Groups


 * Drafting in progress! Feedback welcome in the Discussion page

MediaWiki groups organize open source community activities within the scope of specific topics and geographical areas. They are Wikimedia User Groups that agree on a level of coordination in the MediaWiki context. As such, they extend the capacity of the Wikimedia Foundation in events, training, promotion and other technical activities benefiting Wikipedia, the Wikimedia movement and the MediaWiki software.

MediaWiki Groups are open to members of different specialties and levels of expertise. The richer and more diverse the better. Non-technical users willing to contribute and learn are welcome too!

You know you need a group when...
MediaWiki Groups are easy to set up and they can be helpful in many situations:


 * There is 3 of you, and you wish there would be more. :)
 * You want to have an identity as a group within the MediaWiki community and the Wikimedia movement.
 * You want to reach out to people interested in MediaWiki and the software powering Wikipedia in a specific area.
 * You want to have officially recognized MediaWiki channels like a mailing list, a microblogging user account...
 * You want to organize technical activities under the name of MediaWiki, Wikimedia or related projects like Wikipedia.
 * You want to obtain funding from the Wikimedia Foundation or a Wikimedia chapter.

Topical groups
Topical MediaWiki groups collaborate with their logical counterparts in the wider FLOSS community. They are global groups, collaborating online.


 * They are in touch with communities within the same focus.
 * They participate in events of the same topic.
 * They promote related training and outreach activities.
 * They help improving the related documentation in wikimedia.org.
 * They collaborate with the related development teams.
 * Eventually some of them meet at Wikimania.

Fictional examples:
 * MediaWiki Group Lua
 * Mediawiki Group Puppet
 * MediaWiki Group UX
 * MediaWiki Group QA

Local groups
Local MediaWiki groups collaborate with Wikimedia chapters and local communities related with Wikimedia, free software, free culture... Their focus consists in face to face activities.


 * Organization of local events: meetups, training, hackfests... These events adhere to the WMF Friendly space policy.
 * Participation in events held in their area.
 * Distribution of merchandising.
 * Promotion of local contributors to global MediaWiki and Wikimedia activities.

Also for non-English speaking groups:
 * Localization of documentation and software following translatewiki.net processes.

Local groups must tend to be really local. Starting points like e.g. Recife, Munich or Saint Petersburg are better than Brazil, Germany or Russia.

Fictional examples:
 * MediaWiki Group Bangalore
 * MediaWiki Group San Francisco Bay Area
 * MediaWiki Group Luxemburg

Precedents:
 * Wikipedia Engineering Meetup in San Francisco.

See also w:Wikipedia:Meetup.

Creating a group
You need to create a Wikimedia User Group. Check the requirements and the step-by-step creation guide.

Check Groups/Proposals for more details to create your MediaWiki group.

Now what? It would be nice to have a good starter kit. In the meantime, see also: Your Go-to Resource for Running a MongoDB User Group.

Communication

 * ''Creative thought is especially welcome to this section. Join the discussion.

MediaWiki groups need to
 * 1) Discuss inside the group.
 * 2) Send notifications to followers.
 * 3) Broadcast important messages.

The MediaWiki community has traditionally resolved this with a combination of wiki (including discussion pages), mailing lists, IRC channels and blog posts, lately with some social media spice.

The starting point of any MediaWiki group is a landing page under Groups. From there more communication tools can be obtained based on need.

Support from the Wikimedia Foundation and chapters
MediaWiki groups can request support from the Wikimedia Foundation and chapters in various forms:


 * Advice on the use of Wikimedia / Wikipedia / MediaWiki logos and trademarks in your activities.
 * Connections with the Wikimedia movement.
 * Participation and promotion of your group in Wikimedia regional and global activities.
 * Merchandising.
 * Economic support for participation in external events and organization of own events.

Budget requests
MediaWiki Groups are encouraged to be creative developing their activities without requiring the circulation of cash: using rooms offered for free, having booths in non-profit areas of events, receiving existing merchandising for distribution, obtaining travel sponsorship for events...

However, sometimes money IS needed.

In this case, the first option is to look for support through local sponsors providing meeting space, equipment, drinks & catering... Most logistical problems can be solved without requiring any cash at all.

If cash is needed then the default funding sources are Wikimedia chapters and Funds Dissemination Committee.

If no other options are left, for small budgets MediaWiki groups can try requesting funding to the Wikimedia Foundation. See how others have done this, successfully.