Wikidata:Development plan/archive2021/status updates
Wikidata as a platform |
Increase data quality and trust
We want to increase data quality and trust on Wikidata.
Query Builder:Development
Querying Wikidata is an important part of working with Wikidata's data. It currently requires knowledge of SPARQL, which is too high a barrier. We want to overcome this barrier by providing a visual query builder.
- Outcome:
We have developed and released the Query Builder, a visual tool to build queries without knowledge of SPARQL.
Curious facts:Development
Some of the data in Wikidata is weird. It can either be weird because the data is wrong ("the earth is flat") or because the real world is weird ("a woman married the Eiffel Tower"). If it is a case of the world being weird we have spotted a curious fact. We want to exploit this in order to help us spot mistakes in the data. We will build a tool that finds weird data and then exposes it to people so they can check it or be entertained.
- Outcome:
The Curious Facts tool has been developed and released. It is able to find a number of anomalies in the data that can be reviewed for mistakes or missing data.
Data about current events:Development
Current events are a common target of vandalism while also being important for reusers. We want to find a way to identify these Items automatically and then expose them so editors can keep an eye on them more easily.
- Outcome:
We developed a dashboard that shows Items that were recently edited by multiple editors. The tool is already available at CurrentEvents
Checks against 3rd party databases:Development
Via external identifiers we have connections to a lot of other databases, websites, catalogs, etc. We can compare our data against their data and then highlight the differences. This will allow our editors to look into them and fix them when needed. This is important because it will provide us with a tool that can find hard-to-spot issues in the data more easily.
- Outcome:
We developed the Mismatch Finder and worked with partners to get the first mismatches for the tool. The Mismatch Finder is scheduled to be released in Q1 2022.
Finding gaps and biases:Development
We want to find more ways for people to find biases and gaps in the data in Wikidata so we can work on making our data less biased and more complete. We want to first understand where the most important gaps and biases in Wikidata are and then find ways to make them more visible and actionable.
- Outcome:
We spent more time researching and understanding before moving forward with development. Various events also helped us gain more insights into the topic, including Wikidata from the Margins, WikidataCon and Decolonizing Structured Data. As a more concrete outcome one of the team members developed a new version of the Wikidata map, showing the coverage of Items across the globe.
Feedback loops with data re-users:Research
Large re-users of Wikidata's data expose the data to a very large number of their users. These users find potential mistakes in our data that currently do not flow back to us. We need to build up tools and processes to get this feedback because otherwise the feedback cycle that works so well for Wikipedia ("I see a mistake, let me fix it right away") does not work for Wikidata. Closing this feedback look will be an essential step in ensuring the quality of Wikidata's data. See also the Phabricator task.
- Outcome:
We have continued the conversations with reusers about ensuring that they give back. The Mismatch Finder is an important tool to enable them to give back. More conversations and work will need to happen for example as part of the Data Reuse Days in 2022.
Evaluation of the data quality of a subset of Items:Research
It is important that data re-users have trust in Wikidata's data quality. In order to build this trust we will provide a tool to assess the quality (as assessed by ORES) of a subset of Wikidata's Items. This tool will also help editors identify the highest- and lowest-quality Items in the area of Wikidata they are interested in.
- Outcome:
We have developed and released 2 tool that help to understand the data quality of a subset of Wikidata’s Items. They are the Item Quality Evaluator and the Constraints Violation Checker.
Encourage more data use
We want to encourage more use of Wikidata's data.
REST API:Development
We want to make it easier for 3rd-party developers to build applications using data from Wikidata. This will lead to more applications being built and our data being used more widely. We will achieve this by developing a modern REST API for Wikibase. See the feedback round: Wikidata:REST API feedback round
- Outcome:
We continued conversations with potential users of the REST API. Development of the API unfortunately had to be moved to 2022.
Enable more diverse data and users
We want to increase the diversity of Wikidata's data and among its users.
Interface improvements for lexicographical data:Development
Lexicographical data are an important part of Wikidata. There are a number of important usability issues and bugs that make it hard to contribute to this part of Wikidata. We want to improve the interface in order to make it more usable and attractive for contributors.
- Outcome:
We did a lot of research and planning how to approach this topic and what the best next steps would be. We settled on reworking the Special:NewLexeme page as a next step. The actual development was moved to start in Q1 2022. In addition we made a number of smaller improvements to the Lexeme page.
