Wikiversity:Colloquium/archives/June 2018

Another gadget request: ReferenceTooltips
Thank you Dave for sorting out the necessary pages to get efn to work. In a similar theme, it will be great to activate the reference tooltip gadget here. Would it be possible to also import across: and then add the line " " to v:MediaWiki:Gadgets-definition?
 * w:MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips
 * w:MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.js
 * w:MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.css

Based on discussions here and here. T.Shafee(Evo&#65120;Evo)talk 05:41, 30 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree that this plug-in is very useful and already being used on en.wp with no complaints. It should be implemented as soon as possible.  OhanaUnited  Talk page  01:37, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Would you be able to import these across ? I realise I ask a lot of mediawiki favours! T.Shafee(Evo&#65120;Evo)talk 13:16, 15 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Sorry I missed this request before. Now done. See Special:Preferences to enable. @User:Evolution and evolvability: Sure would be nice to have someone else who can help process these requests... -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 20:33, 15 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Thank you again! I've now submitted an application for Custodianship, to be able to do some of these things myself and only require assistance for bits that malfunction. T.Shafee(Evo&#65120;Evo)talk 02:05, 16 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Perfect. Thanks guys.  OhanaUnited  Talk page  06:29, 17 June 2018 (UTC)

I have a Problem!
I was trying to make a page giving lessons on the Taíno language but, when I tried to save it, it told me that I had passed the page limit for a new user! i don't know what to do?! It told me to ask an administrator but where do I find those! If anyone can help, HAHÕ! --Usa-ará (discuss • contribs) 11:26, 6 June 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think your problem is a page limiet because I looked at Special:Contributions/Usa-ará and you haven't written any pages yet. You might have passed a time limit?  Also, have you been blocked or reprimanded on another wiki?  I see no evidence of that, but my skills in such matters are limited.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 12:49, 6 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Your recent edits triggered Filters 15 & 16. Your edits were good! The filters may have been too broad. You should be able to continue. --Marshallsumter (discuss • contribs) 15:15, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Welcome! Your enthusiasm exceeds the limits of new user accounts, and your wiki experience suggests that you may be using multiple accounts. What other user names do you edit by on Wikimedia? Regarding the addition of Taíno language resources, our structure is more like Wikibooks than Wikipedia. See Languages of South America/Taíno for the appropriate place for this content. Note that new user accounts are appropriately limited to give you time to learn your way around before creating resources inappropriately. Please let us know whenever you have any questions. -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 17:30, 6 June 2018 (UTC)
 * I do have a Wikipedia account that goes by the name of Areitoyaya. I wanted to create a separate page so people can learn the Taíno language. I tried to follow the format of the Mapundungun Page. How many contributions would I need to do in order to stop being a new user.
 * The history on Wikipedia:Special:Contributions/Areitoyaya is also quite short. I'm trying to assume good faith, but your efforts are setting off some red flags. It's unusual for someone in their first week of wiki editing to have so much content and be in such a hurry to create extensive learning projects, without first learning about Wikiversity and our customs. It's also very unusual that multiple user accounts would be used for this on different Wikimedia projects. I encourage you to select one of these accounts as your primary account, and then redirect the other one and not use it anymore. See Changing username if you wish to change your username.
 * It takes several days and a number of edits before accounts are auto-confirmed. In the mean time, please work on existing pages and learn more about Wikiversity through existing projects. I'm not sure Mapudungun language is a good example to follow. It's mostly duplication of Wikipedia content, something we try to avoid. Introduction to Swedish comes to mind as a featured resource on a language. Please start with Languages of South America/Taíno. It can be moved later as we learn more about the scope of your efforts and how they integrate with existing projects. -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 20:27, 6 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Oh, sorry. I thought that I needed a new account in order to edit in Wikiversity. That's why I created the account. I guess I'll stick to be other one. Hahõ for the responses!

Update on page issues on mobile web
Update on page issues on mobile web

Hi everyone. The Readers web team has recently begun working on exposing issue templates on the mobile website. Currently, details about issues with page content are generally hidden on the mobile website. This leaves readers unaware of the reliability of the pages they are reading. The goal of this project is to improve awareness of particular issues within an article on the mobile web. We will do this by changing the visual styling of page issues.

So far, we have drafted a proposal on the design and implementation of the project. We were also able to run user testing on the proposed designs. The tests so far have positive results. Here is a quick summary of what we learned: Our next step would be to start implementing these changes. We wanted to reach out to you for any concerns, thoughts, and suggestions you might have before beginning development. Please visit the project page where we have more information and mockups of how this may look. Please leave feedback on the talk page. CKoerner (WMF) (talk) 20:58, 12 June 2018 (UTC)
 * The new treatment increases awareness of page issues among participants. This is true particularly when they are in a more evaluative/critical mode.
 * Page issues make sense to readers and they understand how they work
 * Readers care about page issues and consider them important
 * Readers had overwhelmingly positive sentiments towards Wikipedia associated with learning about page issues

Custodianship
Historically, Wikiversity followed a path of probationary custodianship. A one-month (or more) probationary period preceded a nomination for full custodianship. There were two problems with this approach, one process-based and one legal. The process problem is that only stewards are able to remove custodianship if the probationary period isn't successful. The legal problem is that custodians may view private deleted content, and the WMF no longer allows someone to view deleted content without community consensus. Probationary custodianship is no longer an option. I have updated Candidates for Custodianship to reflect this reality.

