Wikidata:Events/Telegram office hour 2026-04-08 - Wikidata
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Wikidata:Events
Participants
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Arian
Camillo
Danny Benjafield WMDE
Deepesha Burse (WMDE)
GreenReaper
Ifenomenal
Jan Ainali
Kevin Ratzel
Lucas Werkmeister
Lydia Pintscher
Mohammed Sadat Abdulai
Romaine
Sergei Leshchina
Tiago Lubiana
Valerie WMDE
z. B.
Content
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2026-04-08T16:01:54 Today’s agenda:
2026-04-08T16:02:09 First up: a look back at development work and community activity from Q.1 of 2026
2026-04-08T16:02:19 Then in the second part: a preview of what's planned for Q.2 2026
2026-04-08T16:02:29 Feel free to post your questions or comments at any point and we’ll respond. Anything that needs more investigation we'll circle back to after the session
2026-04-08T16:02:39 Let's start by kicking off with what Wikidata dev activities happened in the past quarter
2026-04-08T16:02:41 @Arian, over to you 🚀
2026-04-08T16:03:00 Hi everyone!
2026-04-08T16:03:15 Here's an update from the Wikidata team 🚀
2026-04-08T16:03:32 We have been busy developing a mobile editing experience for Items. We have recently released the final datatypes as a Beta feature to edit Items on mobile. So now you can now add and edit statements, references and qualifiers on Items.
2026-04-08T16:03:55 You can test mobile editing by first enabling the Beta feature:
➡️ visit Beta features in your preferences:
➡️ check "Edit Wikidata Items on mobile devices" and save
➡️ visit the Wikidata Item Wikidata Sandbox (Q4115189)
on your mobile device (or use mobile view on your desktop).
2026-04-08T16:04:35 “740 users are trying this feature” 👀
2026-04-08T16:04:35 You can share your feeback and tell us what works, what doesn’t, and what you’d like to see next on the project discussion page: Mobile editing of statements
2026-04-08T16:05:42 reply to "“740 users are tryin…" Hopefully not all at once. 😅
2026-04-08T16:06:31 If you would like to be involved in more hands-on testing, we are planning new testing sessions in a few weeks.
We're looking for volunteers of all experience levels, especially less experienced editors and users of RTL scripts (eg. Arabic, Persian, Urdu).
The sessions will be via video call where we'll walk you through some editing and you can share your impressions with us.
You can sign up to join here:
2026-04-08T16:06:56 And now over to you @Nightrose
2026-04-08T16:07:10 Yay for mobile editing making progress!
2026-04-08T16:08:30 In addition I've been working on policy support - specifically the RfCs for reforming the notability policy and putting in place a mass-editing policy.
They are waiting for your votes and discussion:
2026-04-08T16:08:56 We have also done work for people who are building applications on top of Wikidata's data.
2026-04-08T16:09:29 Specifically we have released a new GraphQL endpoint that you can use for simple queries. You can find out more here:
2026-04-08T16:10:04 Wikidata's data is now also available in the Wikimedia Enterprise APIs for high-volume access needs.
2026-04-08T16:10:39 And for the Wikidata Vector Embedding we have published the underlying vectors. You can find out more here:
2026-04-08T16:12:05 And the Wikidata Platform team has spent a lot of time on the migration of the Query Service away from Blazegraph. They published a benchmarking report of Virtuoso and QLever at
They will be making a decision in the next weeks and announce that for final feedback.
2026-04-08T16:13:00 And as a small goodie we have cleaned up the Allowlist of SPARQL endpoints that you can federate to from WDQS and removed a few that have not been working for quite some time and added new requested ones.
2026-04-08T16:13:43 And with that let's move on to supporting the other Wikimedia projects with Wikidata's data. @ifeenomenal
2026-04-08T16:13:49 thanks @Nightrose
2026-04-08T16:14:19 In the spirit of improving the infrastructure that we rely on, we’ve been suggesting a code optimisation in Template:Wikidata_image to fix a NOOP/Null operation clause. Our suggested change will first check whether parameter 2 exists. This can prevent creating unneeded P18 entity subscriptions when parameter 2 exists, but the P18 check is not required.
