Wikipedia:Geonotice: Difference between revisions

A geonotice is a notice similar to a sitenotice, anonnotice or watchlist notice, but it is displayed only to users who are physically located in some subset of the Earth. The purpose of geonotices is to announce events that would be of great interest to people in a specific region, but that would not be interesting to most of our readers. The use of targeted messages allows us to scale our communication better; rather than flooding people with multiple messages or avoiding messages entirely, we can display messages only to the people who are most likely to find them useful.

Example uses for targeted messages are: to announce upcoming Wikipedia meetups and local events, for local chapter activities and to advertise mailing lists focused on geographical areas. They might also be used to display customized fundraiser notices that are better targeted to improve our fundraising results.

Currently, only a watchlist geonotice exists (although you can also make meta:CentralNotice banners geotargeted). No data or personal information is gathered from users to make this notice possible, nor does this notice share any user's personal information with outsiders.

The current implementation works by loading the user's latitude and longitude from geoiplookup.wikimedia.org and using a small bit of JavaScript (Geonotice.js) to determine whether or not to display a notice to the user. Once the possible applications of this feature are better understood, it will be integrated into MediaWiki proper. One significant open question is how best to allow users to specify the locations of interest for a message. Right now, the location range must be hard-set in the software.

The location detection is IP address-based, using a lookup system at geoiplookup.wikimedia.org.

The notice can be persistently dismissed using a hide button that is displayed with the message. It can permanently be hidden by adding ".geonotice { display: none; }" to your CSS file.

Create request

To propose a geonotice, simply create a new third level section (using ===) under the "Requests" section, using the boilerplate text below, and follow the instructions in this section.

=== [[Related page name (e.g. meetup page)]] ===
'''Locations required:'''
<!-- List the cities/regions to be notified.  Optionally include geo-coordinates - a box
     specifying the corners of the area covered is best, in the form [45,10], [46,12] -->
* 
* 
'''Possible messages:'''
<!-- Only one is necessary, but two is recommended in case one is rejected -->
* 
* 
'''Date range required:'''
<!-- Please give us at least 5 days warning, unless you have an important reason -->
* 
'''Misc info:'''
* ''Reason for requesting:'' 
* ''User requesting:'' <!-- sign here with FOUR tildes -->
'''Discussion'''

Locations

Try to be as specific as possible with the location. For example, a Washington, D.C. meetup would not be appropriate to advertise to everyone in the United States.

Be aware that the detection is not flawless; due to varying region boundaries and the inaccuracies of IP locating, the result cannot be perfect. If, for whatever reason, you need to reach everyone in the target area, request the surrounding areas as well.

Messages

Messages should be under three sentences in length, and they should not contain any flashy text or images. It is a good idea to provide at least two options, in case one is deemed inappropriate.

Messages exceeding four sentences are deemed too large, except in cases where the sentences are short.

Geonotices should always be used with the understanding that some of the intended audience will be excluded and that some unintended people will be included. As such, the message should be written in a way that would be suitable for display to all users. For example, write "The New York City Wikipedia Meetup will be on August 12" rather than "Hello resident of Long Island...".

Remember to link the event signup page (where appropriate) in the notice!

Date range

Try to post your request at least five days (preferably seven to ten days) in advance. It may take a while for requests to be handled.

Requests should not be shown for meetups more than 2 months in advance.

Reason requesting

In the case of a meetup, where that page is linked and it is obvious by the message, this is not necessary. If there is possible confusion regarding the reason for the geonotice, please state a clear reason.

Notify geonotice maintainers

In case there is no feedback in a few days after posting the request, ask an administrator to take a look.

Add new requests to the top of this list. Please include a general geographic indication in the header, if this is not already clear. Note that this page is quite low-traffic - if you've had no response after a day or two, or if it's urgent, please poke Andrew Gray (talk · contribs).

Locations required:

• [Karachi]

Possible messages:

• You are invited to join us at Karachi's Wikipedia meetup on May 26. See Wikipedia:Meetup/Karachi 2 for details and to sign up.

