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Hello everyone,

I have built a small open-source web tool for creating interactive timelines around Wikipedia/Wikimedia-related topics.

Repository and demo: https://github.com/larsgerulat/wicki-age

Documentation: https://github.com/larsgerulat/wicki-age#readme

Bug reports and feedback: https://github.com/larsgerulat/wicki-age/issues

The tool is still young, and I would be happy to get feedback from Wikimedians: Is this useful for article work, education, project pages, GLAM topics, or historical overview pages? Are there Wikimedia workflows I should consider?

I am the maintainer, so this is not meant as advertising, but as a request for community feedback.

Best regards Kogno23 (talk) 13:57, 7 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

any updates on wikinews pulse or another project like wikinews? Thank you. BigKrow (talk) 23:37, 10 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

The best places to follow up on this seem to be: Talk:Wikinews Pulse; or perhaps via NYC Wikimedia, the chapter that is running the prototype. — xaosflux ^Talk 13:35, 30 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hi everyone,​I’ve been thinking lately about how powerful but complex Wikidata is, especially for small applications, light web tools, or new developers who just want quick, straightforward facts without digging through deep ontologies, qualifiers, or multiple conflicting values.

What would you think if there was a "Simple Wikidata" project?

The goal wouldn't be to replace the main site, but to act as a lightweight, human-readable layer (similar to Simple English Wikipedia). It would focus on a single, preferred value per property and use clean, clear text/slugs instead of just strict Q/P IDs for everyday queries. It could be fully automated and synced via bots from the main project.

Do you think this is a feasible and useful idea for the ecosystem, or is it unnecessary given what we already have? Would love to hear your honest thoughts! -- 🐦‍🔥 Aws ^{💬 Talk} 09:44, 12 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

You can't really appropriately describe objects in details if you only have a small number of identifiers to begin with (just like how simplewiki has a few hundred words with which you should be able to describe even complex topics). Sometimes, values cannot be singular (ie. the daily temperature). Sounds like a fairy tale with not much additional value. Wikidata was designed to be machine readable so why would we derive back towards Wikipedia as a humanly-readable interface? Sorry, but this proposal is so far too idealistic. Best, A09|(pogovor) 10:26, 12 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hi @A09, you might be looking at it from a human-reader perspective.

​The goal isn't to downgrade Wikidata or limit its expressive power, Complex data and multi-values (like daily temperatures) will always live in the main project.

​Simple Wikidata is about caching static, high-frequency facts (like country capitals, birth dates, or official websites) to serve light apps and local AI models instantly without causing SPARQL timeouts. It’s an optimization layer, not a replacement. -- 🐦‍🔥 Aws ^{💬 Talk} 10:36, 12 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Think of it as a pre-computed caching layer to stop those annoying SPARQL timeouts by keeping static facts ready to go. It’s also built to be a developer-friendly API so people can actually build apps in minutes without decoding Q/P IDs, and a compact database for small AI models that need to run offline on local devices. -- 🐦‍🔥 Aws ^{💬 Talk} 10:46, 12 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

I don't quite get your idea. How would it be simpler for developers? Least Action (talk) 10:41, 12 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Right now, if a developer wants to fetch a simple fact like 'What is the capital of Libya?', they have to write a complex SPARQL query, handle dozens of property IDs (like P36 and Q1016), and filter out multiple conflicting values or historical data manually in their code.

​Simple Wikidata flattens all of this. It gives developers a clean, context-aware API with human-readable keys and a single, pre-filtered 'preferred value' ready to use.

​Instead of spending hours decoding ontologies and dodging query timeouts, they get a direct answer in milliseconds. It turns a complex data-science task into a standard, lightweight API call. -- 🐦‍🔥 Aws ^{💬 Talk} 10:46, 12 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

This sounds like a good idea! Least Action (talk) 10:51, 12 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hello! There will be two Wikimedia Café discussion opportunities in July. Both sessions will focus on Wikimedia governance, including possible follow-ups to the Movement Charter and options for reform. Participants may attend either or both Café sessions.

This month, to deconflict the Café meetups from Wikimania, the meetups will be held one day later than usual.

1. 26 July 2026 15:00 UTC (timestamp converter), at a time friendly to the Americas, Africa, and Europe
2. 27 July 2026 03:00 UTC (timestamp converter), at a time friendly to Asia and the Pacific

Please see the Café page for more information, including how to register!