2026-04-08T16:14:22 These changes have been deployed to high-usage wikis (en, min, war, vi, id, de, ko).
2026-04-08T16:15:03 Also on the infrastructure end, we’ve been working on a prototype for comparing the Diff before and after a reparse; this will help us test as we investigate ways to optimise injections into the Recent Changes tables of other Wikimedia projects.
2026-04-08T16:15:27 Finally, we’re investigating migrating the Recent Changes table to an extension cluster. This should help us keep up with the natural growth of wikidata entity usage in Wikimedia projects.
2026-04-08T16:15:52 That's it on our end. Handing over to Deepesha to some updates from the Wikibase Suite team
2026-04-08T16:15:55 Thank you @ifeenomenal! 😀
2026-04-08T16:16:11 We have quite some exciting updates from Wikibase Suite!
2026-04-08T16:16:37 We resolved some issues we were having with our Wikibase data collection and registration
2026-04-08T16:17:31 We worked on improving our installation process which included, updating the installation guide and .env file, developing a new setup via a web interface and Investigating potential hosting partners for Wikibase
2026-04-08T16:18:05 A lot of work went into our first prototype for Ontology Federation. All engineering work has been moved to Gerrit, released a patch demo version and test instance and improved the test coverage to ensure seamless functionality with the latest version of Wikibase
2026-04-08T16:18:24 Over to you @valerie_wmde for updates for Wikibase Cloud :)
2026-04-08T16:18:51 Thanks 🥳
2026-04-08T16:19:16 For Cloud, we resolved the search problems caused by enabling the default language code functionality (aka 'mul').
2026-04-08T16:20:38 Other than that, we also looked into problems relating to the introduction of Anubis.
Among them:
-RSS reader not able to subscribe to the feed:
-Failing to use API endpoints:
-Unable to use OpenRefine:
2026-04-08T16:20:50 Any remaining issues here from your end? Let us know!
2026-04-08T16:21:08 *We also made the Anubis challenge page look more professional.
2026-04-08T16:22:21 Other than that, we set up a way for instance managers to indicate whether they think it contributes to knowledge equity in the WB ecosystem 🌐
2026-04-08T16:22:55 Now to @masssly for non-dev things happening in the Wikidata sphere :)
2026-04-08T16:23:10 Thanks, Valerie
2026-04-08T16:23:14 Now, moving on from the development side
2026-04-08T16:23:22 Let's highlight some of what happened across the Wikidata n Wikibase communities in Q.1
2026-04-08T16:23:30 Two people put themselves up for Adminship and both were successful. Welcome onboard
User:Jan Myšák
and
User:Sjö
\o/
2026-04-08T16:23:40 On the Bot permissions side, there were 15 requests and 7 have been approved so far. Many thanks to everyone helping make Wikidata better <3
2026-04-08T16:23:47 There is an ongoing Oversight request:
Wikidata:Requests for permissions/Oversight/EPIC (2)
. You can still vote on it until 9 April 2026 12:35 UTC
2026-04-08T16:23:57 Several new tools were developed or improved in Q.1 and in case you missed them, here are a few highlights:
2026-04-08T16:24:08 Casier‑Politique (
) is a public, searchable database that compiles criminal convictions of political figures in France drawn from court decisions
2026-04-08T16:24:18 Wikidata Property Creation Helper (
) takes a property proposal page and translates it into a QuickStatements batch (and then a second one for the examples) that a property creator can use to quickly create a new property
2026-04-08T16:24:25 Maps Of the World / Stadiums (
) explore the stadiums of the world (at least the ones with Wikidata Items), mapped by SPARQL
2026-04-08T16:24:33 Wiki Clarity Tool (
) is a lightweight web application built to help contributors identify missing information in articles and suggests structured data from Wikidata to fill those gaps
2026-04-08T16:24:41 Wdlist (
) enables you to create and manage a personal list of Wikidata Items
2026-04-08T16:24:53 If you’re looking for games to play, check out Puzzles By Nathan (
). It's a game that arrange words so each connects to the next
2026-04-08T16:25:01 Also check out PlayWiki.games (
