Wikimedia platforms
There are many ways to get involved, and activities to suit the interests of everybody. Outlined below are some of the main Wikimedia Foundation projects, and the support available for you to get involved and contribute to the sum of all human knowledge. New to editing? Visit our page on learning to edit Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is a free-content online encyclopedia, written and maintained by a community of volunteers, collectively known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system called MediaWiki. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read reference work in history.
Wikipedia has a series of editing tutorials aimed at complete beginners which cover all the basics. Previous experience is not required to start editing Wikipedia. The Teahouse is a friendly place to learn about editing, where experienced editors are happy to answer questions and help new editors become accustomed to Wikipedia culture.
Wikimedia Commons is a dynamic media file repository. It provides unrestricted access to public domain and freely licensed educational media content, making images, sound, and video clips, accessible to users worldwide in their preferred languages. This repository distinguishes itself by being crafted and sustained by a dedicated community of volunteers. Wikimedia Commons champions the principles of freedom. Users are granted the liberty to copy, use, and modify any files housed on the platform, provided they adhere to the terms specified by the original authors. Typically, this involves crediting the source and author(s) appropriately, and any copies or improvements must be released under the same freedom for others to benefit. This guide on contributing to Wikimedia Commons is a great place to get started.
Wikidata is a comprehensive, free, and open knowledge base, accessible for both human and machine users. This collaborative platform empowers individuals and automated processes alike to read and contribute to its wealth of information. At its core, Wikidata acts as a central repository, efficiently managing structured data originating from various Wikimedia sister projects, such as Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wiktionary, and Wikisource, among others. All content within Wikidata is offered under a free license, promoting the principles of open knowledge sharing. This content is not confined within the Wikidata platform; rather, it is exportable in standard formats. Wikidata Tours provides tutorials on contributing to Wikidata.
Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. The project's aim is to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has expanded to become a general-content library. The project holds works including professionally published works or historical source documents that are either in the public domain or freely licensed. Users contribute to Wikisource by scanning and uploading texts, proofreading, formatting and publishing. For more details read Beginner’s guide to Wikisource.
Get in touch
If you have a question, or would like some guidance on getting involved, please reach out to info@wikimedia.nz