Wikivoyage talk:Ways to help Wikivoyage

Unused images

[Moved from Travellers' pub by (WT-en) Hypatia 17:37, 18 Dec 2004 (EST)]

There are currently 61 unused images. Time for a clean-up ? --(WT-en) Nzpcmad 03:13, 9 Oct 2004 (EDT)

According to Project:Deletion policy, anything on Special:Unused Images should be added to Project:Votes for deletion

There seems to be a few bugs on that page though, many of the .wav file uploads listed there are broken links -- (WT-en) Hypatia 05:15, 9 Oct 2004 (EDT)

I get an error on that link. There are some files (such as SVG source files for maps) that aren't used as images but shouldn't be deleted. -(WT-en) phma 18:17, 9 Oct 2004 (EDT)

Sorry, page is at Special:Unusedimages -- (WT-en) Hypatia 09:18, 21 Oct 2004 (EDT)

Restructuring this

I got interested in this because I wanted to kill the following birds with one stone:

1. Jonboy suggested at the pub that we should come up with a checklist for travellers on the road.
2. My own feeling that one of the things Wikivoyage needs is groups of dedicated users who will go beyond making casual edits to their own favourite articles and actively build the structure of Wikivoyage (isIn, creating region templates and filling them, rating articles, MoS, spelling corrections etc.) To this end, I am planning to propose and make a lot of changes on the site (with the consent of others of course), mainly to help people collaborate better. This is one of them. I wanted a page that I could dump on new users so that they get an idea of how they can help out.

So far, I've merged Project:Non-administrator tasks into this (simply because "non-administrator tasks" are also ways to help Wikivoyage). Now I want to divide this into three groups of tasks:

• "Content" — stuff that requires actual travelling. This is where Jonboy's checklist comes in. (I don't like the name "content" though. )
• "Structure" — stuff that you can do from your armchair. This is where my idea comes in. (I don't like the name "Structure" though. "Administrative tasks" or "Janitorial tasks" would have been better, but one is misleading and the other demeaning.)

• "Community and Policies" — self-explanatory, I hope.

I am okay if this page is split into three. I'd love it if many of the tasks here expanded into full-fledged "expeditions" with active participation of Wikivoyagers (An "isIn expedition", for example where people will actively add isIns, bring missing or incorrect isIns to other people's notice, etc.) Comments, criticisms, suggestions and help in doing this gratefully appreciated. — (WT-en) Ravikiran 14:41, 14 May 2006 (EDT)

I think the key to this page is being simple and accessible, and I think a lot of hierarchical division inhibits that. What do you think about this: an "overview" at W:WthW, then some more detailed pages in the three groups you suggest? They may actually replicate some information, but in the interest of having an accessible, understandable new-user version available.

w/r/t non-adminstrator tasks: the point there was that those are tasks that are "normally" done by admins in on-line communities, but on wikis like Wikivoyage are done by everyone. I like having them called out separately, if only to remind admins that they don't have to do those tasks, and others that they can. --(WT-en) Evan 08:59, 15 May 2006 (EDT)

Checklist for Wikivoyagers on the road?

Swept in from the Pub:

Is there anywhere a list of suggestions for someone on a trip who wants to maximize the usefulness of their experience to this site? If not, would it be worthwile to create such a list. I'm thinking of something like:

1. Does the existing description in "Get In" fit with your experience of arriving? If there is no description of your mode of travel, start one. What was unusual about the experience that other people should know?
2. Did you stay in a hotel or other paid accommodation? If so, would you recommend it to others? If so, please add it to "Sleep". If not, please delete it from "Sleep" if it's there, but explain why in the Talk page.

Etc. (WT-en) Jonboy 09:51, 20 Feb 2006 (EST)

I just saw this for the first time for some reason. Jonboy, this is a great idea. I don't have a good name for it... maybe Project:Field research checklist? --(WT-en) Evan 11:28, 10 April 2006 (EDT)

I have some ideas here that are related to this. — (WT-en) Ravikiran 14:43, 14 May 2006 (EDT)

Spellchecker

I'm guessing the automatic spellchecker is pretty obsolete since it doesn't work and no one has said anything on its talk page for the last year. Can this be removed from the Project:Ways to help Wikivoyage page? Or is it something that is trying to be fixed? -- (WT-en) Fastestdogever 11:56, 19 March 2007 (EDT)

A gentle reminder

Archived from the Pub:

