Dear all
I'm sharing the text of an email I've received this evening from the
Wikimedia Foundation, who have asked me (and other Affiliate leaders) to
spread the word amongst our communities about a new skin for the English
Wikipedia, which will be deployed next week.
Wishing you all a great weekend.
Lucy
After many years of work, community conversations, and completing the
changes specified by the consensus of the Request for Comment
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Deployment_of_…>,
the *Vector 2022 skin* is finally ready for deployment as the default
desktop skin on English Wikipedia. The deployment is scheduled for January
18th, at 15:00 UTC.
Vector 2022 is a skin <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Skins>
developed between 2019 and 2023 by the Wikimedia Foundation Web team
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reading/Web> with the goal of making the
interface more welcoming and usable for readers and maintaining utility for
existing editors. It introduces changes
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Deployment_of_…>
to the navigation and layout of the site, adds persistent elements (such as
a sticky header and Table of Contents), and makes changes to the overall
styling of the page. Currently, the skin is the default on more than 300
projects of various sizes, accounting for about 1.5 billion page views per
month. On English Wikipedia, it is the most popular non-default skin, with
more active editors using it than any other non-default skin (Monobook,
Timeless, etc).
While these changes will provide a much better experience for Wikipedia
readers and contributors (and a cleaner interface will make work easier for
community developers and staff working on the website in the future),
they’ll also help to remove barriers to the Wikimedia movement. The new
Wikipedia desktop marks the start of an ongoing process of user empowerment
and improvements across the entire Wikimedia ecosystem, as well as an
exciting and meaningful step in furthering Wikimedia’s knowledge as a
service and knowledge equity
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017#Our_strate…>
efforts. An easier-to-navigate Wikipedia will help more users, regardless
of their tech literacy or familiarity with the platform, to access and
contribute to free knowledge.
You will find more information about the project on the landing page on
English Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Vector_2022>.
There are instructions on how to turn the skin off as well as information
about what will happen on the day of deployment. You can also read more
about the Desktop Improvements Project on the project page
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reading/Web/Desktop_Improvements> and our
FAQ
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reading/Web/Desktop_Improvements/Frequently_…>.
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Dear all
Wikimania 2023 is taking place in person, for the first time since 2019! It
will be held in Singapore from 16th to 19th August, and the Wikimedia
Foundation is offering full and partial scholarships.
This year scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to volunteer
during Wikimania, rather than writing a report afterwards.
Applications should take up to an hour to complete and the deadline is 5th
February. You will need to share your experiences within the Wikimedia
movement and support this with links. Apply online here:
https://wikimediafoundation.limesurvey.net/799477
Read more on Wikimania Wiki
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/2023:Scholarships
Have questions? You can reach the Scholarships Committee directly at
wikimania-scholarships(a)wikimedia.org.
Best wishes
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Dear all
There is a position going at the Wikimedia Foundation, within the Community
Resources (in other words, grant making) team. This is a remote role for
someone in North West Europe, and you would lead on the grant making for
the region - working closely with the Funding Committee (made up of
volunteers from across the NW Europe area).
https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/4699829?gh_src=d1350fe21us
I have been assured that the salary is competitive, although it's not
stated as it will depend where the successful candidate lives.
Wikimedia UK is not directly involved in the recruitment process, but feel
free to let me know if you decide to apply.
Best
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Dear all
I wanted to let you know about some changes to the Wikimedia UK staff team
which will be taking place from the start of January 2023.
Firstly, our longstanding Director of Finance and Operations, Davina
Johnson, is retiring. Many thanks are due to Davina for all her work to
ensure the smooth running of the organisation, particularly our finances -
which have only become more complicated over the last few years. At the
start of January we will be welcoming a new Head of Finance and Operations,
Sharon Mitcheson, who brings senior management experience in both areas and
who is currently a General Manager in the cultural sector. Davina will be
working with Sharon in January to ensure a smooth transition of this vital
function.
Our Director of Programmes and Evaluation, Daria Cybulska, is taking on a
part time secondment at the Sheila McKechnie Foundation until July 2023.
This has expedited some overdue changes within the growing programmes team,
with two members of staff now moving into management roles. These are as
follows:
-
Dr Richard Nevell, currently one of our Programme Coordinators, will
become Programme Manager with responsibility for England and major
projects. Richard will maintain his delivery role alongside his new line
management responsibilities.
-
Dr Sara Thomas, currently Programme Coordinator for Scotland, will
become Programme Manager with responsibility for Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland, and Volunteers. Sara will maintain her delivery role in
Scotland but will be moving from three days a week to four.
As part of our review of the existing programmes team we have promoted
Karla Marte, currently Programme Evaluation Assistant, to Programme
Evaluation Coordinator, in recognition of the level at which she is
working.
There have been some other small changes within the team that you may be
unaware of. Earlier this year, we appointed a new Finance and Operations
Coordinator, Chuks Ogbonna. This full time role replaced two part time
roles vacated in 2021. Chuks has also taken over governance
responsibilities from Katie Crampton, enabling her to focus on
communications.
We will be updating the wiki page about the staff team in the new year.
I'm sure you will join me in congratulating staff on their
appointments/promotions and wishing Davina all the best in her retirement.
If you have any questions or comments about any of this, please do get in
touch.
