Le 14/06/16 à 13:31, Nkansah Rexford a écrit :
I guess the doing of the test-suggestion won't be necessary, considering the obvious results, namely, there'll be too many broken parts in my local wiki for the article, and it won't look anything close to Live Wikipedia.

Point well taken!

Good :)

Taking the infoboxes as an example, one can have infoboxes available in the local wiki as simple as outlined here: http://trog.qgl.org/20140923/setting-up-infobox-templates-in-mediawiki-v1-23/
This is a very interesting post indeed. Do you know if the author David is still active in the mediawiki community ?
Most of the recent posts are completely unrelated to MediaWiki and the one you outline is from 2014, based on v1.23.
I do not know under which version Wikipedia is currently running, but last MediaWiki is already v1.25.6.
In short... yes... useful... but outdated at the moment. Last comments report exactly this. It is probably still useful for those who set up a wiki for other purposes and want to have decent infobox, but it will not be the best option if we want to try to mimic current wikipedia.

My concern goes into three directions

1) infobox is nice, but infobox is not all templates that could be helpful. Many others would. How to identify the most helpful ones and avoid importing all of them ? We will try to be selective and operate an iterative approach to identify the most needed/helpful template. We will first select the top most used templates in the language. Second, operate a selection of all templates used in a selection of featured articles. Third make sure that all templates needed for a collection of pages on WikiFundi will be there (in particular those involved in help pages)

2) templates do change. Hopefully not too quickly, but it changes. Mediawiki software also evolves. What we hope is that it will not evolve too quickly to the point it creates too many "break" points. But obviously, our set up will require maintenance over time.

3) you are right that a user group could identify a tech-aware, organise a hackathon, ask him to set that up entirely on the computers of his peers. Run an installer. Set up the wiki. Establish a server system. Upload a bunch of files to "make some templates live" (those infobox). How often would that work ? Well... I do not know. In some cases it would. In most cases... I doubt it.

That requires a lot of assumptions. I am trying to imagine the face of Erina in Uganda if I tell her "dear Erina. We have a great idea to simplify your training sessions and deal with this lack of internet access. You have to set up mediawiki on your system etc.". I am pretty sure she will look at us with round eyes. No, it is not simple... Most people just do not feel like trying to set up a mediawiki software on their windows or linux... If they can... great.

Beyond the User Groups...

This program is funded by Orange Foundation.
They have been running for the past 2 years a programme called Digital Schools program. See more here : http://www.fondationorange.com/The-Digital-Schools-programme-2487

As part of this program, the kids get access to a bunch of resources from cheap tablets, resources served through this very Raspberry box. Orange plans to get WikiFundi on all those boxes (as a software brick only). Right now, it is about 300 schools. I very much doubt that schools staff in Africa are MUCH MORE technically aware that school staff in France. And with 3 kids of my experience, I can tell you the level of ability of the staff members in my kids schools is way below the competencies required to set up a mediawiki, run a server and so on. But duplicating a SD card, they can.


Yes, the steps are over a million bullets, but having almost the entire markup available on Wikipedia today in a local wiki isn't farfetched. And with these basic markups bundled together with an installer, everything should come along pre-packaged. So at the end of installation, all these little things are parceled nicely together in a way the end user wouldn't have to do anything further.

I am happy to learn you've got a solid background using MediaWiki, just a bit surprised a goto solution that came to mind was building a media-wiki-like software to fill in the gaps in Mediawiki (gaps I am yet to notice).
A "solid" background using MediaWiki is a bit over the top :)
But maybe there was something unclear in my explanation. I am not a developer... I am an agricultural sciences engineer :) ... forgive my unclear statements. Perhaps you should have a chat with Kelson to understand better what he is technically planning. But I can clarify that when I wrote mediawiki-like, I did not mean "another software". WikiFundi is MediaWiki. The configuration will be similar. The spaces will be different. And the content will feed on Wikipedia (when it comes to templates etc.) but Wikipedia will not be on it. However, I can foresee that additions might be cool. Some already part of mediawiki, but not of on the wikipedia set up. Some may not exist yet (such as a mechanism to sync, or to import history, or to facilitate images transfert).
I believe in iterative implementation. We start by the basic. We study useage and analyse bug report and feature requests. Then we improve if thought a good idea.
Out of the box, the MediaWiki installation is nothing like Wikipedia, however it can be made to be like Wikipedia. Extensions, Modules, Imports and Exports are all might be needed to get all the features you and I love on Wikipedia onto a local wiki.