There are now a lot of new regular users, including new admins. I just thought I'd point out that there is a page called Project:Ways to help Wikivoyage that lists out how you can help Wikivoyage. In particular, I'd like to draw your attention to the first item that lists some useful pages like Special:Orphan pages that give you something to do when you are in the mood for boring maintenance work to pass your time. — (WT-en) Ravikiran 06:27, 16 February 2007 (EST)

A question to verify something

Swept in from the pub:

Hello i would just like to know where i could find info for a town or city on the web? I'am not clear on the copyright regulations so if someone could help me out that would be great. I really love travel guides and this is a free one so i would be more than glad to work on some towns/cities. One more thing i have no books at my apartment where i can find information like sleep, eat, buy? I only have the internet and i would like to know where i can find some free information on another website because i can't tell you like if boston was blank and i started it i would only know sleep the ritz carlton and eat would be like chinatown but if i wanted to start a new town or city i would have to find information from the web due to no experience with traveling to other places unfortunatly i havent been to many places. If anyone could steer me in the direction that would help a bunch otherwise if i can not contribute to wikivoyage i guess i will only be able to read but i hope i can create. Thank You --(WT-en) Thehighlands 23:44, 11 February 2008 (EST)

(WT-en) Thehighlands, welcome to Wikivoyage. I think I just saw some of your contributions at Leavenworth — thanks! To answer your question, I'd suggest that rather than looking for information about remote places on the Web, you shut down your computer, go outside, and take a walk in the real world. What restaurants, hotels, attractions, can you document? What good pictures can you take? Build up the listings for the places you physically visit. Also, if you haven't read Project:Welcome, newcomers, you might find it useful to. Cheers! (WT-en) JimDeLaHunt 18:45, 12 February 2008 (EST)

Where is the community?

Swept in from the Pub:

OK, this maybe be a bit provocative and cocky, for someone who has been here a short time as i have. But hey, bear with me - I'm new :). While I've become absolutely enchanted by the scope of this site, and really impressed by the daily number of contributions. I'm quite disappointed with the community involvement of the place - it seems a bit like a large number of "anonymous" contributors, and very little soul - with the exception of few Sysops, and in particular (WT-en) Peter, whom i think is absolutely amazing, and it was his praise that made me want to do continuous contributions here.

Please note that I'm not targeting anyone (not least the janitors - it's obviously working, since the articles are all nice and clean). And granted, I'm a bit disappointed by the fact that my own star nomination which I worked really hard on, didn't get any more comments after two weeks. But still - the collaboration of the month is not working - which it really should at a place like this. I've been trying to patrol new edits - but can't keep up, because very few users seem to be chipping in doing this, and what about the welcomes? - which i think is one of the best things about this place (I tried doing some myself for the first time today). Did we loose all the fiery souls with the IB take over?

Come on people, you don't need to have sysop rights, to chip in on the janitorial work around here, look around the talk pages, welcome new users, join in on the different expeditions, talk in the pub, contribute with your opinion in the Destination of the month, of the beaten patch and star nominations sections - Make a name for yourself - please help give the place some soul and grow the community :)

- Stefan ((WT-en) Sertmann 20:14, 18 October 2008 (EDT))

AMEN! (WT-en) Edmontonenthusiast 20:05, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

Wikivoyage stickers

Swept in from the pub

Wondering if it is time to do a bit of publicizing this site in the physical world. Having spend a lot of time dragging my travel bag around airports and watching luggage go round carousels I was thinking it would be a good idea to have stickers with the Wikivoyage logo on my luggage. May encourage people to look up the address. Thoughts? Also if we do something like this, does anyone know a web site where we can set up the printing and ordering of low individual volumes so that no one here has to bulk buy then spend there time taking and mailing orders? --Traveler100 (talk) 07:59, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Store has a set of stickers of WMF projects which includes Wikivoyage - $5 per set, but these are small with just the logo. If there is a lot of interest in luggage labels maybe the Wikipedia Store could be persuaded to offer something different. AlasdairW (talk) 12:55, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

I'd think Wikivoyage stickers would be a tremendous idea... Hobbitschuster (talk) 16:38, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Yes, with a QR code :) Danapit (talk) 16:54, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Luggage tags with banners on them and WV's logo in one corner! :D ϒpsilon (talk) 17:09, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

We might even get a gift store to finance the project.... In all seriousness though, stickers would be a great (and unobtrusive) way of spreading knowledge of our page and attracting readers/contributors... We could also advice business owners to put said sticker in the window... Hobbitschuster (talk) 17:23, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia QR Code

Just to expand on Danapit's suggestion, the town of Monmouth uses both Wikipedia and QR codes quite heavily. It would be good to add an extra 'Tool' to the sidebar that allowed generation of a Wivivoyage logo and QR code for a specific article that would be appropriate for a sticker, poster or anything else. --Andrewssi2 (talk) 20:27, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

QRvoyage... :) Danapit (talk) 21:08, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea to me... Hobbitschuster (talk) 21:55, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

Seems to me to be a nice idea: (Bumper sticker anyone?) Matroc (talk) 09:02, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

NEW HAMPSHIRE

So something like this ?