With best wishes for a wonderful festive season!
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Dear all
There is currently a call for speakers at the State of Open Conference in
London next February. I just thought I'd share this here in case anyone
would like to submit something:
https://sessionize.com/opencon2023/
The deadline is *18th December*. The conference aims to bring together UK
and global enterprise, the public sector and open source communities in one
event. Wikimedia UK isn't involved in the planning or programming of the
conference, although we may have a presence there.
Best
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
[??] Call for Participants [??]
Dear all, please see the below invite for a hybrid Wikipedia Art workshop event this Friday 16th December - for more information do get in touch with Eleanor Capaldi who has been a brilliant and committed Wikipedia contributor for LGBTQ+ history at the University of Edinburgh and her PhD research continues to explore the interplay of art, open knowledge and representation online.
Take part in a workshop to explore how LGBTQ+ people engage with art online. We'll be sourcing images from Wikipedia and then turning them into GIFS, Memes, TikToks, or anything else you would like! This forms part of PhD research more broadly investigating how audiences re-interpret digitised images of art.
When: Friday 16 December, 1pm-4.30pm
Where: University of Glasgow (online option available)
Refreshments provided
You must be: 18+, LGBTQ+
Guidance provided but if you have any nifty digital skills, do share!
If you'd like to join or for further information, please email: e.capaldi.1(a)research.gla.ac.uk
Eleanor Capaldi
she/her
PhD Researcher, Digitised Art and Polyvocality
LGBTQ+ Staff Network Co-Chair
best wishes,
Ewan McAndrew
Wikimedian in Residence
Website for the residency<https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/is-skills/wikime…> and Map of Accused Witches site<http://witches.is.ed.ac.uk/>
Email: ewan.mcandrew(a)ed.ac.uk<mailto:ewan.mcandrew@ed.ac.uk> Blog: WiR blog<https://thinking.is.ed.ac.uk/wir/>
Tel: 07867 593450 Subscribe to the Scotwiki mailing list<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctpnDjO_PHZeOTrA0yjtVLqE4oDfjLtYh…>
My working hours are 9:30am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday.
Book chapter on Gender Equality work: Changing the Way Stories Are Told<https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11778416.ch13.en>
Wikipedia Project Page: Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh>
Media Hopper channel: Videos and video tutorials<https://media.ed.ac.uk/channel/Wikimedian%2Bin%2BResidence%2BChannel/510201…>
YouTube: Wikimedian in Residence channel<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDRSVKM4ceUSPI-7-BFeoQ?view_as=subscriber>
Wikimedia in Education: New booklet of UK Case Studies<https://open.ed.ac.uk/wikimedia-in-education/>
Join Wikimedia in Scotland<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Wikimedia_in_Scotland> events and UoE events<https://www.events.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?eventssearch=wikipedia&event=search&e…>.
The University of Edinburgh, Floor H (West), Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9DR.
www.ed.ac.uk<http://www.ed.ac.uk/>
[cid:53701be1-228a-42c1-8d14-34f86e88e956][cid:c4af0b95-5f5f-4b8b-a472-6a42a24bb7cd]
________________________________
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th' ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.
Hi all
Just a head's up that Lucy will be in the next Let’s Connect session on
Thursday
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/event/lets-connect-session--thinking-about-diver…>,
with the DEI team at the Wikimedia Foundation to discuss *diversity, equity
and inclusion within Wikimedia UK's governance and leadership structures*.
They'll talk about Wikimedia UK's practices and key learnings, the ongoing
challenges we face and some future steps for the Wikimedia Movement.
The YouTube live stream will be in English, but the Zoom session will have
Portuguese, Spanish and French. Please feel free to register to receive a
Zoom link if you’d like to participate in the session with live translation.
Best wishes
Katie
--
Katie Crampton (she/her)
Communications Coordinator
<https://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/>
*Wikimedia UK* <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> is the national chapter for the
global Wikimedia open knowledge movement.
Follow us on Twitter <https://twitter.com/wikimediauk>, Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/WikimediaUK>, LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/496119>, and Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/wikimediauk/>.
Wikimedia UK is a registered charity in England, Wales No.1144513. and Scotland
No. SC048644. Company Limited by Guarantee, Registration No. 6741827.
Registered Office Ground Floor, Europoint, 5 - 11 Lavington Street, London
SE1 0NZ
<https://maps.google.com/?q=5+-+11+Lavington+Street,+London+SE1+0NZ&entry=gm…>
.
Hi all
I'm just sharing this from the international mailing list as I thought it
was something quite fun for us all to participate in. Also an irritating
sound logo for Wikimedia would be quite, well, irritating, so this is the
community's chance to pick something great! The following was shared to the
mailing list by the sound logo team at the Wikimedia Foundation:
"Voting https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Sound_Logo_Vote in the
Wikimedia sound logo contest has started. Crowds, pages turning, drums,
chimes, vocals, and the sound of keyboards typing. Wikimedia is alive with
sound, music, and everything in between. From December 6 to 19, 2022,
please play a part and help identify the Sound of All Human Knowledge.
Voting is open until 19 December, 23:59 UTC. Learn more on Diff
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/12/06/vote-for-the-sound-of-all-human-knowl…
"
Best
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive