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Reintroduce the Google Season of Docs program
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Description

Feature summary (what you would like to be able to do and where):
Google Season of Docs (similar to Summer of Code but for documentation) should be reintroduced in Wikimedia.

Use case(s) (list the steps that you performed to discover that problem, and describe the actual underlying problem which you want to solve. Do not describe only a solution):
~800-900 tasks are tagged with Documentation at any given time. Reintroducing GSoD would help resolve outstanding documentation needs and introduce technical writers to the Wikimedia movement so that they might like to contribute in the future.

To do:

Event Timeline

In 2021 GSoD changed from a Google managed internship program to a Google managed grant program. At the time of this change we felt that the burden of designing a fundable program, writing the grant request, managing the reporting requirements of the grant, and navigating internal WMF constraints on earmarked grants were greater than the likely benefit to the movement. The team that would be responsible for this program has changed since that decision, but the constraints of the program and the effort required to manage the program generally have not in any way that is obvious to me.

I completely understand the difficulties of managing the overhead. I hope that with a new team some resources could be directed towards the program.

Hi @Frostly, Thanks for opening this task! I tried to set up Wikimedia as a participant in Google Season of Docs for 2023, but we ran into some issues with third-party payment processors that we weren't able to resolve in time. I'm hoping to get these resolved for the 2024 program, which is usually announced in January.

Good news! The Finance team has worked out the issues with the payment processors, and we're approved to apply to Google Season of Docs 2024, which was announced last week. Organizations can submit applications between February 22 and April 2.

While it's possible to submit multiple project proposals under different sub-organizations, we're planning to submit one project proposal since this is our team's first year running the program. We're still in the early stages of planning, but project ideas are welcome!

apaskulin moved this task from In progress to Done on the Tech-Docs-Team board.

Wikimedia' participation in Season of Docs for 2024 has been officially launched! You can find out more at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Season_of_Docs/2024. Next, I'll be reviewing statements of interest submitted by technical writing candidates via Google Season of Docs 2024, as well as any new project ideas. Help is very welcome! If you're interested in helping out with any aspect of the program, leave a comment on the talk page.