Commons:WMF support for Commons

Shortcut: COM:WMF

About

In the 2022–23 Annual Plan the Wikimedia Foundation wrote that it would, among other things, "Deepen our Commitment to Knowledge as a Service, starting with Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata".

More specific feedback which was received during some community calls with Commons and Wikidata contributors has furthermore highlighted the following:

• Increasing support for Wikimedia Commons
  • We saw lots of engagement during two dedicated sessions about Wikimedia Commons. Many people highlighted practical issues around upload tools and the need for more consistent technology support.
  • People spoke about the need to create a more welcoming experience for newcomers, with more intuitive tools and tutorials. “We have too much trust in people finding the trust and the support they need to be able to contribute meaningfully.”
  • We learned about the nuances and risks of making it easier to upload images to Wikimedia Commons given some of the recent history.
  • These conversations also highlighted the need for future movement conversations around what Commons should and should not do and its role within the larger Wikimedia ecosystem.

This page will cover updates related to any work that addresses the priorities highlighted above, no matter who's behind it.

Please feel free to use the talk page to start related conversations.

Updates

May 2024

• Flickypedia: The FlickrBackfillrBot, developed as part of the Flickypedia project, has successfully added structured data to 1,250,000 images on Wikimedia Commons. This bot improves the images uploaded from Flickr by adding structured data fields to the file on Commons. Learn more on the bot's Commons page.

• Commons Impact Metrics: The Commons Impact Metrics data is now accessible as Iceberg tables and dumps, with records dating back to November 2023. Explore how to download and use this data through the hackathon project documented in this Phab ticket. You can access these files at Wikimedia Dumps.

• Upload Wizard Improvement: The Structured Content team has updated the 'Describe' step of the Upload Wizard, improving the overall layout, changing headers and helper text for captions and descriptions, and adding an option for users to copy their caption to description. The team has also fixed several bugs related to Upload Wizard. To learn more about the improvements visit the project page

_{Previous updates}

Data

• July 2023, Upload-Wizard Design UX research Report
• June 2023, Wikimedia Commons: trends and metrics
• December 2022, Wikimedia Commons: trends and metrics
• December 2022, Usability testing for new users

• September 2022, Monthly overview of Commons' statistics
• September 2022, Total media requests (last 2 years, monthly)
• September 2022, Most popular media files (last month)

Active Projects

• Commons Impact Metrics: A project aimed at providing a scalable, reliable data products that address the community's metrics needs, enhancing the understanding of the impact of contributions to Wikimedia Commons, particularly for GLAMs and other movement participants.

• Upload Wizard Improvements: A project aimed at enhancing the user experience of the Upload Wizard, focusing on design improvements and minimizing the risk of media uploads that could lead to deletion requests.

• Flickypedia with the Flickr Foundation: Developing a better tool to share photos from Flickr on Wikimedia projects

• OpenRefine training: A bulk upload and edit training program with OpenRefine

• WikiLegal for Commons: A space where commons contributors can suggest topics that need input from the WMF Legal Department.

Involved Staff

• Virginia Poundstone Commons Impact Metrics
• Fiona Romeo Commons Impact Metrics, Flickypedia, OpenRefine
• Sneha Patel Upload Wizard Improvements
• Benedict Udeh, Movement Communications Specialist

Communications

• Please use the talk page for questions and comments!
• We will post here the dates for the next meetings with the community. Looking forward to chatting with you.