Hi all,
We wanted to give a quick update on the happenings that wrapped up the last
two days of the Wikimedia Technical Conference
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018>, in
Portland, Oregon.
*Wednesday
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Schedule#Wednesday_24_October_2018>,
October 24, 2018:*
The third day of the event started out with two sessions concentrating on:
- mapping our data and content pipeline (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eb6omjp0MF4bsfvnr-bWzsK7O3EyUVSO_JmdY7nJ_kY/edit>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206070>)
- identifying and extracting data trapped in our content (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dnNQTvbRFkYdM1q-eNGnARVDnQI49OLRV2YUcFABKso>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206073>)
- Determining use cases and requirements for the APIs that we build (
notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pFQvlcFZ4AdJjvnxH5YPOFqloOpB_rORfgrmiNRZX1w>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206072>)
- Identifying the requirements and goals for the parser (notes
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Session_notes/Identifying_the_requirements_and_goals_for_the_parser>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206066>)
We then had a lovely lunch with a mid afternoon break to take a group
photo, and then more interactive sessions on:
- Choosing the technologies to build our APIs (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q9ATHXdR-KPZdjYaq8q2kwRC9wAhCTdmBjR4i3Z3aF4>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206074>)
- Identifying the requirements and goals for dependency tracking and
events (notes
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Session_notes/Identifying_the_requirements_and_goals_for_dependency_tracking_and_events>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206068>)
- Two sessions on storage:
- Identifying our storage and search use cases (notes
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Session_notes/Identifying_our_storage_and_search_use_cases>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206076>)
- Building our storage systems for flexibility and scale (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/17q8cvEx3tK1Ek0vM9OasqugaCTkaMvLxGN4KlgSWBRg>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206079>)
- Two sessions on frontend development:
- Improving frontend testing and logging (notes
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Session_notes/Improving_frontend_testing_and_logging>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206077>)
- Standardizing front-end development tooling (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LEFWE5MJfhl2fHzqHiijmnX6PJEk1GRhkOMUowJYMqw>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206078>)
And, then as previous days, we ended the afternoon with finishing up
documentation from the day, taking pictures of the sessions and then
uploading and posting on wiki. The group photos are yet to be uploaded, but
I'm sure it'll be well worth the wait; check out the media
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_Technical_Conference_2018>
that
has already been uploaded to Commons, as you can.
*Thursday
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Schedule#Thursday_25_October_2018>,
October 25, 2018:*
The final day of the event started off exploring the core topic of
architecting our code for change and sustainability in the future:
- Layers/components/libraries (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/16NwfSJuj7fc2da1fOJM_sqKMdioHN1qPQavydGLDxic>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206080>)
- Concepts (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jY-MrwrGLKqX922obwFoYj0C_JdxFCH9Vtf4w4gHr-8/edit>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206084>)
- Stand-alone services (notes
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Session_notes/Architecting_Core:_stand-alone_services>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206082>)
- Extension interfaces (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jMMxPv98GZwrnt4KGxG5RlOTGFYRrIwXfKg5bqCNhgs>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206081>)
The final session of the day grouped folks up to go through the steps
needed to take in order to develop a road map (notes
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lIyXEMf5BMKlA8cjq_bqT3wNsTyg4PSxNEJkf7lfThM>,
ticket <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T206085>) that highlighted the
need for collaboration in order to figure out what features or goals we
want to aspire to do, what decisions need to be taken and then the
follow-up actions to take to ensure the new features or goals are a success.
We closed out the event with many attendees talking about what they learned
over the last 4 days. We also heard a few words from Toby Negrin, on behalf
of Victoria Coleman, to thank everyone that traveled so far, including all
the Foundation department folks, WMDE, Community members and other
MediaWiki experts from around the globe. Toby also gave a lovely shout out
to the Program Committee
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018#Program_Committee>
(TheDJ, Birgit, Greg, Joaquin, Kate, and Corey) and the Organizing Team
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018#Organizing_Team>
(Rachel, Deb, Lauren, and Irene) along with our fabulous and dedicated
scribes (Nick, Michael, and Irene). Corey Floyd took the time to thank
everyone as well and mentioned that the week's discussions, action items
and gaps will be throughly reviewed and will identify the teams that will
work on them to achieve our 3 to 5 year goals.
With lots of chatter, we finished up the week with another round of notes
and documentation sprint to allow folks to add their comments, notes,
uploads to Commons and Phabricator. Many of the notes have already been
added to the wiki session notes pages
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Technical_Conference/2018/Session_notes>,
but several more are still in the process of being converted into wiki
format and may take a few more days (as everyone returns home).
More random and fun images (see more uploads
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_Technical_Conference>
):
- dots and pens
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dots_Sharpies_and_Postits.png>
- symbols <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TechConf_symbols.png>
that we used
- a session held in the fireplace room
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Tech_Conf_-_Session_-_Making_curation_and_contribution_mechanisms_equitable_and_consistent.jpg>
- napkin
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMTechConf2018-crave_catering.jpg>
from the caterers that kept us well fed and hydrated
- leftover notes
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMTechConf2018-white_board_notes_from_a_random_session.jpg>
on a white board
- and a sassy unicorn
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMTechConf2018-unicorn.jpg>, goat
stickers
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMTechConf2018-four_goat_stickers.jpg>,
team photo
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMTechConf2018-Program_and_Organizing_teams.jpg>,
and a new mascot
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMTechConf2018-maybe_the_next_mascot.jpg>
design
In the coming days, we will send out a survey to get event feedback that
will tie directly into the planning for our next Wikimedia Technical
Conference. Thanks again to all that participated, in person and virtually!
It was an intense and completely interactive conference that sparked a ton
of discussions and collaboration!
Cheers,
Deb
--
deb tankersley
program manager, engineering
Wikimedia Foundation