). Its essentially a hub of games powered by Wikipedia or Wikidata as their underlying data source
2026-04-08T16:25:18 Next. Several new WikiProjects were launched in the past quarter. Here are some of them:
2026-04-08T16:25:24
Wikidata:WikiProject Hogback
- Hogbacks are a type of gravestone marker used in 10th - 12th Century Northern England
2026-04-08T16:25:27 reply to "Also check out PlayW…" If I get at least 2 more people I'm up for a round of games on jitsi after the office hour 😉
2026-04-08T16:25:32
Wikidata:WikiProject Ski
- The goal of WikiProject Ski is to improve Items about athletes, events and results from the different skiiing and snowboarding disciplines
2026-04-08T16:25:39
WikiProject Beer
- The goals of this WikiProject are to work on and improve all Items about beer, breweries, and brewing culture
2026-04-08T16:25:47
Learned Societies
- Aims at standardising the data model of learned societies (Q955824), including all their subclasses (e.g. academy of sciences (Q414147)), and of their membership
2026-04-08T16:26:02
WikiProject progressive Metal
- The goal of this WikiProject is to improve data quality for all aspects of progressive metal, on WikiData and other linked wikis
2026-04-08T16:26:17 Here are a few interesting items to read and watch in various languages:
2026-04-08T16:26:35 (blog) Does country of birth have an effect on the probability to have a biography in French-language Wikipedia?
2026-04-08T16:26:44 reply to <
wikilinksbot
> "
WikiProject Beer
…" Does not exist :(
2026-04-08T16:26:49 (blog) Wikidata contains many gaps in its political data. We’ve built a tool to change that (
2026-04-08T16:26:59 (blog) Stack Overflow: Even GenAI uses Wikipedia (+Wikidata) as a source - transcript of the podcast audio between Ryan Donovan and Philippe Saade, on the Wikidata Embedding Project and vectorizing 30 million entities for semantic search (
2026-04-08T16:27:08 Using content from Wikidata in your apps (
) lightning talk at FOSS Backstage by Jan Ainali
2026-04-08T16:27:26 (Spanish) Wikidata and the public domain (
) - Tools for bulk editing in Wikidata: Mix n Match and QuickStatements. See the 9-part series
2026-04-08T16:27:35 (
2026-04-08T16:27:43 Simple steps to edit Wikidata Episode 1 (
) - The Wiki Afrodemics Project covers a variety of topics to help new editors make meaningful contributions to Wikidata
2026-04-08T16:27:46 reply to "
WikiProject Beer
…" How can I join this one? 🍻
2026-04-08T16:27:51 Major and Minor edits on Wikidata (
) by Africa Wiki Women Initiative
2026-04-08T16:27:59 Finally some updates around events…
2026-04-08T16:28:00 reply to "Does not exist :("
d:Wikidata:WikiProject_Beer
2026-04-08T16:28:18
m:Wikidata:Wiki Mentor Africa
organised a Women Tech Summit focused on documenting tools. Check out the sessions and feel free to reach out to them if you need help documenting your tool
m:Event:Wiki Mentor Africa - Women Tech Summit (WMA-WTS)
2026-04-08T16:28:32 Wikimedia Hackathon 2026 is scheduled for May 1-3 in Milan. If you’re attending make sure to add yourself in the participants list
mw:Wikimedia Hackathon 2026/Participants
along with what Wikidata project you plan to work on. Remote participation is possible
2026-04-08T16:28:44 The 6th Wikidata Workshop (
) is now accepting submissions. You can send in your papers untill 24 July 2026
2026-04-08T16:29:02 We’re planning the next XXX days for the end of Q.2. We will bring people together for 2 -3 days to discuss WikiProjects as a crucial part of data quality work and use parts of it to help newbies find their place and people in Wikidata. Stay tuned for updates
2026-04-08T16:29:17 @Danny Wanna share more about happenings from your side?
2026-04-08T16:29:43 Thank you very much for that roundup Mohammed!
2026-04-08T16:31:30 From the WITs this Quarter, we can share that shortly a community survey on Databox will be winding its way to your inboxes - particularly if you are an active Wikipedia editor where it is currently being used. We want to ask how you feel about the Wikidata-powered Infobox now the improvements our team made to it have been live for a while.
