This help page is a
how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of
consensus and
vetting. |
This page in a nutshell: An edit-a-thon is a special type of meetup to improve the encyclopedia. It is usually focused on a specific encyclopedic topic, and is a great way to attract new Wikipedians. |
This is a guide for how (and why) to run a Wikipedia "edit-a-thon". An edit-a-thon can be:
Edit-a-thons improve the encyclopedia and can be a great way to help new Wikipedians learn to edit. This is quite different from large conferences such as Wikimania, which often have multiple speakers or panels about a huge variety of topics. An edit-a-thon is also unlike a regular meetup, which tends to be without a single goal and/or for socializing. In other words: an edit-a-thon is like a hackathon for Wikipedians (and definitely not like a telethon).
There may be other benefits, such as promoting Wikipedia in cultural institutions such as libraries or museums, but it doesn't need to be more complicated than the reasons above.
Important: You should be aware of Wikipedia's conflict of interest (COI) guideline, which covers employees of an institution editing that institution's article. Also please check the Wikipedia:Advocacy essay; while not a Wikipedia policy or guideline itself, it is intended to supplement the WP:SOAP and WP:NPOV pages.
Define clear goals for your intended audience, such as a general group of articles you want to work on. This can be a broad topic, like women's history or items in the collection of a museum, or you can target a specific backlog. Newcomers often feel most comfortable with either a topic in which they have some degree of interest and a very simple activity, like copyediting or wikifying.
Be prepared with a list of things that need work or attention. It may be a list of subjects for which an article ought to exist. Even if nothing on the list gets worked on, it can help generate ideas.
When determining the date, time, and venue for an edit-a-thon, keep the following in mind.
Find out how many people your venue can hold and limit the number of signups to that number. Alternatively, guess how many attendees you'll have and try to find a venue that will accommodate that many. It's simple with half a dozen participants, while hundreds can be successful given the right planning.
Participants must have reliable access to the internet, preferably strong wifi. This is important, as Wikipedia skills are best learned by live editing. Usually venues are chosen that can provide access, but some chapters have portable wifi hotspots to ensure connections anywhere.
If the venue has computers, consider the following when deciding on how to incorporate them into your event:
If participants will be bringing devices, consider:
Drinks and food will encourage people to stick around for longer than they might otherwise and provide an opportunity to take a break and talk with other editors. Make sure water is available.
Especially when edit-a-thons are hosted within cultural institutions, attending the event may not be as simple as coming in. Find out what the access arrangements are for the venue. Ideally you want people to turn up on time and be able to get in without disrupting your event. But there will be latecomers. If the venue has receptionists then introduce yourself and make sure they know what to tell people who ask for the Wikipedia event (if you have bling then offer the receptionist a badge, biro or beermat). If people are going to have to phone you to be let in:
Is it easier/safer/cheaper to run your editathon online rather than in real life? Post-Covid, more and more editathons are being delivered via Zoom or similar meeting platforms. Consider how you will send out invites, manage the platform whilst training is being delivered. You may need to appoint colleagues to manage the delivery platform and deal with chat queries, unexpected attendees, etc. Check if a subscription is needed to have meetings of a suitable length. Ensure you familiarise yourself with the practicalities of the online meeting platform well in advance of your event.
Edit-a-thons go most smoothly when experienced editors are there to help new editors. One-on-one coaching is ideal, and one longtime Wikipedian per 10 attendees is a bare minimum. Coaches should also apply in advance for Wikipedia:IP block exemption and Wikipedia:Event coordinator, to be ready for problems that may arise. Connecting with a local Wikimedia affiliate or chapter provides access to support, expertise and promotion.
It can also help to include people who aren't experienced with Wikipedia, but are good at teaching information literacy. Librarians, for example, can teach about finding reliable sources and help build Wikipedia experience at libraries.
Within a 24-hour period, only six Wikipedia accounts can be created via a single IP address. If there's a chance you'll have more than six new editors at your edit-a-thon, you'll want to have a plan for how they'll create accounts. As of 2019, this limit does not apply to event account creations that are run through the Programs and Events Dashboard, unless you will be manually flagging your attendees as "confirmed".