Wikibase Ecosystem |
Wikibase instances outside of Wikimedia use Wikidata to augment and enrich their own data
We want Wikibase instances outside of Wikimedia to use Wikidata to augment and enrich their own data.
Expanded Wikidata/Wikibase Federation (Federation v2): Development
We will continue steps toward allowing non-Wikimedia installations of Wikibase to use Wikidata's ontology, an important component of Federation. In the second prototype we will likely allow for more complex Federation with local ontology.
- Outcome:
Deployed the second version of Federation (an experimental version) to a testing environment for further feedback from five volunteer testers in 2022.
Wikibase users can use and extend Wikidata’s ontology in their own projects
We want Wikibase users to use and extend Wikidata’s ontology in their own projects, allowing them to access the power of the Wikidata community.
Federated Properties user testing & feedback (Federation): Testing
Federated Properties is the lightweight, first version of federation that allows accessing remote Wikidata properties in a custom Wikibase instance. We will continue facilitating tests of the feature by institutions and projects to gather valuable feedback.
- Outcome:
Concluded expert interviews with additional Wikibase users to obtain feedback on the UX/UI of using Federated Properties v1 on item pages. We also deployed the feature to WBstack and obtained feedback from X users via survey.
Administrators can maintain a Wikibase instance more efficiently
We want to make it easier for Administrators to maintain a Wikibase instance more efficiently and with less risk for errors.
Release strategy and infrastructure for Wikibase suite (Maintenance improvements): Development
We will implement a standard release format for the Wikibase software suite, including a predictable update cycle and defined/documented release processes. Phabricator workboard
- Outcome:
We continued to set up proper release strategy processes that will be based on a roughly 6-month release cycle.
User documentation for Wikibase docker update process (Maintenance improvements): Documentation
We need to document how to upgrade a Wikibase to a newer version of the official Wikibase base and bundle Docker images.
- Outcome:
We expanded the documentation with instructions on how to setup and upgrade a Wikibase installation.
It becomes easier for non-Wikimedia projects to set up Wikibase for the first time
We want to make it easier for non-Wikimedia projects to set up Wikibase for the first time and to evaluate the viability of Wikibase as a Service.
Discovery for Wikibase configuration UI (Installation/Setup improvements): UI Design
We want to reduce the complexity of setting up a new Wikibase by giving admins the option to change certain configuration options via UI rather than directly editing the localsettings.php file. During this discovery phase, we will determine what should be configurable via UI (based on existing feedback), design the UI based on those requirements, and conduct testing of lo fi prototypes.
- Outcome:
Developing the WikibaseManifest extension (released to Wikibase users with Wikibase 1.36).
Wikibase evaluation service (Wikibase as a Service MVP): Development
We will build the Wikibase evaluation service, a way to instantly create a temporary Wikibase sandbox that will enable users to more quickly and easily evaluate if the software is a fit for their project. This is the MVP version of "Wikibase as a Service". The goal of this MVP is to learn about the technical requirements and challenges of hosted Wikibases so that we can make decisions around a long-term strategy.
- Outcome:
We put a version of WBStack (with many improvements and fixes) on wikibase.dev, updated the WBStack variant of MediaWiki to use the 1.36 release and started work on deploying to wikibase.cloud
Determine next focus area after libraries
We will determine the next focus area after libraries.
Market research into new target sector(s) (Strategy and planning): Research
After identifying a shortlist of the most promising sectors to investigate, we will select and engage with a market research firm to explore a potential flagship sector for Wikibase.
- Outcome:
Contracted an external agency to conduct market research to help us get a better understanding how organizations that could provide valuable data for the ecosystem are taking decisions when it comes to choosing a software.
OPEN!NEXT
OPEN!NEXT API Development: Development
OPEN!NEXT is made up of 19 partners from seven European countries and seeks to facilitate wider adoption of open source hardware development practices by businesses. Our role in this initiative includes set up of Wikibase instances, data modelling, maintenance, and API development.
- Outcome:
We delivered all requested tasks during the year and at the end of the 2021 we deployed the LOSH Frontend and started work with an external agency on the UX testing activities of the tools developed for the WP3 of the project. We also managed to confirm with the EU Project Officer extension of the deadline for the task we are leading. At the beginning of 2022 we fixed issues related to the LOSH Frontend and continued testing activities.