↠Pine (✉) 02:49, 13 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

 You are invited to join the discussion at Meta Requests for comment: The future of Abstract Wikipedia. qcne (talk) 11:37, 14 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Bernadette (Wikimedia Foundation CEO) has shared her reflections from around the puzzle globe (split into 3 pages), based on the discussions she's now had with over a thousand people. For those joining Wikimania she'll also be hosting a session around these observations. Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 09:26, 20 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hello! You are invited to the 43rd DCW Conversation Hour on 26 July 2026 at 3:30 PM UTC, featuring Sohom Datta. In this session, we will be breaking down the advanced tools, automation scripts, and moderation systems that administrators and editors use to maintain quality and security on projects like Wikipedia. Please see the session page for the registration link and more information. Musical starlight (talk) 19:30, 23 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

@Musical starlight: That sounds like an excellent discussion. I hope to watch the recording later. By the way, on Template:Main Page/WM News, I reversed the order of two announcements so that the start times are chronological from top to bottom. I would prefer for us not to have DCW Conversation Hour times overlap with Wikimedia Café times, but given Wikimania this month there are scheduling pressures that we don't have in other months. I'm happy to have discussions about schedules in August forwards, so that we try to avoid overlap in the future. Regards, ↠Pine (✉) 20:01, 23 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

@Pine: Thank you for your interest! The recording will be uploaded, and updates about it will be sent via the mailing list. I also really appreciate you taking the time to reorder the announcements on the Main Page, thank you for catching and fixing that! Regarding August, we haven't received the date and time confirmation from our speaker just yet. Once we do, I'd be very happy to connect with you to discuss the schedule so we can ensure we avoid any overlaps in the future. Musical starlight (talk) 14:16, 26 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

@Musical starlight: thanks! By the way, this diff didn't ping me. To create the ping, I believe that the ping template needs to be used in the same diff that includes a signature. In this case, re-signing the post in addition to using the ping template, would create the ping. ↠Pine (✉) 02:38, 31 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

You are invited to voice your opinions in a request for comment about the future of Abstract Wikipedia. Thank you! Kowal2701 (talk) 12:24, 24 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hello,

Why does English Wiktionary not have a "Draft" namespace like English Wikipedia already does? I think it may help for some editors who are interested in a language (like, say, creating redlink articles) but who don't know the language itself.

And how come there are no English Wiktionary pages for Long-term abuse, like at English Wikipedia or Japanese Wiktionary? I think that such a page may be of assistance to newly elected admins, for one thing. ~2026-42013-99 (talk) 17:11, 28 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Wouldn't it be better to ask in the English Wiktionary instead? 🪶-TΛNBIRUZZΛMΛN (💬) 17:13, 28 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Sadly, Tanbiruzzaman, I'm caught up in an IP rangeblock there. ~2026-42013-99 (talk) 19:33, 28 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

This is really something for that project to determine. Create an account when using a different connection, then you can ask there. — xaosflux ^Talk 00:20, 29 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hmm...what about the other points that Shāntián Tàiláng (I think they've since been globally locked, but please bear with me) raised here?

As an IP user wrote here, This is not a valid request for comments, this is partially a rant, partially a request for editing advice, partially an attempt to get other people to write an unblock request and partially an attempt to blame other editors for some blocks. Questions like "why doesn't wiktionary have a draft namespace", "can I blame other people for my sockpuppeting, because when they blocked me they encouraged me to sock" or "why was I blocked completely instead of partially blocked from user talk space when I harassed people" are not suited to a global RFC.

The third of those questions does intrigue me--why do some (if not all) harassers get blocked completely rather than partially blocked from the "User talk" namespace?

I don't condone anything ST did at all, but has anyone else that you know ever used the "blocking me encourages me to sock" defense?

And as far as I can tell, globally (b)locking someone doesn't always resolve issues that a user has with the WMF or one of its wikis. Like, if they were blocked for harassment, when maybe they only did so out of fear that otherwise they'd be "shouting into the wind". Just a suggestion. ~2026-42013-99 (talk) 14:36, 29 July 2026 (UTC)Reply

I have no idea what some comments on a 3 year old RFC have to do with your question about configuration or community management requests on enwiktionary - if you want things on that project, you will need to go ask that community.

In general, blocks are handled on a case-by-case basis as needed - communities select administrators who may generally use discretion to protect projects from disruption. — xaosflux ^Talk 18:03, 29 July 2026 (UTC)Reply