Date range required:

• Until May 26, 2013

Misc info:

• Reason for requesting: public meeting between Pakistani Wikipedians
• User requesting: Saki (talk) 10:27, 20 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Locations required:

• Minneapolis and Saint Paul [45.2, -93.6], [44.7, -92.8]

Possible messages:

• You are invited to Minnesota's first monthly Wikipedia meetups on June 1 and July 6 at Minneapolis Central Library. See the meetup talk page for details and to sign up (not required).

Date range required:

• Until June 1, again June 15-July 6 (will post again)

Misc info:

• This is also to announce that monthly meetups are planned.
• User requesting: —innotata 17:18, 19 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Locations required:

• Cape Town [-33.6, 18.16], [-34.32, 19.1]

Possible messages:

• Join a special Wikipedia meetup at the Mexican Kitchen in the Cape Town City Bowl area at 13 Bloem Street at 11am on Sunday, May 26, 2013! RSVP here!

Date range required:

• Until the end of Sunday May 26.

Misc info:

• Reason for requesting: community meeting, hopefully the the first of many for Cape Town Wikipedians and hopefully something we can turn into a regular event. Speical event as Victor Grigas will be in town.
• User requesting: --Discott (talk) 13:46, 14 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion:

•  Done - sorry for the delay. Andrew Gray (talk) 17:05, 18 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Locations required:

• Seattle [47.8,-122.8], [47.2,-121.8]

Possible messages:

• Join the monthly Wikipedia meetup at Café Allegro in University District, Seattle at 7pm on Tuesday, May 14, 2013! RSVP here!. Note new day! Now on the second Tuesday of the month.

Date range required:

• Until the end of Tuesday May 14.

Misc info:

• Reason for requesting: regular monthly meeting which has been happening since 2010
• User requesting: --Dennis Bratland (talk) 13:54, 7 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion:

•  Done - many apologies for not noticing this sooner! Andrew Gray (talk) 21:23, 12 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Locations required:

• Central England
• East/central Wales

Possible messages:

• A series of backstage pass tours and editathons will be held at The New Art Gallery, Walsall, throughout May and early June 2013. All welcome, but booking essential!
• (alternative of your choosing)

Date range required:

• ASAP - 1 June 2013

Misc info:

• Reason for requesting: Public events
• User requesting: Wikipedian in Residence, Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:10, 16 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion:

•  Done Andrew Gray (talk) 18:28, 16 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://toolserver.org/~para/geonotices.php for an auto-generated map of currently pending and running geonotices.

Locations required:

• North & Middle England
• Southern Scotland
• North Wales

Possible messages:

• A backstage pass tour and editathon will be held at Queen Street Mill Textile Museum, Burnley, Lancashire, on 4 May 2013. All welcome, but booking essential!
• (alternative of your choosing)

Date range required:

• ASAP - 3 May 2013

Misc info:

• Reason for requesting: Public event
• User requesting: Wikipedian in Residence, Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:12, 10 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

• Done. I've given it [52,-5], [56, 0] which is pretty broad but not all-UK. Andrew Gray (talk) 20:02, 10 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thank you. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:09, 10 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Locations required: Is it possible to include all of North Carolina? If not, I can narrow down to specific region.

Possible messages:

• The North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is hosting an "African Americans in North Carolina Edit-a-thon" on Sunday, April 14 from 1-5 pm at UNC's Wilson Library. Our goal is to improve and create Wikipedia articles about prominent African Americans and their contributions to our state. Sign up here!

Date range required:

• March 24-April 14, 2013

Misc info:

• Reason for requesting: Publicize public edit-a-thon.
• User requesting: Czarinanc (talk) 13:53, 12 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

•  Done - tightened it a little. As we need a box, I've included a good chunk of SC as well. Andrew Gray (talk) 15:23, 14 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• Wikipedia:Geonotice/Old requests