the key words are "it can be made". And this is EXACTLY it. This is what we want to do. Is that clearer ?

Flo


I know it is early stages now, but I'll love to see the final Wikifundi software. At that point, I might be tempted to get my local mediawiki instance exactly Wikipedia-looking and share one or two screenshots.

On Tuesday, June 14, 2016, Florence Devouard <anthere@anthere.org> wrote:
Le 14/06/16 à 12:24, Nkansah Rexford a écrit :

Thanks for the answers. Just wondering:

"It is a mediawiki based website, which will be as much as possible set-up like our mediawiki, and which will include the most used templates."

Any special reasons why you wanna "setup like" a mediawiki when it is easier using the MediaWiki server itself?

If I understand correctly, the wikifundi will primarily provide a wiki-like platform for editors to make edits, as if they're on the live wiki, then when connected to internet later on, when the edits are copy pasted, the edits'll just feel at home.

I have the MediaWiki installed on my pc now. It runs without internet connection. Anyone in my local network gets access to it too. It functions like a local network MediaWiki. I make edits on there, and it feels and works just like live wiki.

If the wikifundi software has the goal of being setup as much as possible like MediaWiki, then what stops the use of MediaWiki itself?

Maybe, what I am thinking is, instead of a software anew, the installation for MediaWiki is made effortless, so that at hackathons etc, anyone (and literally anyone) with a Windows computer (heck, even Linux!) could just run an installer file, setting up wiki et al (assuming it doesn't already exist), then all in the local network gets to enjoy the Wikiness after hitting a local address the server is running on! I doubt a Raspberry's PI is or will be required for the above approach.

I guess wikifundi already exists, but just happened to be called MediaWiki Server[1] instead.

1. https://m.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Installing_MediaWiki


I have a test-suggestion for you Rex.

Let's pick up one article randomly. Let's say one of those currently on main page : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_receptor

Please do a copy and paste of this article on your own wiki. Then take screenshots of the resulting page. Put the screenshots in a dropbox and send us the link to the dropbox.

Do it. Really. Do it please.


Florence


PS: yes, I also had my own mediawiki installed on my hosting server during years. I used to prepare some texts there. Indeed, writing a "text" worked. But formating the text did not.


PPS: I also have provided consulting services for a few years to companies who wanted to set up their own wiki. I did not bring them help on the tech side. I helped them on the social side and training them "writing wikis".
In most cases, after I showed my clients the use of [[name of article]] or [file:image.jpg|alt|100px]], their usual questions were
* How do I do a navigation palette ? (just like in Wikipedia)
* I want that infobox thing at the top of my pages (just like in Wikipedia)
* etc.

And usually... they ended up asking me to fix all that before I leave. Did I ever ? Nope. 15 years into Wikipedia and I am completely speechless (so to speak) when I look at something such as https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Main_Page/en&action=edit


PPPS: of course, WikiFundi will also be made available with an "installer" and you will be able to get it without doing it through a box. The box is one thing. WikiFundi is another thing.


On Jun 14, 2016 12:17 AM, "Florence Devouard" <anthere@anthere.org> wrote:
Le 14/06/16 à 01:00, Nkansah Rexford a écrit :
the coding of a software, WikiFundi, that provides an off-line editing environment that mimics the Wikipedia environment. The software will be made available in French and English.

How will the edited content offline eventually get merged into Live Wikipedia?

This is an excellent question.
And the answer is "manually" (copy paste) because the people involved considered any type of automatic merging would create much trouble.

