User:Shrees1234/GSoC 2014 proposal

Project Outreach

 * Public URL: Project Outreach
 * Bugzilla report: (link to the related report at http://bugzilla.wikimedia.org )
 * Announcement: (link to the announcement of your proposal at the wikitech-l mailing list.

Name and contact information

 * Name: Shikha Shree
 * Email: shreeshikha21@gmail.com
 * IRC or IM networks/handle(s) : shrees
 * Web Page / Blog / Microblog / Portfolio
 * Location: Kolkata, India
 * Typical working hours : 9 a.m to 12 p.m, IST :

Synopsis
Wikidata-Wikipedia's Game Changer,very well said. And the main idea of this project is to make this possible. Wikidata is not known and understood yet. Project Outreach focuses on a few aspects that can ease the path of achieving the desired goal. Wikipedia is the oldest, and largest, Wikimedia project, predating the Wikimedia Foundation itself. Since the inception of Wikipedia in year 2001, it has become the most popular reference website on the Internet. But a few difficulties stand out in the day-to-day running of Wikipedia, that can be compensated by making people aware of the use of Wikidata. For example, the day to day updates of elections in India is being released in stages. Then the article on Indian elections will need updating separately in each Wikipedia. But with Wikidata the figure will be stored in a database and instead linked to from every article. Thus, a single update will propagate through all Wikipedias. Project Outreach highlights on  overall structure of Wikidata and design  for the beginning with the documentation. Project Outreach also focuses on social media campaign that increase Wikidata's popularity and help it reach among every user.

The hurdle in front of us is that Wikidata is one of the newest Wikimedia projects. It is not known and understood enough yet. Wikidata’s  main objective is to provide a centralized access to the structured data and manage them. In order to do that Wikidata needs a large number of contributors and users. This has not been achieved yet. Project Outreach emphasizes a social media campaign that will Wikidata one of the most successful project of Wikimedia. Preparing Facebook pages where online discussions, news updates and storytelling related to Wikidata will be done, is the integral aim of this project. This will not only increase the number of users visiting Wikidata but also increase voluntary contributors. Also, videos and presentations depicting all sorts of information listed in https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page  will be linked to these pages.

Sharing snippets in Google+ are yet another objective of this project. Linking snippets to Google+ will increase SEO (Search Engine Optimization) of Wikidata. Google+ provides Authorship that verifies the person who shared the post as an author. Hence, Authorship makes it easy to connect with followers and build a network. Any content linked with the snippet will be indexed higher.The quicker we're indexed, the sooner users will find our content. With millions of pieces of content published on a daily basis, Google+ provides some way to stand out from the rest.

Preparing thumbnails linking to Wikipedia and Wikidata simultaneously, is another purpose of Project Outreach.Thumbnails will be prepared that will appear on the screen before the user is directed to Wikipedia pages. One thumbnail will contain the link to Wikipedia while the other to Wikidata on the same to.This will provide w a direct comparison between Wikipedia and Wikidata. This will make them realize when they need to use Wikidata and Wikipedia. Also this will increase the interest of users to Wikidata.


 * Possible mentors : Lydia Pintscher

Deliverables
May 19 - May  29 - Get familiar with the database, overall structure and working with documentation. To increase the number of users it is very vital that people understand what Wikidata is. For this documentation should be improved. First of all, language barrier should be removed. I’ll work over the translations, I’ll make sure that documentation is available in all possible languages. This will make it possible to have users from all over the world.

To increase the contribution from existing user, I’ll prepare a discussion page where users can post their queries related to the problems they face while working with Wikidata.

Also, I’ll work on the existing documentation. The FAQ page needs improvement. Few more queries need to be posted and answered. For example the link Random Item which appears on the left hand side of Wikidata Page has not been explained. Also, I am planning to add a find button in the FAQ page. This will allow the user to get directly linked to their query instead of going through the entire FAQ page.

May 30 - June 10 - Prepare Facebook pages where online discussions, news updates and storytelling related to Wikidata will be done. This will not only increase the number of users visiting Wikidata but also increase voluntary contributors.

I’ll prepare few videos and presentations that will be released on You Tube. These videos will depict all sorts of information listed in https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page  in an attractive manner. These videos will be linked to Facebook pages. This will help the user to not only understand  Wikidata but also improvise him/her to become a contributor to Wikidata.

Linking snippets to Google+ will capture the attention of web users that can encourage more clicks and grow the number of followers, as with Google Authorship it will be easy to connect with Wikidata's followers and build a network. Those You Tube videos will be linked to these snippets.

June 11 - June 20 - Develop Mobile Apps for Wikidata like we have for Wkimedia Commons, so that this free knowledge base app follow the users everywhere they go.

