Re: [ComProj] NEXT STEPS: PR material cleanup

-- Jay Walsh Head of Communications WikimediaFoundation.org +1 (415) 839 6885 x 609 On Sep 1, 2008, at 3:52 PM, Platonides wrote: > Jay Walsh wrote: >> Yeah - you're correct if I read correctly, Ziko. >> >> Sorry I've been missing in action on this topic, all :) >> >> And thanks to Sean and the others for getting the ball rolling. >> > >> >> There is lots of good stuff across the board on the wikis, but we >> have >> to figure out where it all is - ALL of it - and then make a decision >> about what pieces are truly important moving forward. We'll save >> those pieces, put them in one place (TBD) and we will have to get rid >> of some of the other materials. >> >> I'm not crazy about deleting things, but in our communications world >> nothing is more important than accurate and timely information. If >> curious media or public google for info and end up at an outdated >> photo or schematic on one of our many wikis, then we've got a >> problem. That being said, I'm also in favor of archiving important >> work - we'll make a museum or something, and very clearly mark it as >> such. > Do it the wiki way, keep it archived as a museum, don't delete. I'm okay with a museum, as long as it's in a place that's very clearly marked as such - and that each item/article (predominantly on Commons) is also tagged. First step is just finding the stuff. Some of it, if it's old and not being used should be marked so no one risks using it. > > >> Steps one to three are the first stages - it's big work, and it's >> what >> I'd like comproj to focus on for the next few months. >> >> One of the major drivers for this project is related to trademark >> polishing and visual identity. Basically the WP globe, other project >> logos, and the WMF logos are being used all over the place in a >> variety of quasi official, excellent, and in some cases, terrible >> ways. We need to find the best ones and fix the worst ones. This >> doesn't mean we will take away users' ability to use the trademarks >> completely, but it does mean that we need to enforce quality, >> approved >> use and start setting a great example of trademark respect (that's a >> significant part of my job). > > What about wikipedia screenshots? > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Copyright_by_Wikimedia is > full of... well, almost everything. From logos intended for wiki use > (to > commemorate the wiki's Nth article, birthday, or simply to look > nicer), > to toolbar buttons, through on a range of foundation/chapter material. YEah - there are some doozies in there. I'm not even sure why we keep screenshots? We get lots of requests from third parties asking if they can use the logo in a screen shot, but the request is most often treated like any other request to use the marks. > > > Of those, i find screenshots between the most annoying. They're > constantly being made (articles about web browsers, OS, tutorials...) > and they almost always have the logo on the top left, thus making it > not free. Do we even care to replace it or photoshop the image? No > way, > we simply place a {{CopyrightbyWikimedia}} and go along. *We* can use > it, so why bother? > I modified {{Copyright by Wikimedia}} a year ago so it can categorise > images on lower ones, but didn't really reorganise it. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the smaller screen shots accord with faire use in the US, as long as they're not huge. I'm less concerned with WP editors creating and using screen shots inside the projects - but it's very easy for someone else to see that screen shot and assume they can use it themselves. IF you've got them listed with copyright tags, then they should know they cannot use it without permission. > > > > >> Can someone develop a cross-wiki reference tag to get us started? >> Again - this tag should -only- be used for pages/material that are >> NOT >> on the WMF wiki. That stuff is doing official work right now, we >> don't want to imply it is questionable (I'm pretty sure I've got all >> the stuff there under control). > > We should also tag material available at wikimediafoundation.org 'You > can see this here, but the relevant content is at > wikimediafoundation.org/X' I like that idea for 'orphaned' content. Just a friendly tag that says this file belongs somewhere, and you can find out more about it at X. Good suggestion. > > > Also, it'd be interesting to keep an eye on the wikipedia articles. > Wikipedia should have the best informatona available about Wikimedia > and > its projects, but i have already found information completely outdated > on [[en:Mediawiki]]. > Given that wikipedia will be the first place a foreginer will look > searching for the WMF (maybe they're even searching for 'Wikipedia > Foundation'!!), so all wikipedias should prominently link to > wikimediafoundation.org and the designed portal for official info. I couldn't agree more - and it's one of the reasons I think we have to spend quite a bit of time in WP as well. I imagine there are two issues with WP. Some people want to offer totally uncensored, neutral coverage of WP and the projects - which is fine. And they might think it unwise to put links to 'official' information, but most decent articles link out that way when appropriate. The other issue is that Wikipedia has a huge amount of help/howto/QA sort of information - that's the stuff I'm more interested in finding and marking so we can start keeping an eye on it - making it better, or as you point out - at least up to date. If someone stumbles into a random mediawiki page it would make huge sense to have a tag that says 'for the full story go to mediawiki.org' or something. > > >> Looking forward to hearing from you - this project is a critical step >> for our long-term communications strategy - it is by no means lower- >> shelf business. It's hard, necessary work for a wiki organization >> that >> has demonstrated a huge capacity for creativity and creation! >> >> Thanks! > > > > _______________________________________________ > ComProj mailing list > ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj