Flow |
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(All links go to mediawiki.org) |
Flow is a project being undertaken by the Core features team at the Wikimedia Foundation. Our goal is to build a modern discussion and collaboration system for all Wikimedia projects. Flow will replace the current Wikipedia talk page system, and will provide features that are present on most modern websites but which are not possible to implement in wikitext. For example, Flow will enable automatic signing of posts, automatic threading, and per-thread notifications. However, Flow is more than an extension of the current talk page system; it is a complete redesign of the user interface for discussions on Wikipedia.
Rationale
New users on English Wikipedia have become less and less likely to participate in onwiki discussions,[1] in spite of a growing and mostly automated body of messages directed at them.[2][3] Simultaneously, we know that freeform wikitext talk pages present a significant barrier to new users[4][5][6] and even some experienced users.[7]
We believe user expectations for a modern discussion system are increasingly diverging from the reality of talk pages today, and that all of our users deserve real discussion and collaboration software that meets their needs.
Expectations | Current reality |
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Talk pages—as a discussion technology—are antiquated and are not intuitive.
Many things about the culture that has grown up around talk pages (such as "talkback" templates or being able to edit other people's comments) are confusing.
Better methods for collaboration will improve collaboration, which will improve all of the projects.
Roadmap
Short-term (up to December 2013)
- Done Initial brainstorming and user research
- Done Defining the scope of the first release (Minimum Viable Product)
- Doing... Build interactive prototype of the MVP on WMF Labs
- Not done Community testing and feedback
- Not done Limited, opt-in release on select WikiProject discussion spaces
Long-term (2014-2015)
- Wider release to more WikiProject and community discussion spaces
- Limited user talk release
- Workflow language exploration
How can I help?
On May 30, 2013, the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation unanimously approved a resolution on the Wikimedia Foundation Guiding Principles. Two of the key principles were:
The Wikimedia Foundation aims to make material in the Wikimedia projects broadly accessible to all. Ensuring continued reliability, availability and responsiveness of all Wikimedia sites and services is our first priority. In prioritizing new products and features, our goal is to impact the largest-possible number of readers and contributors, and to eliminate barriers that could preclude people from accessing or contributing to our projects, such as poor usability and accessibility, lack of language support, and limited access to technology.
The Wikimedia Foundation works in partnership with a global community of volunteers made up of article writers, copy-editors, photographers, administrators, page patrollers, quality assessors, translators, wiki-gnomes, help-desk staffers, developers, bot creators, people who do outreach work and many others. These are the people who build the projects, and they are the Wikimedia Foundation's partners in developing the platform. This community selects Board members who oversee the Wikimedia Foundation’s work. And within the framework of our shared principles and values, the participants on each Project develop their own policies and structures.
The Core features team is dedicated to the guiding principle of serving every human being with the ability to contribute to the Wikimedia movement. We need your help to keep us on this path. If you agree that better tools for discussion and collaboration will help "eliminate barriers that could preclude people from accessing or contributing to our projects," you have the power to shape the development process of Flow. Let your voice be heard.
Announcements
Please post links or diffs to announcements made about this project to the English Wikipedia community.
- WP:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-02-11/Technology report - January engineering report published (brief mention)
- WP:Wikipedia Signpost/2012-08-06/Op-ed - The Athena Project: being bold
- WP:Wikipedia Signpost/2012-07-16/Technology report - Tech talks at Wikimania amid news of a mixed June (brief mention)
- WP:Village pump (technical)#Announcing the English Wikipedia Flow Portal (15 May 2013)
- WP:Village_pump (miscellaneous)/Archive 42#mw:Flow (7 May 2013)
- WP:Village pump (proposals)/Archive 93#Convert Village Pump to Wikia Community Forum software - August 2012 (numerous brief mentions)
- WP:Community Bulletin Board (May 2013)
- Wikipedia talk:Talk page guidelines (May 2013)
- lesser mentions listed on talkpage
Contact and links
- Flow development team roles and responsibilities
- Core features team IRC channel: #wikimedia-corefeatures connect
- Flow development sprints on Mingle