June 21 - June 25 - Put a site notice in Wikipedia that would link to Wikidata.This will open a page explaining the tag line of my proposal Wikidata-Wikipedia's Game Changer. This will highlight on the few difficulties that stand out in day to day running of Wikipedia, and how things can be made easier with the help of Wikidata. Most common among them is limited to multilingualism of Wikipedia. Wikipedia articles are dominated by four major languages, The English, German, French and Dutch. This leaves many people around the world unable to read the content of Wikipedia. Wikidata rules over this drawback. Wikidata has sidebars, that contain summary data called an item. The information is structured in these items and linked to central databases that every language version of Wikipedia can use. Another common problem arises with the volume of Wikipedia. Suppose a user wants to know about the alma mater of some famous personalities. Using Wikipedia the user may sometimes have to go through the entire educational background. However, in Wikidata several statements follow a particular label (also known as name) through which user can get the desired information.

June 26 - June 29 - Mid term evaluation. Focus  completely on achieving whatever proposed.

June 30 - August 10 -  Prepare thumbnails that will appear on the screen before the user is directed to Wikipedia pages. One thumbnail will contain the link to Wikipedia while the other to Wikidata on the same topic. This will make the user realize how Wikidata can help them to save their time, using Wikidata if they want to know a small information related to a particular topic. Also, this will help increase the interest of user to Wikidata. Hence, increase the popularity of Wikidata. Not only this, thumbnails will provide a direct comparison between Wikipedia and Wikidata. This will make them realize when they need to use Wikidata and Wikipedia.

August 11 - August 15 - The videos and presentations released on You Tube depicting all sorts of information listed in https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page  will be linked to the Wikidata's thumbnail. These presentations and videos would serve an answer to the various queries that might spring up in the minds of users.

August 16 - August 18 - Maintain all the social media pages, videos, presentations and pdf's.

Participation
Wikidata is one of the newest Wikimedia projects. It is not known and understood enough yet. My main objective during the entire session is to focus on making Wikidata popular and most widely used website in the World. Project Outreach is my proposal for this session of OPW. In the beginning week of my project I plan to get familiar with the database, overall structure and work with documentation. I'll carry out necessary translations so that people from all over the world can understand and use Wikidata. I'll be active in IRC so that I can discuss my work in detail and at every step with the community members.

After this is accomplished I'll plan a social media campaign. This is the most important aspect of my proposal. I have planned, attractive Facebook pages, snippets to be shared on Google+ and also linking of videos and presentations depicting all sorts of information listed on https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page in an attractive manner to catch the attention of users. Also I have planned to develop Mobile Apps for Wikidata like we have for Wkimedia Commons, so that this free knowledge base app follow the users everywhere they go. During this time I'll be completely active in the mailing lists, Project chat as well as in IRC, so that I can accomplish my task in a fruitful manner along with active discussions with the community members.

In the next phase, I'll prepare thumbnails that will appear on the screen before the user is directed to Wikipedia pages. One thumbnail will contain the link to Wikipedia while the other to Wikidata on the same topic. This will make the user realize how Wikidata can help them to save their time, also, provide a direct comparison between Wikipedia and Wikidata. Hence prove, Wikidata-Wikipedia's Game Changer.

At the same time I'll be active with my social media campaigns to increase the number of followers through social media.

I'll be an active member in IRC channels, Project chat as well as mailing lists during the entire session and even after that to contribute to Wikidata and Wikimedia Foundation even in the future and continue with these projects and any other projects I can do.

About you
I am Shikha Shree, a 4th year undergraduate from Netaji Subhash Engineering College, Kolkata, India. I am pursuing my B.Tech in Electronics and Instrumentation discipline. I came to know about OPW last year in December 2013, while I was surfing internet and searching for suitable internships. Though I applied, but since I started late could not work properly over my proposal. Being a student of Electronics and Instrumentation background, I didn't have much experience with coding. So, I started working to learn coding. I then got to know about the next season of OPW and so planned accordingly, to get the project this time. Also I found projects in OPW more suitable for me so planned only for it. I don't have any other commitments during the internship period so, will work over my Project thoroughly focusing in one direction.
 * Past experience
 * I am very new to FOSS. I began with Wikipedia in August 2013, when I added added some relevant information related to Sports Day, in India. I submitted a few talks and also did some editing on pages of Wikipedia.
 * Wikipedia Contributor Profile : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Shrees1234
 * I also did few editing in Wikidata. I added descriptions to a few labels, and did a few translations in my native language, Hindi. My objective behind these translations was to enable people who understand Hindi use Wikidata in an effective manner without any language barrier.
 * Wikidata Contributor Profile : https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Shrees1234
 * I also did few editing in Wikidata. I added descriptions to a few labels, and did a few translations in my native language, Hindi. My objective behind these translations was to enable people who understand Hindi use Wikidata in an effective manner without any language barrier.
 * Wikidata Contributor Profile : https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Shrees1234
 * Wikidata Contributor Profile : https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Shrees1234