Tell us about Macedonian Wikipedia

Macedonian

The Macedonian Wikipedia (Македонска Википедија) is the Macedonian-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. This edition was started in September 2002 and has 39.555 articles, 18.907 registered users, 15 administrators and 3 bureaucrats as of 8 April, 2010.

Questionnaire

Contributors

Wikimedia Statistics can be difficult to interpret. What is your impression, how many steady contributors do you have?
- According to the official Wikipedia statistics, there are 252 active users on the Macedonian Wikipedia, but around 10 - 15 users are steady contributors.--MacedonianBoy 14:23, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- About 10, not more than 15.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Are your contributors mostly native speakers?
- Yes.--MacedonianBoy 14:23, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- Most of them are native speakers, although we have few users with Bulgarian as native language.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Where do your contributors live (regions/country)?
- Most users live in Macedonia, and the rest of them in the regions with significant Macedonian population (ex. Bulgaria, Germany, New Zealand, United States of America), and Bulgaria.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
How common is it that your contributors meet in real life?
- Almost all active contributors that live in Macedonia meet each other during the Wikipedia meetings. --MacedonianBoy 14:23, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- We organize a Wikimeeting every one or two months.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Other Wikipedias

Do you have special contacts with other Wikipedias (maybe in related languages)?
- We have some contacts with the Serbian (on NGO level with Wikimedia Macedonia) and Bosnian Wikipedia (on Wikipedia level), as well as with the contributors at the English Wikipedia (on Wikipedia level). --MacedonianBoy 14:22, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- We have good relations with the users of the Serbian Wikipedia, and good relations also with the users of the other related language Wikipedias.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Do you translate a lot from other Wikipedias? Which ones?
- Yes, roughly 98% of the translated articles are from the English Wikipedia.--MacedonianBoy 14:22, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- Primarly, we use English, German, Russian, or Serbian Wikipedia to do it, but to expand the articles, we often use external sources, from books avaliable in Macedonia with the needful content.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Organization and support

Is there a Wikimedia chapter in your country? How does your language relate to it?
- Yes, there is Macednian Wikimedia which supports the development of the projects on Macedonian language.--MacedonianBoy 14:21, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- Wikimedia Macedonia is the official local chapter in the Republic of Macedonia, and most of the members of the organization are active users on the projects, especially on Wikipedia.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Are there work groups in other organizations about Wikipedia?
- We cooperate with many websites and organizations, manly for giving us images and free texts. --MacedonianBoy 14:21, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- We haven't heard about it yet.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Your Wikipedia and the linguistic community

Is there a language institution for your language, like an Academy, or a club of people interested in your language? Do you have contact with them?
- Yes, there is the Institute for the Macedonian language "Krste Misirkov" in Skopje, Macedonia.--MacedonianBoy 14:20, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- The w:en:Macedonian Language Institute "Krste Misirkov" is regulatory body for the Macedonian language, but we do not have contact with the body.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Who (else) supports you?
- Except the Macedonian Wikipedia, the faithful Macedonian contributors :) --MacedonianBoy 14:20, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- Our mainly support comes from the organization, which support free software content.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
What does the public outreach for your edition look like? Do you have flyers, give lectures, training etc.?
- We have not represented yet to the public, although we plan to do it.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Do you get feedback from readers?
- Sometimes, when they need the articles for private usage. --MacedonianBoy 14:20, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- Few readers discuss on the content of the articles, but we also fulfil the pretetntions of some readers, who are searching for articles, which do not exist.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
What other encyclopedias exist in your language?
- Yes, there are the two biggest "Encyclopedia Macedonica" and the "Macedonian Encyclopedia", but there exist many other smaller Macedonian-language encyclopedias.
- Almost, all other encyclopedias are not available on-line. Most popular other encyclopedias are the Macedonian edition of Encyclopedia Britanica, and Macedonian Encyclopedia.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Content

Does your edition concentrate on certain topics, like your region and language, or Latin Wikipedia on Roman history and Christianity?
- No, we do not tend to concetrate to certain field, but however we have many geographical and linguistic articles. --MacedonianBoy 14:19, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- The content on our Wikipedia edition is mainly concentrated to the history topics, but there is also too much content on geography, and Macedonia-related topics, which are evenly distributed.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Did your edition enjoy text donations, for example from older encyclopedias?
- Yes. As I have stated before, we have asked several web sites or organizations to donate us images or text. --MacedonianBoy 14:19, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- Up to now, we haven't used donations from older encyclopedias.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Language

Is there a generally accepted norm about your language (spelling, dictionary, pronunciation)?
- Of course and we follow that reulations. --MacedonianBoy 14:18, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- Nearby the time of the codification of the Macedonian language, the w:en:Macedonian grammar, and the W:en:Macedonian orthography were adopted, and issued.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
How do you deal with different spellings, dialects etc. (like B.E. lift and A.E. elevator)?

- We always use the standard Macedonian for Wikipedia.--MacedonianBoy 14:18, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- In Macedonia, variety of dialects of Macedonian are spoken, and it is common to meet different spellings, and writings in comparison with the standard language. We work hard on recension of the articles, and almost every day, the mistakes like theese are corrected.--Kiril Simeonovski 14:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Links

The main page of Macedonian Wikipedia