2026-04-08T16:31:54 But a big thing on our horizon is the research to be conducted by Virginie, our UX designer: This investigation will help us better understand how editors interact and react to the Recent Changes and Watchlist logs that originate from Wikidata’s data.
2026-04-08T16:32:25 Is WIT Wikidata Integration Team?
2026-04-08T16:32:29 This will feed into our future work on reducing the size of the Recent Changes table by being more selective on what rows are injected, and ensuring editors receive relevant information and less ‘noise’ from Wikidata edits cluttering up their Watchlists and Recent Changes pages.
2026-04-08T16:33:24 reply to "Is WIT Wikidata Inte…" Indeed we are, although on Meta we can be found as "Wikidata and Wikimedia Projects" - WITs is much more of a colloquial name for us
2026-04-08T16:33:50 reply to "You can test mobile …" Is it planned as totally separate mobile-only project? As I see, mobile editing uses Codex, and it looks like it could be nicely contained in a modal window. So it might be a potential good solution as Wikidata Bridge successor/replacement
2026-04-08T16:33:54 reply to "Indeed we are, altho…" And what is the difference between that and the previous "supporting the other Wikimedia projects with Wikidata's data"?
2026-04-08T16:34:27 After that brief foray, I'll pass it over to Valerie to tell us about the excellent work they has been doing with Wikibase.
2026-04-08T16:34:35 Okay :)
2026-04-08T16:34:37 @valerie_wmde what have you got for us?
2026-04-08T16:36:03 One thing we focused on was the iteration of the Hosting Policy. We just started to test the pilot version and you can participate! Following this link you will be able to test how your Wikibase works with the upcoming hosting policy:
2026-04-08T16:37:30 reply to "Is it planned as tot…" Yes, this is a mobile only project to make mobile editing much much easier. And yes we will be using codex for this but @ifeenomenal will let you know about how this could be used for bridge
2026-04-08T16:38:13 We also started a series on LinkedIn where we feature insights of the Wikibase called 'DataCompass'. In the series, we synthesize tips to reduce carbon footprint generated through digital work.
See Data Compass WIkibase:
See LinkedIn Series:
2026-04-08T16:38:16 reply to "And what is the diff…" From @ifeenomenal? Same team, just more from what the software engineers were busy with in the last Quarter.
2026-04-08T16:39:01 Apart from that, the Wikimedia Hackathon in Northwestern Europe took place🎉
I'm sure @WikiNorn or others can share more about their experience there! Link to event:
2026-04-08T16:39:29 Lastly. @Jan_ainali did a great podcast on Wikibase Cloud. Worth listening:
2026-04-08T16:39:33 This is also the first step for us to unify the UI, so although this is a mobile only project, we will use this as a starting point for us to update the desktop UI as well
2026-04-08T16:40:09 Now, off to Arian for Q2 plans :)
2026-04-08T16:40:43 Over the next months we will continue to fine tune mobile editing for Items, collecting feedback from people just like you and releasing it for all editors
2026-04-08T16:40:46 Again, if you would like to be involved in testing with our team, sign up to join here and we'll share details closer to the sessions:
2026-04-08T16:40:48 reply to "Lastly. @Jan_ainali …" Also on the podcast's own website:
or Commons:
2026-04-08T16:41:14 We will also be working on bringing visibility to WikiProjects by connecting them in the tools bar on Item pages. You can follow along here:
2026-04-08T16:41:30 What have you got coming up @Nightrose ?
2026-04-08T16:41:42 reply to "Yes, this is a mobil…" Thanks, Arian, and regarding Bridge, our team's current approach is to first make Wikidata's data visible in ways that make it easy for editors to use reliably, e.g., through relevant notifications on their watchlists. Once we've successfully done this, we'll take a look at a Bridge successor. However, at the moment, we need to stabilise the infrastructure for the recent changes table so that editors' queries don't time out.
2026-04-08T16:42:31 As I mentioned earlier, this quarter the Wikidata Platform team will finalize the decision about what backend we'll be migrating to and get feedback on that.
2026-04-08T16:42:34 reply to "Also on the podcast'…" I think the latest Live Wikidata Editing just went out on YouTube too no?
