Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2017-11-24/WikiProject report

Recommendations for WikiProjects: A novel approach to recruit members for your project!

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Recommendations for WikiProjects

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I've been working on some cool technology to help WikiProjects. I've learned that many WikiProject organizers struggle to get members and manage the tasks of maintaining a WikiProject, with the result that lots of WikiProjects become inactive. I made a bot that scans RecentChanges for people who have been working on or near a WikiProject's tagged articles and who are likely to be productive members of the project; it then recommends these editors to project organizers who can choose whether to invite them. So far, six WikiProjects have signed up and have been using the bot. Here's what some of them have to say:

• "I really think Bobo.03 is on to something here. This puts some science behind recommendations, and will be a great supplement to the current processes. We've already had new members join thanks to Bobo.03's tool ..." – Peacemaker67, MILHIST
• "I would recommend the tool to others as a valuable way to reach new editors who might otherwise slip through the cracks, and who might prove to be valuable members of the community ..." – Tom, WPVG
• "Taking our comments into consideration, Bobo.03 provided us with recruitment lists over the course of three months, each iteration is an improvement over the previous one. An impressive number of those who were invited have joined our project ..." – Rosiestep, WiR

I'm now ready to make the tool available to more WikiProject organizers. If you're interested and want to try it for yourself, contact me on my talk page and I'll help you get set up!

In the meantime, keep reading to see an example of what the recommendations look like and read more quotes from project organizers who've already tried the tool.

Wikipedia Editathon at Newnham College, Cambridge, March 2017

How important it is for your project to recruit new members?

• "Because WikiProject Video Games is one of Wikipedia's largest such projects, it is fortunate that recruitment is not as critical as smaller projects for which membership is an existential matter. But that's not to say WP:VG doesn't do any recruitment." – Tom, WPVG
• "Very important. We have around 1,000 members and many of them are currently inactive, so we are always looking for new editors to join Milhist." – PeaceMaker67, MILHIST
• "The tool is most helpful with surfacing users who have shown interest in the subject area and may not know that a WikiProject page exists to solicit third opinions, get feedback, and pool sourcing expertise." – Czar, WPVG

What is your experience using our tool?

• "The tool has gone through several iterations in connection with its application for WiR. Initially, the output was rather difficult to interpret, especially as it contained many Wikipedians who have regularly created articles on women over the years but who were obviously not interested in joining. ... I was pleased to see that in later versions of the tool, most items on potential recruits also contained information on their interests." – Ipigott, WiR
• "My experience has been positive. The majority of the recommendations have been clueful and we've had a few positive responses." – PeaceMaker67, MILHIST

What would you say to other WikiProject organizers who are considering signing up to get recommendations?

• "I would recommend the tool to others as a valuable way to reach new editors who might otherwise slip through the cracks, and who might prove to be valuable members of the community. Early guidance in Wikipedia's rules, customs, and culture is likely to make for a smooth transition from new editor to established editor, and I believe this tool will enable established users to more effectively and systematically reach a better cross section of new potential editors for the WikiProject." – Tom, WPVG
• "Women in Red is rather different from most of the other WikiProjects but I have also seen positive reactions from other projects where the tool has been tested. I think the more active WikiProjects would benefit from the tool if they wish to increase their membership." – Ipigott, WiR
• "Do it. Try it out and see what you think." – PeaceMaker67, MILHIST

Some other comments from Wikipedians:

• "One of Women in Red's 2017 goals was to develop a recruitment strategy. We know we have a lot of contributors, in addition to our members, but we didn't understand how to develop a recruitment process, let alone an automated one. After user:Bobo.03 reached out to us with his proposal, Women in Red had many conversations with him regarding our scope, our metrics, and our requirements. Taking our comments into consideration, he provided us with recruitment lists over the course of three months, each iteration an improvement over the previous one. An impressive number of those who were invited have joined our project. The short-term impact is greater awareness regarding Wikipedia's content gender gap and what one WikiProject is doing about it; the long-term impact will take time to assess. In the meantime, a big thank you to Bobo.03 for developing this tool, which I think is currently only available on ENWP but other language Wikipedias would probably find it useful." – Rosiestep, WiR
• "I really think Bobo.03 is on to something here. To date, recruitment of new editors to Wikiproject Military history has been rather organic, with coordinators inviting them to join when we notice someone new via our watchlisted articles. But no-one has all our articles watchlisted. This puts some science behind recommendations, and will be a great supplement to the current processes. We've already had new members join thanks to Bobo.03's tool. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes." – Peacemaker67, MILHIST

Again, if you like what you see and you want to test it out, contact me on my talk page!Bobo.03 (talk) 20:57, 4 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

In this issue

24 November 2017 (all comments)

News and notes

Arbitration report

• Very interesting. I would like to be notified when this is available for other languages. --Nattes à chat (talk) 08:52, 24 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
• Amazing creation Bobo.03! It definitely is good in an age where 95% of valuable newbies get discouraged by veteran editors... J947 ^{(c · m)} 21:35, 24 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
• The creator of this tool used it for WikiProject Women's health and it works extremely well. It also seems to identify a project's most active contributors. This is a good way to determine who are the editors that probably deserve a barnstar or two. Best Regards, Barbara (WVS) ✐ ✉ 15:25, 25 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
• I'm really excited by the potential for routing editors towards active, subject-focused working groups. Sometimes Wikipedia can feel like an empty desert with an occasional thorny critique. I think this project has the potential to help people find others to work with and a larger purpose to their effort. I'm really excited by the idea that WikiProject Recommendations might help revive some struggling/inactive WikiProjects and help new initiatives grow quickly. --EpochFail (talk • contribs) 16:26, 25 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
• Thank you all for your encouragement! We will keep improving our system to provide good recommendations. Hope it would help newbies get involved in the community, and help WikiProjects find helpers! Bobo.03 (talk) 18:21, 27 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
• Very interesting! Thanks for your work :) Jean-Fred (talk) 18:29, 2 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  

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