Grants:Project/Putnik/Wikidata module/Midpoint

This project is funded by a Project Grant

Report accepted

This midpoint report for a Project Grant approved in FY 2017-18 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Putnik/Wikidata module.
You may still review or add to the discussion about this report on its talk page.
You are welcome to email projectgrantswikimedia.org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Welcome to this project's midpoint report! This report shares progress and learnings from the Individual Engagement Grantee's first 3 months.

Summary

In a few short sentences or bullet points, give the main highlights of what happened with your project so far.

During the first half of the project, the following results were achieved:

The module was simplified for both use (to use 1 module and 1 template is enough) and configuration (single configuration page)
Native support for all data types
- Most of the output is data-based and does not require additional code
Powerful extensions for individual properties
- The migration of extensions code to MediaWiki has begun
Advanced HTML output for the ability to connect external tools (primarily JavaScript gadgets)
- Created the gadget to export information from infoboxes to Wikidata (added 48K statements)
Synchronization of modules between different wiki-projects using a bot is started in test mode

Current status based on the schedule:

Total	28 "weeks"	13-14 "weeks"
Analysis of the functionality, dependencies, and compatibility of the existing modules.	1 week	Done
Support for all basic types in the Russian Wikipedia module.	3 weeks	Done
Removing language dependencies.	1 week	Done
Creating a settings page, specify the default settings.	2 week	Done
Rewriting of the most important module extensions from the Russian Wikipedia.	4 weeks	In progress…
Creating deployment script with UI.	3 weeks	In progress…
Creating MediaWiki extension.	2 weeks	In progress…
Adaptation of the modules of the largest projects (en, de, fr wikis) for compatibility.	4 weeks
Writing and translating documentation.	2 weeks
Deploying the new version of the module to all projects that are already using it.	3 weeks	In progress…
Deploying the module to some new projects.	3 weeks

Methods and activities

How have you setup your project, and what work has been completed so far?

Describe how you've setup your experiment or pilot, sharing your key focuses so far and including links to any background research or past learning that has guided your decisions. List and describe the activities you've undertaken as part of your project to this point.

Many adjustments have arisen in the process of communicating with other participants interested in integrating Wikipedia and Wikidata
Some of the solutions were unsuccessful, and they had to be altered after they were implemented

Midpoint outcomes

What are the results of your project or any experiments you’ve worked on so far?

Please discuss anything you have created or changed (organized, built, grown, etc) as a result of your project to date.

In some Wikipedias, information from the Wikidata was much more actively and suitable used
Accelerated filling the Wikidata with new information

Finances

Please take some time to update the table in your project finances page. Check that you’ve listed all approved and actual expenditures as instructed. If there are differences between the planned and actual use of funds, please use the column provided there to explain them.

Then, answer the following question here: Have you spent your funds according to plan so far? Please briefly describe any major changes to budget or expenditures that you anticipate for the second half of your project.

Budget spending remains the same. The project was delayed for about two weeks due to personal circumstances. This will not affect the budget in any way, but will shift the completion date for the same period.

Learning

The best thing about trying something new is that you learn from it. We want to follow in your footsteps and learn along with you, and we want to know that you are taking enough risks to learn something really interesting! Please use the below sections to describe what is working and what you plan to change for the second half of your project.

What are the challenges

What challenges or obstacles have you encountered? What will you do differently going forward? Please list these as short bullet points.

Often, a lot of work takes place, for which the plan has been allocated quite a bit of time. Basically, these are minor improvements related to the comments of the community. Regardless of how important this work is from the technical side or not, it greatly affects the perception of the community.
Although it seems to me that the code is already simple, and the ways to use it should be simple for everyone, in fact many users experience difficulties in understanding where information is taken, how to edit it, or how to add support for Wikis to infoboxes. I will need to make documentation and tips on many levels to make the work simple for everyone.

What is working well

What have you found works best so far? To help spread successful strategies so that they can be of use to others in the movement, rather than writing lots of text here, we'd like you to share your finding in the form of a link to a learning pattern.

Next steps and opportunities

What are the next steps and opportunities you’ll be focusing on for the second half of your project? Please list these as short bullet points. If you're considering applying for a 6-month renewal of this IEG at the end of your project, please also mention this here.

Complete the development of the mechanisms of the deploy: using a bot and as MediaWiki extension
Deploy module to wiki projects: those that already use it, and new ones
Write documentation and tests

At the end of the project, I would like to continue this work from a slightly different angle, so I applied for a separate grant related to the editing of Wikis from Wikipedia.

Grantee reflection

We’d love to hear any thoughts you have on how the experience of being an IEGrantee has been so far. What is one thing that surprised you, or that you particularly enjoyed from the past 3 months?