2026-04-08T16:43:00 I'd also love to bring the Notability policy and Mass-editing policy discussions to a conclusion. I'd love to have your input there.
2026-04-08T16:43:14 reply to "As I mentioned earli…" huge!
2026-04-08T16:43:22 How about you, @ifeenomenal ?
2026-04-08T16:43:30 reply to "I think the latest L…" The latest was in Q2, but yes :)
2026-04-08T16:43:30 thanks @Nightrose
2026-04-08T16:43:38 reply to <
wikilinksbot
> "Q2 🜨 Earth [https:/…" /delete@wikilinksbot
2026-04-08T16:43:48 We are going to define the success metrics for our work on the Recent Changes table improvement:
2026-04-08T16:43:55 This will include setting up dashboards to observe our improvements on:
2026-04-08T16:44:17 The Diff comparison prototype I mentioned earlier will be completed and evaluated. We’ll get a sense of whether this is a viable solution for sending fewer rows into the Recent Changes table.
2026-04-08T16:44:43 Last but not least, we’ll be carrying out our research project into how editors understand, behave and react to recent changes and watchlist logs generated by Wikidata’s data
2026-04-08T16:45:05 If you haven't signed up to the research pool and want to participate, please do so :)
2026-04-08T16:45:20 OK! handing over to @deepeshab
2026-04-08T16:45:45 Thank you @ifeenomenal , there are some interesting focus areas for the next quarter for Wikibase Suite:
2026-04-08T16:46:04 reply to "Last but not least, …" are you interested in users monitoring Wikidata's changes in their watchlist only in other Wikimedia projects, or also inside Wikidata itself?
2026-04-08T16:46:08 We will focus on an Ontology Federation prototype where we will complete its test coverage, implement RDF and API representation of federated items and prepare a Wikibase Docker image to ship the prototype to early adopters.
2026-04-08T16:46:31 We will test our new setup tool for installing Wikibase Suite and release a first version! 🥳
2026-04-08T16:46:47 We will be working on Feature Parity and ship new functionalities known from Wikidata
2026-04-08T16:47:03 reply to "are you interested i…" In other wikimedia projects
2026-04-08T16:47:08 not in Wikidata
2026-04-08T16:47:09 And, we will build a prototype to discover Wikibases that are intended for reuse and referencing
2026-04-08T16:47:30 Next up we have @valerie_wmde with updates for Wikibase Cloud :D
2026-04-08T16:47:37 Thanks!
2026-04-08T16:48:21 For Wikibase Cloud, there will be a big focus on implementing and testing workflows related to the publication of the updated Terms of Use and new Hosting Policy.
2026-04-08T16:48:44 We want to make sure they become available on our website,
2026-04-08T16:48:56 Make sure Wikibase managers are required to accept them once they are enforced
2026-04-08T16:49:20 reply to "Apart from that, the…" Yes, indeed, one highlight there was the agreement to move forwards on a universal 'wb' prefix-prefix for use in WDQS instances to refer to the local instance, e.g. wbt: wbp: - it is mentioned in Addshore's writeup at
2026-04-08T16:49:45 Our stretch goal is to actually enforce the policies for real users once the workflows are implemented and tested out.
2026-04-08T16:50:13 Other than that, we are looking forward to update Laravel (the framework behind our platform UI) to at least version 12 (13 if time allows).
2026-04-08T16:50:29 reply to "Our stretch goal is …" before end of the year?
2026-04-08T16:51:00 And lastly to enable users to place a licensing statement in the footer of their instance.
2026-04-08T16:52:10 reply to "before end of the ye…" We hope to do so by July this year!
2026-04-08T16:52:48 thanks Valerie for that update.
2026-04-08T16:52:52 reply to "We hope to do so by …" end of July right?
2026-04-08T16:53:00 We're approaching the end of the office hour. Is there anything on your mind you'd like to talk about or ask the development team?
2026-04-08T16:53:33 small question: are there any updates on two of the Phab tickets I mentioned in the last office hour? @Nightrose T306761 and T388907
2026-04-08T16:53:42 reply to "If you haven't signe…" In case anyone was waiting with bated breath for this link:
2026-04-08T16:54:05 reply to "small question: are …" 😬 No. Sorry. Still on my todo list.
