[Foundation-l] Rodovid.org, family tree wiki, wishes to become a wiki project

[Erik Moeller]

Hello Benjamin,

if Rodovid (under whichever name) was to become a Wikimedia project,
that would mean
- It benefits from Wikimedia's fundraising drives
- It is featured prominently on all of Wikimedia's portal pages
- It becomes part of Wikimedia's press and publicity efforts
- It becomes as integral to the thinking about external partnerships
as other projects
- It is maintained, to a certain extent, by our paid and volunteer
administrators and developers...

..and so forth. There is always the concern that new projects distract
from improving existing ones. For each of our projects, including
Wikipedia, there are huge wishlists of software changes, community
processes, surveys, partnerships, and so on -- we need to make sure
that we grow at a manageable rate.

So, from the point of view of the Foundation, accepting a new project
is quite a big deal. That's why the processes to do so are rather
complex. Part of the process is a community poll about whether the
project should be launched within Wikimedia. Our process does not yet
deal with "adopting" existing projects (this has never been done), but
you could start a slightly modified poll, similar to the one at
[[m:Wikinews/Vote]], and probably get away with it.

Essential for your success is that you can generate not just a solid
majority in support, but also excitement in the community about the
idea. Such excitement was clearly visible with Wikinews and
Wikiversity; I am skeptical if there is similarly broad interest in
genealogical data in an experimental wiki environment. I know there
are a lot of enthusiasts, of course.

Even though the idea of a "World Family Tree" has some appeal, I am
also not convinced that this is an experiment that needs to be taken
up by the Wikimedia Foundation; given the primary mission to bring
knowledge to human beings, it is natural for the organization to focus
on applicable and practical knowledge. (Hence projects like Wikibooks,
with its strong focus on learning materials, and Wikiversity, with its
learning and research angle.)

However, do not let this discourage you; if you truly want this to
become a Wikimedia project, do campaign in the community for support.
Only when such support is visible do I expect that the Board might get
behind the project proposal in a big way. As a personal suggestion, I
recommend changing the name before campaigning; something starting
with "Wiki-" and reflecting the ambitious nature of your goals (such
as "Wikiplanet", but that one is taken) might work better.

Erik (not speaking for the Foundation, of course)