Wikimedia Hackathon 2021/How to

On this page, you will find an overview on how to participate and contribute in the hackathon.

First time at a Wikimedia hackathon?
Detailed "What is a Hackathon" overview: Information for first-time participants

Wikimedia hackathons are generally collaborative computer programming events which specifically focus on technologies and projects powering Wikipedia and thousands of MediaWiki installations. Wikimedia hackathons are essentially large development community meetups that attract many developers and designers who care deeply about the issues and technology impacting MediaWiki and the Wikimedia projects. You will get a chance to work together with other developers, designers and Wikimedians, in a productive, fun, and supportive environment.

TBD: list resources for newcomers, good practices

TBD: information about the newcomers helpdesk

Contribute
TBD: Ideas of things you can do

TBD: how to join a project

TBD: how to find help for your project

TBD: how to communicate with other people

Schedule a session
On top of the informal hacking, we would like to build a light, community powered program, with sessions and discussions about the technical environment in the Wikimedia movement. We will have two different “tracks”, each of them having its own setup:
 * The main track, a livestream of sessions that will be recorded and available in replay, hopefully using a fully open source set up (the speaker will be on BigBlueButton). This will be great for presentations, talks and demos.
 * The open rooms: two Jitsi rooms will be available to schedule your sessions. The sessions won't be recorded. This is perfect for informal discussions, Q&As and workshops.
 * How to propose a session: Please create a task on the Phabricator board, using [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/edit/form/1/?title=%5BSession%5D%20Provide%20a%20descriptive%20title%20for%20your%20session&description=**Username%20or%20display%20name%20(will%20be%20displayed%20publicly)%3A**%0D%0A%0D%0A**Categories%2FTags%2FKeywords%20(up%20to%205)%3A**%0D%0A%0D%0A%2F%2FList%20some%20tags%20to%20let%20participants%20quickly%20get%20an%20idea%20about%20the%20session%2C%20for%20example%3A%20Documentation%2C%20Maintenance%2C%20Open%20source%20tools%20for%20events%2C%20Wikidata%2C%20Wikipedia%2C%20Gadgets%2C%20etc.%2F%2F%0D%0A%0D%0A**Session%20type%20(select%20one)%3A**%0D%0A%0D%0A-%20%5B%20%5D%20Presentation%20(including%20Q%2FA)%20-%2025%20mins%0D%0A-%20%5B%20%5D%20Discussion%20(including%20Q%2FA)%20-%2055%20mins%0D%0A-%20%5B%20%5D%20Workshop%20(including%20Q%2FA)%20-%2055%20mins%0D%0A-%20%5B%20%5D%20Lightning%20talk%20-%205%20mins%0D%0A%0D%0A**Venue%20(select%20one)%3A**%0D%0A%0D%0A%5B%20%5D%20I%20would%20like%20to%20be%20on%20the%20main%20track%0D%0A%5B%20%5D%20I%20wouldn%27t%20mind%20being%20on%20the%20main%20track%0D%0A%5B%20%5D%20I%20need%20a%20Jitsi%20room%20for%20the%20session%0D%0A%0D%0A**When%20are%20you%20available%20to%20have%20the%20session%3F%20**%0D%0A%0D%0A%2F%2FPlease%20share%20your%20availability%20on%2022%20-%2023%20May%20in%20UTC%20or%20%5B%5B%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldtimebuddy.com%2F%20%7C%20your%20local%20time%20zone%20%5D%5D%2F%2F%0D%0A%0D%0A%23%23%23%20Session%20Details%0D%0A%0D%0A**Short%20description%20of%20the%20session%20(~150%20words)%3A**%0D%0A%0D%0A%2F%2FDescribe%20what%20your%20session%20is%20about%2F%2F%0D%0A%0D%0A**Target%20audience%3A**%0D%0A%0D%0A%2F%2FWho%20is%20this%20session%20most%20relevant%20to%3F%20For%20example%3A%20new%20contributors%2C%20maintainers%2C%20documentarians%2C%20first-time%20attendees%2C%20etc.%2F%2F%0D%0A%0D%0A**What%20will%20participants%20get%20out%20of%20this%20session%3F%20(~50%20words)**%0D%0A%0D%0A%2F%2FThink%20about%20the%20end-goals%20of%20this%20session%2F%2F%0D%0A%0D%0A**(Optional)%20Additional%20resources%3A**%0D%0A%0D%0A%2F%2FShare%20any%20documentation%20or%20links%20where%20participants%20can%20learn%20more%20about%20the%20session%20topics%2F%2F%0D%0A&projects=Wikimedia-Hackathon-2021 this template], that will give you all the required information. The coordination committee will come back to you to help you prepare and schedule your session.


 * Deadlines
 * The deadline to propose a session for the main program is May 9th. For the open rooms, you have until May 19th.
 * Sessions will be scheduled in the main track from May 10th-16th, and in the open rooms from May 10th-20th.
 * Technical tests with speakers will take place between May 11th-20th.


 * Formats: We are offering several formats and duration. If you would like something else (eg a longer slot), feel free to mention it on the Phabricator task, the coordination team will come back to you for scheduling. Presentations and lightning talks can be either live or pre-recorded.
 * Presentation (25min, including Q&A). This format is great if you have a project to present, some lessons learned, or would like the participants to get more information about something. This is a great fit for the main track.
 * Discussion (55min, including Q&A). If you want to involve more people in a discussion, get feedback on something, feel free to submit a discussion in the open room.
 * Workshop (55min, including Q&A). This interactive format can be organized both in the main track (where you will get feedback from participants in the chat) or in the open room (where people can use their microphone, share their screen, etc.)
 * Lightning talk - 5 mins. If you have a project or tool to present quickly.


 * Topics: All topics are welcome, as long as they are connected to the technical environment of the Wikimedia projects. We are particularly interested in sessions that are useful for newcomers, and connected to the main topics of this year’s hackathon: open source tools for events, documentation and finding co-maintainers.


 * Scheduling and timeline: In the submission template, you will be able to indicate your favorite time slots, as well as the part of the program you prefer (main track or open rooms). The coordination team will contact you between May 10th and 20th to offer you a slot in the program. In case your session is taking place in the main track, we will also schedule a technical test in this timeframe, to make sure that everything will run smoothly.

See also: list of ideas on Etherpad (attention: this is just for brainstorming, if you want your session to be scheduled, you need to add it on Phabricator)

Socializing
For chatting via text, asking for help, or joining on public conversation, see Discussion venues (Telegram, IRC, etc.)

The other option for our online space, where you can wander around a map with an avatar and meet other participants is `TBDː online space links`

Watching
If you want to learn and participate in the public sessions, first we recommend you check the Schedule to see what is happening at the current time and if it is of your interest.


 * Main track
 * TBDː Youtube
 * TBDː Other links
 * Open rooms
 * TBDː watching links

Presenting / Participating in a session
If you are giving a presentation or joining a discussion, here is a list of tools and links of what you will need


 * Main track
 * TBDː Conference links
 * Open rooms
 * TBDː Jitsi links

Help running the event
If you're interested in helping with organizing the event, feel free to add it in the participant's list.

Volunteer roles:
 * Overview of the event/firefighter
 * Moderation/facilitation on text channels
 * Facilitation during sessions or interviewer
 * Technical support (help people with online conference tools)
 * Welcoming newcomers
 * Social blend (run social events)

TBD: volunteers channel