Context
A fresh Wikibase install is empty — no properties, no base ontology. First-time users must manually create fundamental properties before they can model anything meaningful, which delays time to first value and reproduces work that is common across nearly all new installs.
A community member (Ismael Olea) has developed a bootstrap solution that populates a Wikibase with a starter set of properties (and supporting structure). We want to evaluate this solution rather than build from scratch, and — if viable — adopt or adapt it as the mechanism for shipping a default ontology with Wikibase Suite.
References:
- https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/olea/wikibase-bootstrap/
- https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T391815#11305743
Goal - This is a prototype
The goal right now is to get a working bootstrap in front of users quickly to validate whether a default ontology delivers real value. We are explicitly not aiming for production-grade quality, exhaustive scope, or clean code at this stage. We are testing the hypothesis, not shipping a finished feature.
Code cleanup, hardening, broader property sets, and UX polish are deferred to later iterations — and only if user testing validates the value.
Hypothesis to validate
If a fresh install ships with a sensible default ontology, first-time users reach the first value faster and find onboarding easier.
Definition of Done:
- The prototype is testable by real users with Wikibase Suite (deploy)
- A fresh install provides the option to import a default ontology
- Admins can opt in to import the default ontology during onboarding
- A working bootstrap prototype populates a fresh install with a default ontology
- Import is a one-time mechanism — no repetition, duplication or upgrade
- Small admin documentation covers what is shipped
Out of scope for now (but keep in mind this could follow)
- Domain-specific ontologies (we ship a general-purpose minimal set, not CIDOC CRM/OWL/GLAM etc.)
- Production-grade code quality and refactoring
Related tickets: