Talk pages consultation 2019

The Talk pages consultation is a global consultation planned from February to June 2019, to bring Wikimedians and wiki-minded people together to define better tools for wiki communication. The consultation will seek input from as many different parts of the Wikimedia community as possible – on multiple projects, in multiple languages, and with multiple perspectives – to come up with a product direction for a set of communication features that a product team will be able to work on in the coming fiscal year.

Purpose of the consultation
A wikitext talk page isn't made out of software; it's a collection of cultural conventions that are baffling to newcomers, and annoying for experienced editors. Counting colons to indent a reply properly, using tildes to sign your name, having to watch an entire talk page instead of the section you're participating in, not having an easy reply link – these are headaches for everyone.

At the same time, there are many things that wikitext talk pages do well. The empty edit window has given people the freedom to invent templates and techniques that are extremely flexible and adaptable. Conversations can be reorganized on the fly. Using diffs and revisions means that you can always see what's been done on a page, when and by who. The functionality that helped people collaborate on millions of encyclopedia articles for fifteen years shouldn't be dismissed as old-fashioned and useless.

Wikimedia Foundation product teams have worked on communication tools before: LiquidThreads (started in 2010) and Flow/Structured Discussions (started in 2012). Both of these projects have been used successfully on many wikis, although they've also both been heavily criticized, and neither has gained wide acceptance on many of the largest wikis.

We want all contributors to be able to talk to each other on the wikis – to ask questions, to resolve differences, to organize projects and to make decisions. Communication is essential for the depth and quality of our content, and the health of our communities. We believe that this is essential for us to reach our goal of providing free access to the sum of all human knowledge.

Desired result from this consultation
One sentence, one paragraph, and one document that describe the overall direction of what we will build.

By the end of this consultation, we'll have an overall product direction for a set of communication features that a product team will be able to work on in the coming fiscal year. We'll have a rough consensus that our contributors agree with that overall approach, including both new contributors and longtime veterans, in multiple languages and across multiple projects.

By the end of the consultation, we'll be able to answer these questions:


 * Are we building one feature, or more than one?
 * Are we improving previous systems, or building a new tool?
 * How will we balance ease of use with the advanced feature set that our most complex use cases require?
 * What are the important open questions that the product team should investigate and test?

The result will not be a complete, detailed product specification. Detailed plans will be developed and revised by the product team over time, informed by design, testing and continued close partnership with our users. But we'll have a solid place to start, and we'll be confident that the team is on the right track.

To encourage trust and good faith, the consultation and ultimate product development will be entirely public and transparent. Every step will be documented on wiki.

Possible solutions
For this process to work, we need to be open to all kinds of directions. It's possible that at the end of this consultation, we end up with any of the following:


 * Building features on top of wikitext talk pages, to make them easier and more efficient.
 * Using Visual Editor on talk pages, with extra features.
 * Building a new software feature that isn't StructuredDiscussions/Flow.
 * Building on top of the existing StructuredDiscussions/Flow feature.
 * Building more than one solution – it's possible that we define separate sets of requirements for user talk conversations, content/project page conversations, common workflows and RFCs, and that there are two (or more) different features.
 * Something completely different that we haven't considered yet.

Non-goals
While we are interested in all good ideas, and might take some up in future, some things are out of scope for the current project:


 * Off-wiki discussion platform – Discussions need to be on the wikis, using Wikimedia accounts.
 * Temporary content – Discussions need to be stored on wiki, so they can be found and referenced later.
 * Tools for a niche audience – Discussions are designed for everyone, with equity in mind. We're not building a tool only for a subset of users (e.g. experience, language, preferred device.)
 * A social network per se – Discussions on Wikimedia should primarily be in service of improving content on the wiki.
 * Real-time discussions – Real-time discussions have value, but our current focus is on asynchronous discussions for the reasons mentioned in points above.
 * The status quo – Leaving talk pages exactly as they are.

Participate
We are currently in the planning stage. Please read this page and provide feedback on the overall process for this talk page consultation:

We're also looking for volunteers to be the primary contact for participant groups throughout this process.

You can also help build the list of the many different ways people talk to each other.

