Problem Statement
Currently, there is no formal process to provide new and smaller language communities with onboarding resources. Communities discover resources on their own and occasionally receive ad hoc guidance from experienced Wikimedians. Newly created wikis are expected to handle much of the setup themselves, including enabling gadgets, templates, bots, and requesting site configuration.
“Isn’t the HotCat gadget enabled by default on new wikis? I was helping a volunteer in Ndebele (nr.wikipedia.org), and their preferences menu has no gadgets tab at all.”
– WMF Staff Member at Wikimania
“Community members have shared that as a new language community starting out, one really needs to be dedicated to continue and that there is expectation for so many things they need to do”
- User:Masssly at Wikimania 2025.
Existing Solutions
- Starter Kit on Meta-Wiki addresses part of this problem but is currently missing several key elements.
- Things that every wiki should have
- Incubator Help Manual
- Indigenous Languages and Knowledge on Wikimedia Projects Toolbox
- How to test that your language works well on a wiki
- List of initial wiki pages
- Language Diversity Hub’s recent Mentorships initiative
Next Steps
This task is about exploring the concept for a starter kit that helps small and new language communities understand what they need to get started and grow their wikis.