You can do one or more of the following:
Write an event page. This is especially useful to recruit insiders to help. A subpage of Wikipedia:Meetup is easiest, but there are other options depending on the location and topic of your event. For an institution such as a gallery, library, archive, or museum, a subpage of WP:GLAM may be appropriate. If you are aiming this at newbies don't confuse them with a sign up page on a different wiki such as a chapter wiki, especially if that requires a different account to be created.
Providing a way for people to sign up outside of Wikipedia will be more inviting to new editors. Asking people who may have never edited before to navigate a meetup wiki page presents a Catch-22 where they have to edit a page filled with wiki markup in order to learn how to edit wiki markup. Good secondary alternatives are free tools such as Eventbrite, Meetup.com, or even a Facebook event.
This is important if you plan to report statistics on participant activity. There are two main ways to do this:
You can encourage participants to make a user page, with a notice that they are under your instruction, to help other editors understand.
Although everyone is usually welcome at an edit-a-thon, invitations and publicity help encourage participation. Consider who will be most interested in attending (is the event intended for mostly experienced Wikipedians? Medical professionals? Women who haven't edited before? Some combination?), and where they're most likely to be. Then, tailor your outreach to the audience(s) you're trying to reach.
In rough order of effectiveness:
For the benefit of online participants, make clear the time zone in which the event will take place.
Tip: For a great registration URL link to use in your advertisements, go to your Wikipedia event page while signed out and click "Create account". The URL now in your browser will automatically direct people to your event page after they create their account.
Below is an incomplete list, in reverse chronological order, of edit-a-thons organized in English language or in English speaking countries, including some others in non-English-speaking countries or regions.
2022
|
---|
|
2021
|
---|
|
2020
|
---|
|
2019
|
---|
|
2018
|
---|
|
2017
|
---|
|
2011
|
---|
|
This help page is a
how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of
consensus and
vetting. |
This page in a nutshell: An edit-a-thon is a special type of meetup to improve the encyclopedia. It is usually focused on a specific encyclopedic topic, and is a great way to attract new Wikipedians. |
This is a guide for how (and why) to run a Wikipedia "edit-a-thon". An edit-a-thon can be:
Edit-a-thons improve the encyclopedia and can be a great way to help new Wikipedians learn to edit. This is quite different from large conferences such as Wikimania, which often have multiple speakers or panels about a huge variety of topics. An edit-a-thon is also unlike a regular meetup, which tends to be without a single goal and/or for socializing. In other words: an edit-a-thon is like a hackathon for Wikipedians (and definitely not like a telethon).
There may be other benefits, such as promoting Wikipedia in cultural institutions such as libraries or museums, but it doesn't need to be more complicated than the reasons above.
Important: You should be aware of Wikipedia's conflict of interest (COI) guideline, which covers employees of an institution editing that institution's article. Also please check the Wikipedia:Advocacy essay; while not a Wikipedia policy or guideline itself, it is intended to supplement the WP:SOAP and WP:NPOV pages.
Define clear goals for your intended audience, such as a general group of articles you want to work on. This can be a broad topic, like women's history or items in the collection of a museum, or you can target a specific backlog. Newcomers often feel most comfortable with either a topic in which they have some degree of interest and a very simple activity, like copyediting or wikifying.
Be prepared with a list of things that need work or attention. It may be a list of subjects for which an article ought to exist. Even if nothing on the list gets worked on, it can help generate ideas.
When determining the date, time, and venue for an edit-a-thon, keep the following in mind.
Find out how many people your venue can hold and limit the number of signups to that number. Alternatively, guess how many attendees you'll have and try to find a venue that will accommodate that many. It's simple with half a dozen participants, while hundreds can be successful given the right planning.