Consultation structure
This consultation will have a "hub-and-spoke" structure, with a central hub located here on mediawiki.org ("Talk Page Consultation central"). Over the course of the consultation, multiple participant groups will have discussions on other wikis and in off-wiki settings, and then contribute notes and findings back to TPC central. Some participant groups will participate through the whole process, others may participate for a limited time (especially if they're IRL/meetups). Everyone can follow along and participate at TPC central (language permitting).

Phase 0: Planning
This is a planning phase, starting now! During this phase, we will:


 * Publicly announce the project, and invite questions and ideas from the Wikimedia community
 * Set up TPC central documentation structure
 * Create list of wikis and user groups for initial outreach
 * Establish code of conduct guidelines
 * Begin retrospective process for StructuredDiscussions/Flow, Liquid Threads and wikitext workflows, collect important documentation
 * Begin outreach to participant groups
 * Invite volunteers to facilitate discussions, and participate in other ways
 * Create schedule for phase 1

Phase 1: Collect information
Where: mw:Talk:Talk pages consultation 2019, plus volunteer participant groups

When: mid-February to March

During this phase we will solicit open feedback from a wide range of individuals and groups about their experiences with talk pages or alternative tools. Questions will include:


 * When you want to discuss a topic with your community, what tools work for you, and what problems block you?
 * What about talk pages works for newcomers, and what blocks them?
 * What do others struggle with in your community about talk pages?
 * What do you wish you could do, but can't due to the technical limitations?
 * What are the important aspects of a "wiki discussion"?

Phase 2: Trade-offs and prioritization
Where: mw:Talk:Talk pages consultation 2019, plus volunteer participant groups

When: Starting in March 2019 (tentative)

Some ideas generated during phase 1 may be mutually exclusive. Some ideas might work better for some purposes or some kinds of users. We'll have to talk about which problems are more urgent, which projects are most closely aligned with the overall needs and goals of the movement, and which ideas we should focus on first.

Discussions about these trade-offs will be moderated by the Wikimedia Foundation, guided by our decision criteria, listed below.

Space for unexpected discoveries
Within the scope of this project, all the options are on the table. There are no hidden agendas. We don't know all the things, and we don't know what we might learn. We need to accept these "unknown unknowns".

The schedule of this consultation may change because of these unexpected discoveries.

Phase 3: Review potential direction
Where:  mw:Talk:Talk pages consultation 2019, plus volunteer participant groups

When: May 2019 (tentative)

We invite everyone back to the central page on MediaWiki.org to review the emerging direction for this project.

Feb 5, 2019
We're excited to overhaul this page and present more information about how this talk page consultation will work over the next several months! Have a read of this project page, which includes information the structure, timeline, and decision-making criteria. To shape this documentation we've discussed this consultation with Wikimedia Foundation staff: both executive leadership as well as an open staff working group. We want this process to be aware of the past while pragmatically working toward the future, allowing for all voices to be heard equally.

See the § Participate section above to get started and help us make this a successful endeavour. Thank you! 🚀

Previous
See updates from before February 5, 2019 at Talk pages consultation 2019/Status updates.

Final decisions
The project is led by Trevor Bolliger (Product Manager), Benoît Evellin (Community Relations Specialist), Sherry Snyder (Community Relations Specialist) and Danny Horn (Director of Product Management).

Information from multiple communities and other stakeholders is extremely important. We deeply believe that we can't make a good decision without listening to you and understanding your needs. However, the final decision about what software to support will be made by the Wikimedia Foundation, after due consideration of all the available information, our educational purpose, and the movement's 2030 strategic direction.

Decision criteria
While the Wikimedia Foundation will make the final decisions in the 2019 talk page consultation, we are entering this process with honest curiosity, no preconceived solutions, and we are legitimately seeking to comprehend the feedback we receive. That said, there will be many difficult discussions about trade-offs we need to make. When it comes time to make a decision, all valid options will be weighed by the following criteria:


 * Which option(s) most aligns with our values?
 * Which option is most in alignment with Strategic Direction of Knowledge Equity?
 * Which option serves the most users and use cases as opposed to niche users?
 * Which option will result in more accessible user experience, for anyone on any device?
 * Which option will result in a more sustainable product that will be resilient to changing technologies, evolving use cases, and user expectations?
 * Which option poses the least amount of risk to achieve our project goals?