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Chris Koerner

15 Jul 2020 15 Jul '20

5:50 p.m.

Hello, Today the Wikimedia Foundation would like to introduce a new community blog. It's called "Diff" (diff.wikimedia.org) and is a blog by – and for – the Wikimedia volunteer community to connect and share learnings, stories, and ideas from across our movement. We'd like to encourage you to learn more about Diff and how it can help you in sharing and learning from your fellow Wikimedians. Everyone is invited to contribute! https://diff.wikimedia.org/2020/07/14/welcome-to-diff-a-community-blog-for-… The name “Diff” is in reference to the wiki interface that displays the difference between one version and another of a Wikipedia page. It also reflects the “difference” our communities and movement make in the world every day. For some background, Diff builds on lessons and experiences from the Wikimedia Blog, the Wikimedia Foundation News, and Wikimedia Space; previous posts from these channels are archived on Diff. The channel is primarily intended for community-authored posts, in which volunteers can share their stories, learnings, and ideas with each other. Diff offers a simple and accessible editorial process, moderated by Foundation communications staff and open to volunteers, to encourage participation from all — especially emerging and under-represented communities. Additionally, content on Diff can be written and translated into languages to reach a wide audience. Diff also has a code of conduct and comments can be flagged and moderated. Still curious to learn more? https://diff.wikimedia.org/2020/07/14/welcome-to-diff-a-community-blog-for-… Yours, Chris Koerner (he/him) Community Relations Specialist Wikimedia Foundation

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Andy Mabbett

15 Jul 15 Jul

7:29 p.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Introducing Diff – a blog by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community

On Wed, 15 Jul 2020 at 18:50, Chris Koerner <ckoerner(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Diff builds on lessons and experiences from the Wikimedia Blog, the Wikimedia Foundation News, and Wikimedia Space; previous posts from these channels are archived on Diff.

Based on my involvement with the Blog, I've identified some issues... At the request of the WMF, in 2017 I wrote a blog post, which was published - after WMF's editorial approval - at: https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astronaut-spoken-voice/ an independently-archived copy may be found at: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astrona… This has now been republished at: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astronaut-spoken-voice/ to which the original URL has now been redirected. The new version of the article has footer, saying: Archive notice: This is an archived post from blog.wikimedia.org, and as such was written under a different editorial standard than Diff. I am concerned that this unexplained comment may not reflect well on me, as the named author. The new version of my author profile page: https://diff.wikimedia.org/author/cap-andy-mabbet/ is missing the thumbnail image for the blog post; compare with the archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20191218122440/https://blog.wikimedia.org/autho… (the spelling error in the URL has carried over from the original).

...

The channel is primarily intended for community-authored posts, in which volunteers can share their stories, learnings, and ideas with each other.

I didn't write the above post simply to share the story with other volunteers; it was written - I again emphasise, at the WMF's request - for a global audience, and presented to the press as such, as part of a joint publicity initiative with the European Space Agency.

...

content on Diff can be written and translated into languages to reach a wide audience.

My original post - as can be seen from the banner in the version at the Internet Archive - was kindly translated into Italian (apt, as the subject was an Italian Astronaut) and French. The banner containing the links to those translations is missing from the "Diff" copy. The original URLs of the italian and French versions: https://blog.wikimedia.org/it/2017/11/29/wikipedia-lascia-il-pianeta-terra https://blog.wikimedia.org/fr/2017/12/01/wikipedia-quitte-la-planete-terre now redirect, respectively, to: https://diff.wikimedia.org/it/2017/11/29/wikipedia-lascia-il-pianeta-terra https://diff.wikimedia.org/fr/2017/12/01/wikipedia-quitte-la-planete-terre each of which are returning a 404 error. Several links to the original Italian URL, from the Italian-language Wikipedia, including those in encyclopedia articles, and two links to the original French URL on the French-language Wikipedia, are now broken. Obviously this also applies to any external sites that link to them, too.

...

Still curious to learn more?

Yes: What consultation was carried out with contributors, and the wider the Wikimedia community, to inform this change? -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

Yair Rand

10:26 p.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Introducing Diff – a blog by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community

I am concerned. Although it is purported to be "by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community", the blog is clearly run by the WMF, the editorial team is made up of WMF staff, the WMF handles moderating, the guidelines were written by the WMF, the blog was created by the WMF without community consultation or input, and the structure and category system are clearly WMF-oriented. Also, it's based on WordPress, yet again, and with a very problematic privacy policy which probably won't be acceptable to many in the community. This is not a positive development, in my opinion. -- Yair Rand ‫בתאריך יום ד׳, 15 ביולי 2020 ב-15:31 מאת ‪Andy Mabbett‬‏ <‪ andy@pigsonthewing.org.uk‬‏>:‬

...

