Wikidata
This is a translation from the page on the Czech Wikiversity cs:Wikidata.
Wikidata is the name of (maybe) the new WikiMedia foundation project which is proposed here.
Notice: After a lot of previous discussions with Czech wikiversians I proposed this project on the Czech Wikiversity June 1, 2009. This same day I created the appropriate project on the server referata: wikidata.referata.com. Yet today I noticed that some very similar project with the same name Wikidata arised recently (February 11, 2012) on Meta: m:Wikidata. It is questionable if we should continue with our original project or to connect our project with this project already running on Meta. I don't know if this project on Meta was inspirated wit the Czech one or if it arised by a twist of fate. But most probably the both projects are an independent expressions of similar needs of a lot of wikimedians. --Kychot (talk) 17:42, 16 May 2012 (UTC)
Contents
Goal[edit]
The central database of lists and other data accesible from the all other WikiMedia projects; the properties from the semantic wiki will be implemented and by this way the easy searching will be posssible. This database will integrate some searching engine too, reusable for all other WikiMedia projects.
Name[edit]
The name Wikidata says that basically the data of any type may be used here. The term data is international and good understandable in most of another language mutations of other projects they will utilise this database. The shortcut for interwiki may be [[d:]].
Other possible names:
- wikibase; disadvantage: the shortcut [[b:]] belongs to wikibooks
- something with the term semantic; disadvantage: shortcut [[s:]] belongs to wikisource
- wikisearch; disadvantage: it is not restricted to the searchin possibility only; the term search is not international
Language mutations[edit]
It will be multilingual project. The language teams of Wikidatians will maintain the texts in the database for all the languages. The experiences from betawikiversity: may be utilised.
Reasons[edit]
The need of any inteligent storage of data structures was many times urged, for example Czech Wikiversity:Technical needs/G. The possibilities of utilisation of such a database are for example the lists, tables and databases as:
- The periodical table of elements
- The table of physical constants
- The table of the world events
- The database of dreams which is a long-time project on the Czech wikiversity
etc. etc.
It is evident that majority of such data is not matter of one language nor matter of one project only. It is a nonsense to have such independent data (lists, tables etc.) on all language projects of wikiversities, wikipedies, wikidictionaries and other projects. The only reasonable solution is to make one common projects analogical to Commons:.
Problem of data access[edit]
The set of MediaWiki php-scripts relay on some database engine, but the tables of this database are practically non-available for users and by this way is this database directly unusable for storing any user tables or list-objects.
Semantics[edit]
But there exists some workaround how to bypass such restriction: By searching for appropriate extensions we closed that the Semantic MediaWiki extensions may be the most suitable ones for our purposes. Our first goal is to install these extensions and begin with their utilisation. But our requests to implement this extensions on the Czech wikiversity was not satisfied yet.
Schedule[edit]
- Create the testing wiki on some server which has the semantic extensions implemented yet
- Installing and trying the semantic extensions on some own server with root permissions. Testing, searching for the optimal configuration, to gain basicall know-how. The sandbox server would be an ideal place for such experimental work.
- Create the page "Wikidata" on en:, de:, get the co-workers and obtain international support for this project
- Request for installing semantic extensions on the betawikiversity: and continue there with further experiments – this approach will be more secure as here on the czech wikiversity. Moreover on the betavikiversity is traditionally good language co-operation so there will be a optimal place for testing the multilingual projects. Maybe such solution will be better than the incubator:.
- Request for a mediagrant m:Wikimedia chapters/WMF grants for the fiskal year 2010/11 for support of this project
Wikidata on server referata[edit]
- 2009-06-01 I started projekt wikidata on server referata referata. This server is owned and maintained by Yaron Koren (one of the Semantic gurus) so it seems to be an ideal choice for testing the semantic extensions.
- example/books – examples, how to maintain database of books
- Digital recorders – an example how to store parametres of a technical equipment (my digital recorder)
- Danza del Cinquecento – another project, with the goal to create a database with the italian renaissance dances and dance steps