Should we add profile stickers for Wikipedians and Wikidataheads?

Question

Recently we were talking about editing Wikidata to fix errors in the linkage to WikiTree. It seems like we don't realize (I know I didn't) how many of us are frequently editing Wikidata and Wikipedia. 

Could we add profile stickers (wiki userboxes) for Wikipedia and Wikidata editors? I thought of just one for "Wikimedians" but I think we need the distinction between the two projects. I'm thinking these would serve like our language templates (but without the fluency levels) to identify WikiTreers that have this competency.

We could just do this with categories but I do like a bit of flair. We can get the logos from Wikicommons and add text like "This user edits encyclopedia articles on Wikipedia" or "This user works with open data on Wikidata" or similar.

Comments

Do you mean 'stickers', rather than 'userboxes'?

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Yes, it looks like I do. Sorry! I'll edit.

Sticker is the WikiTree term and userbox is the more generic wiki term used on FamilySearch wiki, Wikipedia, Minecraft Wiki, etc. Template is the wiki feature that implements them.

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What would such a sticker achieve when many profiles are not set to open biography, and stickers are only viewable on biographies?

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The sticker would be placed on user profiles like mine where the biography is public, and the more important feature would be to categorize us into [[Category:Wikipedians]] or whatever we choose to call it. Then when an edit is needed on Wikipedia or Wikidata, project leaders would have a group of members to call on for assistance.

So the sticker itself would have about as much importance as "This user has 1/16 French ancestry" but the category would be helpful just as I use [[Category:Ru]] when I want to direct Russian speakers to a G2G post about cursive Cyrillic.

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Of course, it pleases me to have "This user has 1/16 French ancestry" on my profile, so that's important, too. 

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Well, hey, I love my "is 100% alien" sticker, myself.

Ok, so I understand if it is also to add a category, even if I won't ever add it to my profile.  It makes sense now.

(I seem to have become one who pesters the ADoB on a regular basis  -- almost as often as I make Wikipedia edits.)

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Hmm, I don't know about the ADoB.

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My apologies.  I should have explained it in my post.  (And I've been promising myself to not use initialisms and abbreviations on g2g.  *sigh*)

Australian Dictionary of Biography.  We find Aussie notables don't always have Wikipedia pages - because we're not America-famous - but a goodly number have ADoB pages.  When I find errors, or have queries, I email the ADoB what information I have, with sources.  I've been doing that a lot, recently.  (Even something as small an error as naming a thoroughfare as a "street", when it is an "avenue".  CDO need for accuracy is strong in me.)

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Ha! You did it again. CDO...
play on OCD?
Connected Data Objects?

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Oh, hey, I thought everyone knew that true Compulsive Disorder Obsessive had to be alphabetised, or it's not truly obsessive.  (I've been using that for years,  but have noted a few others have picked it up and use it on g2g.)

I like your Connected Data Objects, though.

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Yeah .. the not using abbreviations and initialisms is a harder habit to kick than others I've beaten.  This is over 20 years online, plus I won't say how many from pre-internet. 

I am trying (very trying, according to what my Mum used to tell me) .. and will TRY to be more vigilant.

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 - I like it !  Melanie Paul  - perhaps we in Oz should become ADoBians - - my latest is here - = https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dutton-1326 = - cheers

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I think I started the ADoB corrections emails with Samuel Blackall (documented here on g2g).  The fellow at the ADoB was so nice, I have continued with suggestions ever since.  Sometimes after I have submitted corrections to Wikipedia first, sometimes afterwards.  (I had one query I submitted (not a correction, a query) about a possible error due to conflicting information, but the ADoB folk found a baptismal record that confirmed their date was correct and the conflicting information was incorrect.  Similarly, I had one Wikipedia correction reversed because the person reverting it required sources, so I corrected that by adding sources.)

I don't do a lot of Wikipedia editing, but do correct errors when I notice them, providing I am logged in at the time.

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I think most folks that would use it would tend to use and like accessorize themselves would tend to have public profiles. I do some Wikipedia when i see mistakes. I have started updating WIkiData recently while working in Pre-1500 suggestions. I'd probably add them to mine.

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I would say no, you can have a category for those who wish to signal this activity of theirs, but a sticker?  I don't think so.

Answer 1

I don't edit articles on Wikipedia. I only add Wikidata-templates to WikiTree-profiles that don't have one. But I think it would be helpful to know who on WikiTree also works on Wikipedia.

Comments

Yes, I think it would be helpful to have two categories:

• users who edit Wikidata
• users who edit Wikipedia

It sounds like you would not be in either of those. Would it be handy for you to know who edits Wikidata in case you encounter an issue choosing the Wikidata ID? I suppose you're just going with the one linked to the Wikipedia in your language?

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Karen, I think that this would be extremely useful, especially if the sticker links into a category. It would be even more useful if the sticker indicated whether that WikiTreer was available for providing advice on problems with either Wikidata or Wikipedia.

Maybe we could even take this one step further and have a Wikidata Project within WikiTree!

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Karen, I don't even edit Wikidata. I "only" add the template to WikiTree-profiles that don't have one. My "problem" is that I understand many languages and can extract data that are useful for WikiTree from Wikipedia-entries in many languages. Just as example: I am learning Norwegian and by the similarity to Danish I also understand in Danish articles when a person married the spouse. Or I know Portuguese, which helps me understand Spanish articles. Because of that I sometimes add a {{wikidata|template|dawiki}} when e.g. the Danish entry has information I don't find in the German one.

I still didn't encounter the problem that there are two Wikidata-IDs. I always go to the Wikidata-page via the "Wikidata Item"-link on the respective Wikipedia-entry. 

Answer 2

I am a Wikipedia and Wikiversity contributor, but none of my contributions have anything to do with genealogy or WikiTree.  I cannot see myself having a profile sticker on WikiTree for my aviation-related contributions.  Do you agree that the sticker should be confined to people who edit these other sources for genealogical reasons?

Comments

That is a great point. How about this:

"This user edits encyclopedia articles about ancestors on Wikipedia"

"This user works with open data about ancestors on Wikidata"

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That looks good.

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I contribute to Wikipedia and Wikidata. If this community decides to have stickers/categories to say so, I will add them.

My contributions tend to be wide-ranging, and rarely on biographies, but I have created or improved many articles about places that my ancestors and their relatives and friends might have lived in or visited.

Answer 3

I think that it's probably a very good idea to flag something like this, so people can identify experts when they need help. And it might be a good idea to have a tag for G2G (probably just "WikiData") that brings together all those people. This would be similar to the structure of an official project, without the a lot of the formal overhead.

I have no opinions, at all, about the content or management of WikiData genealogies. But I do think that having a process for aligning WikiTree with what is basically the default identification format for crowd sourced, cross-domain data management and integration, is a great idea. It's useful for profiles, and I find it useful for geographic categories, too.

Answer 4

I would like to be able to find members who can work on Wikipedia/Wikidata easily. I don't do much myself - mostly, I  add links to WikiTree in Wikidata when they are missing and it shows up on my error report.