An OpenRefine developer reached out to us with an idea to outsource development of an extension that would simplify use of OpenRefine with Cloud and Suite instances.
They are asking if there are any product or technical requirements on our side to deploy such an
extension on Wikibase.cloud.
| Status | Subtype | Assigned | Task | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Goal | None | T414977 🟰Feature parity with Wikidata | ||
| Open | None | T372383 Write down reqs for OpenRefine reconcillation extension |
T244847 has background on why there is a desire to do this. For Wikidata there is an endpoint setup but there is nothing similar for Wikibase.cloud, users have to set up their own container and configure it appropriately for their Cloud instance (a level of complexity similar to that of using Suite rather than Cloud). There are semi-regular requests for assistance doing so in the Wikibase Telegram channels.
Not sure exactly what is being asked, but perhaps if there are special limitations or adaptations required beyond that of a regular extension, or in the testing process (e.g. must be able to work isolated, without accessing any external site, or use of a certain framework for autoloading, etc).
The OpenRefine developer in question was me ^^ (surprise surprise!)
In this week's WBSG call, @Tarrow mentioned that a likely requirement would be that the extension is built against a LTS version of MediaWiki.
I can share my original email:
I'm reaching out again on the subject of reconciliation support in Wikibase Suite / Wikibase.cloud. I'm just coming back from Wikimania where I met multiple users for whom this was the main pain point in using Wikibase.cloud and OpenRefine together, confirming the feedback we got from other channels.
As you know, the WBSG responded to the Arcadia-funded call for projects with a proposal to implement reconciliation as a Wikibase extension. Because the proposal was not selected, we are looking into funding it in other ways. We are trying to stack up funding from various stakeholders to get a minimal viable product out. So far we have a 7,500€ commitment from the Department of Culture Flanders and Kunstenpunt, and we are planning a 10,000€ application to the NFDI Tools Forum, which we think is fairly likely to be awarded.
We are looking for other funding sources to reach the budget of 31,050€.
Because I am aware that you also have this improvement on your radar, I would like to coordinate with you to avoid duplicating efforts.Would there be any interest at WMDE to co-fund this project? The goal is to make a Wikibase extension that could be deployed on any Wikibase, so we think this would greatly simplify supporting reconciliation in all Wikibases, including the ones hosted by Wikibase.cloud as you'd simply need to deploy the extension. Given that you already have this improvement on your radar (if I understand correctly), I wonder if it's possible for you to outsource some of the work, especially if the effort is co-funded by other stakeholders? Or perhaps you could put us in touch with other institutions who have requested this support to you and could be likely to also contribute some funding towards it?
Regardless of funding, it would be useful to know if there are any product or technical requirements on your side to deploy such an extension on Wikibase.cloud or to include it in Wikibase Suite. We should make sure we take those into account, to make the outcome maximally useful to your products.