Google Summer of Code/2006

The Wikimedia Foundation is a mentoring organization for the 2006 Google Summer of Code.

Status
May 24, 2006: Ranking and project assignments are complete.

We received over 100 applications and ended up with just two spots for students. Thanks to everyone who submitted; there were a lot of great applications in there, and we weren't able to accept all the ones we liked -- there were only so many spots available for Google's sponsorship.

The two projects we were able to accept were:

Structured discussion
Add support for structured discussion pages. Option for discussion pages to be more like message boards with threads. Current discussion format is less than ideal (can modify other's comments, cluttered editing window, etc). This could also include support for embedding polls in discussion pages, voting on proposals, etc. Basically, create a minimal message board system that is tailored for use in a wiki environment (see LiquidThreads for some ideas in that direction).


 * David's SoC project blog

The Village Pump is a good example of why explicit threading would really help. Just try to find a conversation that you remember happening some time in 2003. Archiving is labor intensive, and currently anybody can modify anybody else's comments.

Video
No-install in-browser display of video (and audio?) clips for Wikimedia Commons, using reasonably common Java and/or Flash components. Needs to be able to 1) play or transparently pre-convert Ogg Theora videos, 2) avoid use of patent-encumbered formats. Consider integration of Fluendo's Cortado player applet as a starting point.

Brion's talk suggested that this project will also involve creating thumbnails for video clips.

More details will be forthcoming once everyone has a chance to sleep.

''The old project idea list has been moved to /ideas. New ideas should go to Summer of Code 2007 where we hope to accept more.''