
- Did you create a complete article using the Content Translation tool?
- Did you thoroughly improve the machine translation before publishing?
- Did you review your article’s history to see if there were any edits or feedback?
Congratulations! You’ve completed the series and contributed a new article to your Wikipedia.
Reflection prompt:
What feedback would you share about translating a complete article versus translating only a section? What differences did you notice in workload, accuracy, or translation quality?
Feel free to link the article you created and share your thoughts on this event’s talk page.
Thank you for contributing!
[edit]Every little attempt to edit Wikipedia in [X language] helps our community grow! When you learn how Wikipedia works, it allows you to be an active part of preserving and sharing your language online.
If you want to learn more about our [X language] Wikipedia community, you can [READ ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY HERE], or post your questions to [COMMUNITY LANDING PAGE].
For event organizers: adding vital knowledge section to wiki home page
[edit]⚠️ NOTE FOR ORGANIZERS: This section provides a template to help you add a "Improve vital knowledge articles" box to your wiki's home page for promoting the campaign in your community. After you copy the template code below and add it to your home page, DELETE THIS ENTIRE SECTION from the event page. This section is only meant to help organizers during initial setup and should not remain on the event page.
Step 1: Copy the template code
[edit]Copy the code below and paste it into your wiki's main page (usually at https://yourwiki.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page or the equivalent home page):
{| id="mp-vital"
| style="width:100%; background:#f5faff;border:1px solid #cedff2;padding:5px;margin-bottom:5px; vertical-align:top;-moz-border-radius:1em;-webkit-border-radius:1em;border-radius:1em; " |
{| class="mp-left" style="background:#f5faff; width:100%;"
! style="background:#cedff2; border:1px asolid #cedff2; padding:5px; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.4em; text-align:left;" |Improve vital knowledge articles
|-
| style="color:#000; background:#f5faff; padding:8px;" |
Join the community in improving vital knowledge articles that help build a strong and useful Wikipedia in our language.
a
'''Some example articles you can help improve:'''
* '''[[Article 1]]'''
* '''[[Article 2]]'''
* '''[[Article 3]]'''
* '''[[Article 4]]'''
* '''[[Article 5]]'''
You can help by adding references, expanding short sections, or creating missing articles.
''New to editing or Wikipedia tools?'' [[Event:_Vital_Knowledge_Drive_2026|Start here]] and see this week's articles.
|}
|}
Step 2: Customize the content
[edit]Replace the placeholder articles with your event's focus articles:
- Change Article 1, Article 2, etc. to your actual target articles. See Week 1, 2, and 3 section of the event page for reference.
- Change
Start hereto match the event link on your wiki. - Translate all the text in the box to your language.
Step 3: Placement on main page
[edit]- Place this code where you want it to appear on your main page.
- You can place it alongside other boxes like "Did you know?" or "On this day".
- The home page is the most visible location to promote your drive to the entire community.
Step 4: Test and verify
[edit]- Click "Show preview" to see how it looks before saving.
- Check that all article links work properly.
- Verify the box displays correctly with your wiki's theme.
- Make sure the styling appears as expected.