--Traveler100 (talk) 22:37, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

That looks good and would work well for a luggage sticker, although I was hoping for something more article specific. i.e. A QR code for the Paris article --Andrewssi2 (talk) 23:08, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Sounds interesting. I would suggest you guys to file a grant request which can cover the cost of stickers etc. I'm very much sure it will be approved. This way, we can also cover the postage charges in the grant so that all interested Wikivoyagers will be able to get their stuff. --Saqib (talk) 12:59, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

SO I added a request for cost details on MetaWiki which I guess needs to be done before we can apply for a grant but have had not reply yet. --Traveler100 (talk) 05:21, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Wishes and thoughts about WV

Swept in from the pub

Hi. How are you? Roland is going to meet a guy from the community team of the WMF tomorrow or the day after to talk about the future of WV and checking out opportunities to support WV in a better way. I am aware, its short term planned, because the guy will happen to be in Berlin these days. Does the English community have some ideas/wishes (e.g. map/mobile/offline features)? -- DerFussi 11:44, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Well, the conversation right above this one could be mentioned, perhaps ;-) I think in general visibility remains a concern, so it would probably be good to have some exchange of thoughts about if and how WMF has ideas/know-how with regard to improving our ranking. JuliasTravels (talk) 14:07, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Yep. Solving the Google ranking issue will help with all of the other problems. We need visibility and traffic. The stickers and QR codes mentioned above are a great idea but may require WMF support. Powers ^(talk) 14:52, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

If there should be an example of projects named, for which we might use some developers' support, I think generated user maps would be a really cool feature to introduce to attract more users. Danapit (talk) 16:14, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Also some language varieties (most notably the Spanish one) are much smaller than the number of speakers might indicate... What are the reasons for that? Hobbitschuster (talk) 19:49, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Some weeks ago, the WMF product team focused their interest on Wikivoyage, and they want to become more familiar with this project. The WMF team (Wes Moran -- Vice President of Product; Dan Garry -- Map services product manager) proposed to speak about inter-wiki visibility, maps and search. I think that we will also discuss the main urgent issues in this respect. --RolandUnger (talk) 06:57, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

This is great to hear! I agree that our number one issue is readership. By increasing readership, the wiki can increase the userbase which consequently leads to better content and more features. I think our wiki has amazing potential to be more than simply a website. It needs to be a brand that people think of when they think travel. Think of other amazing web-based, non-profit projects which have boomed: Wikipedia, Khan Academy, Duolingo, etc. Instead of people searching Google for "Paris travel guide" and then clicking on Wikivoyage, I long for the day when people go to wikivoyage.org and search for Paris. Of course, baby steps, but I think if we can build the appropriate framework, then the appropriate branding, our site can go very far indeed. James A ▪ talk 08:42, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Definitely, we need support of the WMF to increase the visibility of Wikivoyage. Albeit having improvement in our content, our Alexa ranking is getting worse and worse as each day goes by. --Saqib (talk) 13:07, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Feedback/summary of the meeting? --Traveler100 (talk) 05:22, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

I have design an android app from Chinese Wikivoyage

Swept in from the pub

The Android app from Chinese Wikivoyage, and it is basic simply function app. If you like Chinese Wikivoyage, you can download apk to Android phone, and install it!(Chinese Wikivoyage apk, and source in GitHub). I'm also welcome anyone to get my source code to make changes and enhancements function.

By the way, the biggest drawback of this app is that it can't be get location any maps on Wikivoyage. I always wanted to try to improve this problem, but there is no solution. I have a hope that Wikivoyage will be widely used by everyone. Of course, I hope that more friends who will develop Android APP can jointly develop a free Wikivoyage (which can be automatically imported according to the user's mobile language, and can auto conversion to different languages version in Wikivoyage). thanks!--✈ IGOR ／ ✉ TALK?! ^{．WIKIVOYAGER !} 10:33, 9 June 2019 (UTC)

If I understand https://github.com/chunvenovich/ChineseWikivoyage/blob/master/app/src/main/java/com/example/lenovo/chinesewikivoyage/MainActivity.java correctly, the app loads the website in a WebView? Cheers! Syced (talk) 07:00, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

@Syced: That's right!--✈ IGOR ／ ✉ TALK?! ^{．WIKIVOYAGER !} 06:24, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

Re-thinking where to put the focus on - Wikivoyage’s Global Vital/Core articles?

