Wikimania Hackathon 2018 will take place on Wednesday, 18 July 2018 and Thursday, 19 July 2018 during the Wikimania 2018 pre-conference in Cape Town.
Developers, designers, translators, documentors, testers and anyone interested in collaborating on a technical hacking project are welcome at the Hackathon.
All participants in the Hackathon are expected to respect and abide by the Wikimania Friendly Space Policy and the Code of Conduct for technical spaces. Individuals not cooperating with these policies may be asked to leave the event.
People you can talk to about Friendly Space Policy and Code of Conduct for Technical Spaces issues:
You can submit Friendly Space observations, suggestions, or reports in person, by email (rfarrand @ wikimedia.org, or by telegram (to anyone on this list). We welcome all discussions and thoughts and are always looking for ways to make this event more inclusive to everyone.
Between now and the hackathon, all participants are welcome to start thinking about sessions they are interested in proposing. Closer to Wikimania we will outline a process here to propose sessions.
Session covering any of the Wikimedia’s technical areas
Skillshare on topics around technology stack of Wikimedia projects
Sprint for making progress in a specific area of a project (e.g. documentation, translation, design, etc)
Featured Projects suitable for new developers proposed by project contributors
If you have your own ideas for a large-scale sprint, track or other projects for the Wikimania hackathon and would like some help in advance coordinating please email Rachel Farrand <rfarrandwikimedia.org> so we can work out the specifics.
Program and Schedule Information
New sessions are added to the hackathon throughout the event by participants, therefore we do not print the program on paper. You will need a laptop or mobile device connected to wifi or data in order to access the program. There will be a physical up-to-date program at the help desk as well.
How to schedule a session
All registered hackathon participants will be welcome to edit the program directly with your own sessions once we open the program for scheduling. This will happen about one week in advance of the hackathon.
If your session is an hour or less, you will be able to schedule it yourself directly!
Your session must link to an associated Phabricator task that is tagged to the #Wikimania-Hackathon-2018 project.
Please try to keep your sessions to 55 minutes so your participants can get to another session. Also please have the room cleared in time for the participants from the session following yours to get settled and start on time.
If you are scheduling a session for longer than an hour, need help editing the program, or need help with creating a task on Phabricator, please email rfarrand@wikimedia.org for help (we want to make sure that the limited breakout room space is available for everyone).
If you do not need a projector and expect a group of 3-10 people, please consider scheduling your sessions at a breakout table in the main hacking space. For now, you can add the session to the "Numbered Hackathon tables in Montreal and Mexico City" column on the program. Once you are in Cape Town you will be able to add a table number. There are no limit to the number of sessions that you can schedule in this column or length of these sessions that you schedule.
Schedule your own sessions or check out our program here:
Hackathon participants should have a technical background or be interested in contributing to the design, documentation or translation of a technical project. We will have a newcomer track that will help to introduce people to Wikimedia Tech and also a program to help connect those who don't know what to work on with a project or person who can help to get your oriented.
More details about newcomer support and mentoring can be found on our mentoring page.
Volunteering at the Hackathon
The Wikimania Hackathon is an event run for and by its participants. Everyone attending the hackathon can take as much personal responsibility to co-create the event and improve it as they like. Below you will find some pre-defined ways in which you can help make the event better for everyone.
If none of these volunteer roles sound like a good fit for you, you can find small ways to help. A core principle of our hackathons is that if you see a problem, be part of the solution to fixing it. If someone has a question, help them answer it. If someone looks lost, help them find their way.
Volunteer Groups
Photography
Group Leader: Chris Korner
Group description: coordinate your efforts to document the hackathon, upload your images to commons, and meet other hacker-photographers
Phabricator task for discussion and details: phab:T199363
Blogging
Group Leader: Srishti Sethi
Group description: Write about your experience at the hackathon. Ask for review of your writing. Meet other Wikimedia bloggers. Make sure that your writing ends up being seen!
Phabricator task for discussion and details: phab:T199400
Mentoring
Group Leader: Aaron Halfaker, Rachel Farrand
Group description: Help newcomers get connected with projects and people around the hackathon. You can be a social mentor, a technical mentor, a part-time mentor, a full-time mentor or any combination.
Discussion and details: Hackathon/mentoring - Make sure to be at the poster creation and matching sessions on Wednesday Morning (see the hackathon program)
Technical / Social helpdesk staff
Group Leader: Rachel Farrand
Group description: Take a shift at the physical help desk. Your job will be to chat with people and help them find projects, tasks, or mentors.
You can find participant information on the Hackathon/Participants Page, everyone included on the participants page opted in to having their user name published during registration. Please take a moment to check and update your entry!
Hackathon Showcase
The hackathon showcase will be an opportunity for 30 hackathon participants to present their hackathon projects to all Wikimania participants. Presentations should be concise and understandable by non-technical Wikimania participants.
wikimedia.org> so we can work out the specifics.