On Wed, 15 Jul 2020 at 18:50, Chris Koerner <ckoerner(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

Diff builds on lessons and experiences from the Wikimedia Blog, the Wikimedia Foundation News, and Wikimedia Space; previous posts from these channels are archived on Diff.

The channel is primarily intended for community-authored posts, in which volunteers can share their stories, learnings, and ideas with each other.

content on Diff can be written and translated into languages to reach a wide audience.

Still curious to learn more?

Yes: What consultation was carried out with contributors, and the wider the Wikimedia community, to inform this change? -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

effe iets anders

16 Jul 16 Jul

5:22 a.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Introducing Diff – a blog by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community

The editorial team has been the status quo for years. I'd like to see it expanded over time with volunteers, but at this point it would be unfair to look down at this development for that reason. To keep things constructive here: are there specific guidelines or procedures that you would like to see changed? What is the kind of volunteer/non-WMF person that you would like to see added to the team? (not expecting you to call names, but you may be able to come up with broad categories) If you have such big problems with the privacy policy, could you create a separate thread about that and be specific about what exactly you find concerning, and why? I don't think an announcement thread is the best place to discuss those concerns - if these are really significant problems, it warrants a separate thread. Best, Lodewijk On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 3:27 PM Yair Rand <yyairrand(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Wed, 15 Jul 2020 at 18:50, Chris Koerner <ckoerner(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

Diff builds on lessons and experiences from the Wikimedia Blog, the Wikimedia Foundation News, and Wikimedia Space; previous posts from these channels are archived on Diff.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astrona…

This has now been republished at: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astronaut-spoken-voice/ to which the original URL has now been redirected. The new version of the article has footer, saying: Archive notice: This is an archived post from blog.wikimedia.org, and as such was written under a different editorial standard than Diff. I am concerned that this unexplained comment may not reflect well on me, as the named author. The new version of my author profile page: https://diff.wikimedia.org/author/cap-andy-mabbet/ is missing the thumbnail image for the blog post; compare with the archived version:

https://web.archive.org/web/20191218122440/https://blog.wikimedia.org/autho…

(the spelling error in the URL has carried over from the original).

The channel is primarily intended for community-authored posts, in which volunteers can share their stories, learnings, and ideas with each other.

content on Diff can be written and translated into languages to reach a wide audience.

https://blog.wikimedia.org/it/2017/11/29/wikipedia-lascia-il-pianeta-terra

https://blog.wikimedia.org/fr/2017/12/01/wikipedia-quitte-la-planete-terre > > now redirect, respectively, to:

https://diff.wikimedia.org/it/2017/11/29/wikipedia-lascia-il-pianeta-terra

https://diff.wikimedia.org/fr/2017/12/01/wikipedia-quitte-la-planete-terre

each of which are returning a 404 error. Several links to the original Italian URL, from the Italian-language Wikipedia, including those in encyclopedia articles, and two links to the original French URL on the French-language Wikipedia, are now broken. Obviously this also applies to any external sites that link to them, too.

Still curious to learn more?

_______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Quim Gil

10:42 p.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Introducing Diff – a blog by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community

Hi, Thanks Lodewijk, you covered the main points. When we announced Next steps for Wikimedia Space [1] we said that the Space blog would continue in a new home, and this is exactly what we have done. Last year the Space blog received community submissions regularly, and the Comms team always receives requests for publication of community news. We launched Diff yesterday, and today we have already a couple of ongoing drafts being written by volunteers who came by their own foot. There is a clear need for a community news channel in our movement and we are trying to address this need. Does the Diff editorial team miss volunteers today? Absolutely! Do you need to convince anyone about the need to fill that team with volunteers, or even about them taking over? Absolutely not. Instead, you can help convincing volunteers to get involved. Or you can get involved yourselves. We also welcome proposals to connect existing community publications with Diff, another way to participate. I hope someone will appreciate the fact that we have launched Diff including three separate archives of community news, now in one place. That is 3,235 posts, importing and merging the archives wasn't simple, and yes there are still some bugs. In order to identify the posts coming from the Wikimedia Blog, the Wikimedia Foundation site or Space, we have attached a string of text. Andy, this is why your now imported blog post from 2017 has that extra text. Such text can be easily changed in all archived posts if we agree on a better text. Let's discuss such details on the project Talk page. [2] Andy, thank you for your detailed feedback as a blog post author. Thank you for reporting some bugs that we will (hopefully) fix, and thank you for identifying some problems that annoy you as an author. We want happy authors, not annoyed authors, and we can work with them to resolve any problems about their published posts and about their upcoming ones too. You can share the details on the project talk page, you can file bugs in Phabricator [3] or you can send us an email to diff(a)wikimedia.org. The same channels can be used to propose improvements in categories, the privacy policy or anything else. [1] https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/next-steps-on-wikimedia-space/3184 [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Diff_(blog) [3] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/diff-blog/ On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 7:23 AM effe iets anders <effeietsanders(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