And how different will it be from Kiwix?
Kiwix is a reader. It features the entirety of Wikipedia content, to be read, and only to be read.

Wikifundi will not include Wikipedia. It is a mediawiki based website, which will be as much as possible set-up like our mediawiki, and which will include the most used templates. The idea is that Wikipedia style articles could be created or improved directly in WikiFundi  (for example during an edit-a-thon), and more or less copy-pasted into Wikipedia once an internet connexion is available. Which means that the edit-a-thon could be made with one box and one electrical plug, with all participants accessing wikifundi through the local network created by the box. 

Note that in the pack, we will provide kiwix as well.

Flo


rexford

On Monday, June 13, 2016, Florence Devouard <fdevouard@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello everyone

WikiAfrica has recently started a new project, the Wikipack Africa.

The project amalgamates:

* the coding of a software, WikiFundi, that provides an off-line editing environment that mimics the Wikipedia environment. The software will be made available in French and English.

* the creation of action packs for use by local Wikimedia chapters, user groups or isolated individuals in Africa, and

* a Wikipedia Writing Contest to be run in African Schools, #WikiChallenge African Schools



It will roll out in two phases :

Phase 1 involves the creation of the WikiPack Africa. WikiPack Africa is a digital kit located via a local network device (Raspberry PI). The local network device will provide access to an off-line editing platform that mimics Wikipedia, and provides related materials and additional OER resources. The WikiPack Africa will both facilitate the outreach work of Wikimedia chapters, User Group and individuals, and encourage the growth of digital skills and content contribution by teachers and students across Africa. The pack allows for ongoing training and contribution even when technology, access and electricity outages fail or are not available at all.

The WikiPack Africa delivered to users will comprise two Raspberry PIs and some offline materials (posters, leaflets, pull-up banner, tee-shirts, etc.). The WikiPack will be delivered to several Wikimedia User Groups located in Africa end of 2016. A Call for Interest will be made to identify which groups will receive the Packs (8 countries will be covered as part of the pilot launch).


The project has been conceptualised and conceived by Isla and myself after seeing how frustrating limited access to internet or even to electricity could be when trying to participate to Wikipedia.

The WikiPack Africa is primarily meant for individuals and groups wanting to implement outreach projects and:
* work with galleries, libraries, archives and museums to bring cultural content online;
* work with education partners to get educators and students contribute or better understand Wikimedia projects;
* more generally, organise edit-a-thons, photo hunts, workshops, press conferences, etc. to promote Wikimedia projects.



The #WikiChallenge African Schools (Phase 2) will use the WikiPack Africa to facilitate an entertaining, powerful, collaborative and interactive content creation competition between schools in Sénégal, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinée, Niger, Tunisia, Madagascar, and Cameroon (countries may change...). The challenge will run early 2017.



The full project is run in partnership with Wikimedia CH and the Orange Foundation. It will be primarily implemented by Florence, Isla and Emmanuel Engelhart (Kelson, from Kiwix) from May 2016 until summer 2017.

The project proposal, its documentation and its outcomes will be under a CC BY SA 4.0 licence.

---------

CALL for SUPPORT

Current next steps include in particular

* working on the WikiFundi software. This shall be lead by Kelson and part of the development should be done during the Kiwix Hackhaton prior to Wikimania. If you are interested to help, and simply interested to better understand what is planned, please get in touch;

* working on the content that will be put on WikiFundi.
We will NOT provide the entirety of Wikipedia on the plateform, but only a mix of "presentation material", some "help:pages", "showcase of best articles" and a large % of templates currently available on Wikipedia. If you want to help or provide insightful input, please get in touch (with me), by email or on the wiki talk page or during Wikimania.
We start working on the English content first. My current challenge is to identify the most relevant help pages... and adapt them to this offline editing environnement.



---------

* To read more about Wikifundi:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiFundi

* More information about the wikipack :
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipack_Africa/en and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipack_Africa/fr

* WikiProject page on the English Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Wikipack_Africa


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