2026-04-08T16:54:17 of I remain hopeful 😉
2026-04-08T16:55:34 and do you have comments on the recent issue with maxlag? T421642
2026-04-08T16:56:27 reply to "end of July right?" From July we will ask users to accept the new policies, but actual suspensions will happen minimum 3 months after the policies become active.
2026-04-08T16:57:20 reply to "and do you have comm…" There were unfortunately a lot of issues recently with some tools and apps making way too many requests so the WMF is starting to put more limits in place. Sometimes they might be a bit too broad. Sometimes the tools might need adjustments. If you are having these issues please do raise them so the Wikidata Platform team can look into them.
2026-04-08T16:57:34 finally, are there plans to resume work on T189412 ? I think it could be useful not only in Wikidata but also in other Wikibase instances
2026-04-08T16:58:19 reply to "finally, are there p…" No plans right now but we'll keep it in mind for upcoming data quality related work.
2026-04-08T16:58:53 thanks as usual, and I will be following the two big very interesting RfCs
2026-04-08T16:59:20 Then let's wrap this up with some bragging time! What are you all working on atm? :)
2026-04-08T16:59:51 e.g. I recently did an import of ca. 1 M statements
from GND CC0 data
2026-04-08T17:00:00 only on existing items 😉
2026-04-08T17:00:08 phew
2026-04-08T17:00:44 @Jan_ainali and @Abbe98: When is your next live editing happening?
2026-04-08T17:01:02 Wanna send shutouts to Ainali and Abbe98 for getting back to editing Wikidata and explaining their thinking along the way
2026-04-08T17:01:02 Monday 20th of April
2026-04-08T17:01:05 and the last articles of
have just been published
2026-04-08T17:01:35 and there will be two Wikidata sessions at
in Rome in May
2026-04-08T17:01:42 We also saw many Wikidata training sessions in the past weeks organised by Africa Wiki Women and Art+Feminism. Sending shoutouts to @BukolaJames and @kiraface for those activities as well \o/
2026-04-08T17:01:47 the first also regarding Wikibase
2026-04-08T17:02:17 I made some internal improvements to
toolforge:wdactle
… I should keep working on that ^^ the longer-term goal is a “daily game” mode like redactle
2026-04-08T17:02:26 and some other cooperations with authority files are continuing or being established
2026-04-08T17:03:02 reply to "small question: are …" I had a quick look at the first one and left a comment
2026-04-08T17:03:48 Thank you all for doing this! It’s great to see the updates happening wiki-wide. I’ve been working on a iOS app for Wikidata editing that’s going well and importing all NBA games right now (I’ve also hit the maxlag issue there) so it’s great to hear from the team!!
2026-04-08T17:03:52 reply to "Then let's wrap this…" I am creating a timeline website + wikibase for the university I am a WiR at, and it has become clear how primitive in technology the institution is. (Also I am bullied out of my department by the manager which has created a workplace of fear for many of my colleagues and I am moving toward another department where I can resume my work.)
2026-04-08T17:05:35 reply to "and the last article…" I wanted to add to the Wikidata Weekly but the link appears broken
2026-04-08T17:05:41 reply to "I am creating a time…" Yay and urgh! I hope things are going to get better for you now. And when you have a public website please do share it :)
2026-04-08T17:06:01 reply to "Yay and urgh! I hope…" Absolutely!
2026-04-08T17:06:06 reply to "I wanted to add to t…" strange, it works for me now; anyway, you can add it next week, no haste
2026-04-08T17:06:25 Not development but I plan to sign up for
as I don't actually know a huge amount about Wikidata's own ontology specifics and I think it would be good to know for Wikibase ontology development (and relates to the federation mentioned above).
2026-04-08T17:07:22 reply to "strange, it works fo…" huh...seems its just my laptop that doesn't like (working for the other team members). We'll get it added then
2026-04-08T17:09:10 That's it for today's office hours. As you read the chat, you're welcome to send us your thoughts or questions and we will respond to them async
2026-04-08T17:09:13 Thank everyone for coming. See you at the next one
2026-04-08T17:09:27 Thank you everyone! ❤️
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