Swept in from the pub

One of the issues with any wiki site is that unless the editor community agrees upon where it is mostly important to put most efforts, usually everyone just improves random articles without knowing what to prioritize... this becomes a bigger issue with the smaller communities where if there are only two or three active editors... they would usually create mostly random stubs that aren’t of much interest to their readers, just because most people wouldn’t know on the top of the head what travel destinations are of most interest to people.

In order to tackle this issue, some wiki sites develop a vital/core article list based on the consensus in that community, which could be used both as a way to focus most efforts where they are most needed (for example, by encouarging the editors to make as many Guide articles and Star articles from all the articles on the core articles list) but also as a way to encourage the other parallel editions of that wiki to create the articles deemed to be the most vital articles as well.

I especially like Wikipedia’s vital articles list... but also Meta’s List of articles every Wikipedia should have.

At the Hebrew Wikivoyage we tried to do something similar by creating a list of the 200 core articles and recently trying to sort all existing articles by the estimated interest in them based on page view statistics and our common sense (the links to both these links appear on the sidebar of all pages at the Hebrew Wikivoyage to increase the awareness to those lists).

I think that the existence of such a list here on the English Wikivoyage would be especially important as it would inspire all the smaller editions to do the same, and make sure the the article which are of most interest to their readers are the ones which most efforts are directed towards.

Maybe calculations could be made to find out which destinations are the ones of most interest to the readers on all Wikivoyage editions, so that such a list would reflect the global POV of our readers and not just the POV of English readers. If editors actually start putting most efforts on the items on such a list, this of course would also help especially with increasing the traffic to Wikivoyage as we would create the most sought after content.

Thoughts? ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 10:00, 14 June 2019 (UTC)

Sounds like a WV:Collaboration of the month that other-language Wikivoyages choose to join. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:34, 14 June 2019 (UTC)

the difference is that the Collaboration of the month expedition isn’t attempting to make a permanent list of the 200 or 500 or 1000 most sought after articles. ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 11:28, 14 June 2019 (UTC)

maybe the the best way to go about this would be to go the same route which the Wikipedia community went, and start by creating this list on Meta (at [1]). ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 11:00, 14 June 2019 (UTC)

weird ... someone started working on the list at Meta in 2012, but that list only includes 74 articles. ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 11:05, 14 June 2019 (UTC)

would anyone be interested in helping me with this? ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 11:05, 14 June 2019 (UTC)

---

Ok... I compiled a decent List of 1,000 articles every Wikivoyage should have at Meta. Please help me sorted it nicely and make sure that the most sought after and prominent articles are included (we'll substitue the ones that are of less importance to the travlers if you could think of more prominent articles to replace them with). ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 08:42, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

What do you need help with, sorting that list into the four categories (Destinations, Itineraries, Phrasebooks, Travel topics)? How did you compile the list, anyway? --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 09:05, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

We’ll need to start by sorting into the four categories in the following way:

Asia

Middle East

Israel

Tel Aviv

The list is the result of many years of trying to figure out what the most notable articles are from page view statistics mostly as we’ll as my own common sense. It is not perfect, and therefore anyone whom goes over it could help improve it by noticing important locations missing I forgot to include. Did you notice any important articles missing from the list? ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 09:27, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

Well, w:World Tourism rankings shows which countries get the most visitors, and destinations in these countries are highly likely ones that most people are looking for travel information about. Roughly speaking much of Europe, USA, Mexico and the Far East.

But I believe the preferred travel areas vary from one Wikivoyage version to another depending on which are the most popular destinations among speakers of a language (doesn't apply to the English version as there are native speakers from virtually all continents and more importantly 1+ billion non-native speakers from everywhere but Antarctica). These are the destinations readers would both be most likely looking for, and on the other hand, contributors would have knowledge of and ability to contribute to. My 2 cents. --Ypsilon (talk) 09:53, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

Ypsilon, I agree with everything you said, although... I do think it is possible to create a list of core articles based on the consensus among wikivoyage editors that would include among other things prominent locations like Antarctica and Israel, even though for example most Arabic speakers (from the future Arabic Wikivoyage) aren’t likely to go to these destinations, I am sure that the general interest in those destinations still is wide among people whom speak Arabic, and that their editors would be thankful we compiled such a list that they could use to focus their efforts on something specific.