Participants must have reliable access to the internet, preferably strong wifi. This is important, as Wikipedia skills are best learned by live editing. Usually venues are chosen that can provide access, but some chapters have portable wifi hotspots to ensure connections anywhere.
If the venue has computers, consider the following when deciding on how to incorporate them into your event:
If participants will be bringing devices, consider:
Drinks and food will encourage people to stick around for longer than they might otherwise and provide an opportunity to take a break and talk with other editors. Make sure water is available.
Especially when edit-a-thons are hosted within cultural institutions, attending the event may not be as simple as coming in. Find out what the access arrangements are for the venue. Ideally you want people to turn up on time and be able to get in without disrupting your event. But there will be latecomers. If the venue has receptionists then introduce yourself and make sure they know what to tell people who ask for the Wikipedia event (if you have bling then offer the receptionist a badge, biro or beermat). If people are going to have to phone you to be let in:
Is it easier/safer/cheaper to run your editathon online rather than in real life? Post-Covid, more and more editathons are being delivered via Zoom or similar meeting platforms. Consider how you will send out invites, manage the platform whilst training is being delivered. You may need to appoint colleagues to manage the delivery platform and deal with chat queries, unexpected attendees, etc. Check if a subscription is needed to have meetings of a suitable length. Ensure you familiarise yourself with the practicalities of the online meeting platform well in advance of your event.
Edit-a-thons go most smoothly when experienced editors are there to help new editors. One-on-one coaching is ideal, and one longtime Wikipedian per 10 attendees is a bare minimum. Coaches should also apply in advance for Wikipedia:IP block exemption and Wikipedia:Event coordinator, to be ready for problems that may arise. Connecting with a local Wikimedia affiliate or chapter provides access to support, expertise and promotion.
It can also help to include people who aren't experienced with Wikipedia, but are good at teaching information literacy. Librarians, for example, can teach about finding reliable sources and help build Wikipedia experience at libraries.
Within a 24-hour period, only six Wikipedia accounts can be created via a single IP address. If there's a chance you'll have more than six new editors at your edit-a-thon, you'll want to have a plan for how they'll create accounts. As of 2019, this limit does not apply to event account creations that are run through the Programs and Events Dashboard, unless you will be manually flagging your attendees as "confirmed".
You can do one or more of the following:
Write an event page. This is especially useful to recruit insiders to help. A subpage of Wikipedia:Meetup is easiest, but there are other options depending on the location and topic of your event. For an institution such as a gallery, library, archive, or museum, a subpage of WP:GLAM may be appropriate. If you are aiming this at newbies don't confuse them with a sign up page on a different wiki such as a chapter wiki, especially if that requires a different account to be created.
Providing a way for people to sign up outside of Wikipedia will be more inviting to new editors. Asking people who may have never edited before to navigate a meetup wiki page presents a Catch-22 where they have to edit a page filled with wiki markup in order to learn how to edit wiki markup. Good secondary alternatives are free tools such as Eventbrite, Meetup.com, or even a Facebook event.
This is important if you plan to report statistics on participant activity. There are two main ways to do this:
You can encourage participants to make a user page, with a notice that they are under your instruction, to help other editors understand.
Although everyone is usually welcome at an edit-a-thon, invitations and publicity help encourage participation. Consider who will be most interested in attending (is the event intended for mostly experienced Wikipedians? Medical professionals? Women who haven't edited before? Some combination?), and where they're most likely to be. Then, tailor your outreach to the audience(s) you're trying to reach.
In rough order of effectiveness:
For the benefit of online participants, make clear the time zone in which the event will take place.
Tip: For a great registration URL link to use in your advertisements, go to your Wikipedia event page while signed out and click "Create account". The URL now in your browser will automatically direct people to your event page after they create their account.
Below is an incomplete list, in reverse chronological order, of edit-a-thons organized in English language or in English speaking countries, including some others in non-English-speaking countries or regions.
2022
|
---|
|
2021
|
---|
|
2020
|
---|
|
2019
|
---|
|
2018
|
---|
|
2017
|
---|
|
2011
|
---|
|