I am concerned. Although it is purported to be "by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community", the blog is clearly run by the WMF, the editorial team is

made

up of WMF staff, the WMF handles moderating, the guidelines were written

the WMF, the blog was created by the WMF without community consultation

input, and the structure and category system are clearly WMF-oriented. Also, it's based on WordPress, yet again, and with a very problematic privacy policy which probably won't be acceptable to many in the community. This is not a positive development, in my opinion. -- Yair Rand ‫בתאריך יום ד׳, 15 ביולי 2020 ב-15:31 מאת ‪Andy Mabbett‬‏ <‪ andy@pigsonthewing.org.uk‬‏>:‬

On Wed, 15 Jul 2020 at 18:50, Chris Koerner <ckoerner(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

Diff builds on lessons and experiences from the Wikimedia Blog, the Wikimedia Foundation News, and Wikimedia Space; previous posts from these channels are archived on Diff.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astrona…

> > This has now been republished at: > > https://diff.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astronaut-spoken-voice/ > > to which the original URL has now been redirected. > > > The new version of the article has footer, saying: > > Archive notice: This is an archived post from blog.wikimedia.org,

and

as such was written under a different editorial standard than Diff. I am concerned that this unexplained comment may not reflect well on me, as the named author. The new version of my author profile page: https://diff.wikimedia.org/author/cap-andy-mabbet/ is missing the thumbnail image for the blog post; compare with the archived version:

https://web.archive.org/web/20191218122440/https://blog.wikimedia.org/autho…

(the spelling error in the URL has carried over from the original).

The channel is primarily intended for community-authored posts, in which volunteers can share their stories, learnings, and ideas with each other.

content on Diff can be written and translated into languages to reach a wide audience.

https://blog.wikimedia.org/it/2017/11/29/wikipedia-lascia-il-pianeta-terra

https://blog.wikimedia.org/fr/2017/12/01/wikipedia-quitte-la-planete-terre > > > > now redirect, respectively, to:

https://diff.wikimedia.org/it/2017/11/29/wikipedia-lascia-il-pianeta-terra

https://diff.wikimedia.org/fr/2017/12/01/wikipedia-quitte-la-planete-terre

Still curious to learn more?

-- Quim Gil (he/him) Senior Manager of Community Relations @ Wikimedia Foundation https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Qgil-WMF

Andy Mabbett

17 Jul 17 Jul

10:53 a.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Introducing Diff – a blog by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community

On Thu, 16 Jul 2020 at 23:42, Quim Gil <qgil(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

When we announced Next steps for Wikimedia Space [1] we said that the Space blog would continue in a new home, and this is exactly what we have done.

It is not exactly what you have done, because you have merged it with (content from) another blog or blogs.

...

In order to identify the posts coming from the Wikimedia Blog, the Wikimedia Foundation site or Space, we have attached a string of text. Andy, this is why your now imported blog post from 2017 has that extra text.

If the aim is to "identify the posts coming from the Wikimedia Blog", then text saying "This is an archived post from blog.wikimedia.org" will suffice.

...

> > > What consultation was carried out with contributors, and the > > > wider the Wikimedia community, to inform this change?

Although you quoted it, you seem to have overlooked this question. -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

Quim Gil

20 Jul 20 Jul

11:23 a.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Introducing Diff – a blog by and for the Wikimedia volunteer community

Hi, On Fri, Jul 17, 2020 at 12:54 PM Andy Mabbett <andy(a)pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:

...

> > > What consultation was carried out with contributors, and the > > > wider the Wikimedia community, to inform this change?

Although you quoted it, you seem to have overlooked this question.

I aimed to address this question with this answer:

...

When we announced Next steps for Wikimedia Space [1] we said that the

Space blog

...

would continue in a new home, and this is exactly what we have done.

(...)

...

[1] https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/next-steps-on-wikimedia-space/3184

This is when we informed about this plan (February 18), also on this list. The feedback we received was about the Wikimedia Space announcement in general and there was some discussion about the Discuss part, but nothing in a way or another about the blog. We didn't consult any further, and we focused on proceeding with the migration. Offering the previous blog archives as part of the new blog is logical. The Space Blog aimed to be a continuation of the Wikimedia Blog, but it was a prototype. Diff aims to be a continuation of the Wikimedia Blog and the Space blog, and it is a project officially supported, in production servers. Hence the consolidation of community news archives. -- Quim Gil (he/him) Senior Manager of Community Relations @ Wikimedia Foundation https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Qgil-WMF