I’ll also add, that to my surprise, although the Hebrew speakers are very much interested in destinations in Israel, most of the time, according to the page view statistics on hebvoy and the Hebrew Wikipedia, are actually more interested in the core articles about countries and cities outside of Israel more than travel destinations in Israel. ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 10:30, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

The very most popular travel destinations globally are always going to be among the top articles, no matter the language version so I'd say it would be worth focusing on them. The good thing is that, at least here on the English WV, we have pretty good articles for those places and they can be translated if nobody in the other language community has visited. Then, there's of course another thing: whether people are actually interested in contributing to those particular articles or rather prefer to spend their time on other articles. --Ypsilon (talk) 11:14, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

Usually, when a wiki eventually gets a core group of active members, especially for a site like Wikivoyage, it means that these editors are most likely creating a "foundation" for their wiki, which includes many destinations or topics that the people translating the content to those wikis aren't familiar with or never been to those destinations, and they create the content simple because it is deemed to be the most sought after content. Most articles I created on Hebvoy are about destinations I have never been to. The fact that one is actually creating content that is of high interest to potential readers is enough motivation for many. The issue usually is that most people just don't know what are the most prominent destinations, and that is why I think such a list could be of great help to many, just like the similar list has been to Wikipedia in the last 15 years or so. ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 11:39, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

For me, these lists are not particularly helpful. I mean, of course a world travel guide should have all the countries, continents and capitals. And it also shouldn't surprise anyone to hear that more people visit London than Elgin, Tokyo has more tourists than Marugame, etc. Some of the listings are not actually viewed that much as I look at their current viewing history (Judean Desert, Eindhoven, Indira Gandhi International Airport, Mount Etna, Taba, etc). For me, seeing what is on and not on the list is of mild interest, but I don't think it would make me edit Tokyo more. I've always been aware that Tokyo receives the most visitors in Japan (the country I have edited most). With all that said, I'm not against the list if it is seen as potentially useful to someone. While Wikipedia doesn't seem to deprioritize articles, we could actually remove star articles from our list and just add a note and link encouraging curating of already perfected articles so that our 1000 places could in fact change. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 11:40, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

ChubbyWimbus, thanks for pointing out Judean Desert, Eindhoven, Indira Gandhi International Airport, Mount Etna, andTaba - these articles are most likely to be replaced by more prominent destinations or topics if you could help me figure out what they are. I haven't finished the list yet! I plan to get the rest of the Wikivoyage communities involved after we finish sorting out the initial list. I am sure many fixes would be made along the way until we reach a version the reflects the consensus and not just the POV of a few editors (it already reflects the intrests of a wide amount of people as I based the lists among other things on page view statistics). ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 11:54, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

"The list of 1000 articles every Wikivoyage should have" should include every nation in the world. OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 16:30, 16 June 2019 (UTC)

One of the good things about such a list, of the 1000 most vital articles, is that it forces the community to pick the article most relevant to travelers based on page view statistics and common sense. This means we have to choose some as being more important than other - for example, Florida over Iraq... or Machu Picchu over Syria. You might say though how could you even compare two completely different travel destinations to determine whom is in and who is out - do you know all the destinations in the world that you could make such an assesnment? We'll, no one has traveled to all the destinations in the world, but still... using the page view statistics + our own common sense would help us determine which article are more important to focus on than other for the benefit of our readers (and yes, I do think that more travelers would benefit from articles about Florida and Machu Picchu than Iraq and Syria. ויקיג'אנקי (talk) 12:05, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

I'm very much supportive of a vital articles list for each of the Wikivoyages though I don't necessarily think that dangerous or war zone countries lose all of their importance because of that. There are many factors to consider. The international tourist numbers, domestic tourist numbers, places which are growing in popularity, capital cities or cities with large populations, whether the city has an airport or is a hub for exploring other area, whether the destination is a UNESCO heritage site, and adapting it to each language, for En-wikivoy the number of English-speaking tourists and English-speaking locals including both native and non-native speakers since both read Wikivoyage. We can use Wikistats 2 data to find out where our readers are from (link but also look at the readers of the old site. Readers from some countries have more readily switched over from WT to WV than other countries, possibly because not all of our articles have been updated over time. Gizza ^(roam) 23:28, 18 June 2019 (UTC)