The good news is that what prompted me to make this update is that we have a candidate for custodianship. Please share questions and comments and vote on Evolution and evolvability for full custodian.

Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 15:24, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Sharing Courses with Lots of Multimedia
I will be sharing online courses with lots of multimedia. The short question is: Is this appropriate for wikiversity and if so, how do I handle the multimedia part.

That part includes:
 * 1) Voice-Animated Power POints
 * 2) MPG Videos
 * 3) Starter Files for Laboratories and some homework assignments.     This may be considered "software."
 * 4) HTML Five that I created with a bespoke Animator,     Programmer's Presentation Presenter Web Site

The text part is currently in Docbook XML. Obviously, this would be converted to the wikiformat and uploaded to Wikiversity itself.

The MPG video obviously can be put on WikiMedia Commons. However, it is unclear what to do with the remaining artificats. Starter files for labs and homework assignments might be considered "software" which is obviously restricted from Wikimedia Commons. There are tools to convert the voice-animated Power POints to other formats usch as MPG video. (My University provided me with Camtasio Studio that can do this kind of work.) Those preparing derivative works would be best off starting from the Power Point!

A little history:

I have taught Visual Basic for over fifteen years at Western Illinois University in its Computer Science Department/School of Computer Sciences. At first this was conventionally. I created my text in DocBook xml, extensive homeworks, and of course the laboratory activities. The course was switched to Visual Studio. The class notes are now over 400 pages--I prepare a set for my University Bookstore to copy each semester for the students to purchase. (Also, I use a unique contract grading system and offer my students many homework assignments on each topic. I change these out regularly for the obvious reason.  Thus, this upload will have an extensive series of exercises for the learner, course facilitator, or faculty member to  choose.

Then, I was asked to teach it online. Then, I developed the videos and voice-animated Power points.

Also, I taught an introductory programming course using C++. It was intended for scientists and engineers. In fact, the course titile was Programming for Scientists and Engineers. Again, I started teaching it conventionally. Then, the School of Computer Sciences decided to offer it online. For this I developed the above Programmer Presentation system. Another programmer added the ability to voice animate the presentation. It generates HTML Five with embedded audio. I have many program presentations recorded using this tool. Of course, for this course, as well I have a class notes of about two hundred pages--originally prepared with Docbook .xml

As these are the courses for which I prepared for online presentation, they have the most material. This century, all the courses I taught, I wrote my own class-notes/textbook. (Exception: those courses that were multi-section courses, for which I was specifically mandated to teach using a commercial textbook.) Most courses in the last century, I also prepared my own courses. I recently prepared for the nice library faculty member who spearheads open access at my University, four pages listing all that I prepared online.

I asked that library faculty member about hosting the material that I Prepared on the University Library servers (we do have archives of faculty publications). That is not possible. There are other services besides Wikiversity for faculty members to disseminate their online courses. They include OpenStax, Merlot and the Open Textbook Library. Unfortunately, for these three, the materials themselves are put on the faculty member institution's Institutional Repository. TheThey host only the links to the materials.

--Doctorleff (discuss • contribs) 19:16, 19 June 2018 (UTC)


 * Welcome! Thank you for considering using Wikiversity to share your courses. There are several choices available. Wikiversity is better for courses. Wikibooks is better for textbooks. OpenStax CNX is an option, but I haven't been happy with the user interface. Rebus Community is using Pressbooks, and I'm currently working on a Programming Fundamentals title on Rebus that will be announced this week. Merlot doesn't seem to be a good alternative. Open Textbook Library works if you want to share but also limit collaboration.
 * File uploads to Wikiversity are possible, but data formats are limited. See Special:Upload for supported file types. If you want students to access source code file by file, pages can be created here. If you want them to download or clone the information instead, a public git repository may be a better choice. I use Bitbucket with students, and Github for public, open content.
 * One more option is a public course. Blackboard, Canvas, and Moodle all have free public servers available for MOOCs. Google Sites supports free websites. There are other free website options available as well. And YouTube will host videos for free.
 * The best way to answer your question may depend on your goals. If you are looking to share textbook content, the Open Textbook Library may be the best option. If you want collaboration and to support reuse, Wikibooks or Wikiversity may be better. Whatever you choose, add a link to Merlot, and if you host elsewhere, create at least a course overview and provide links here. Let us know how we can help.
 * Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 20:16, 19 June 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for all the help you gave me when I first asked a question about moving the material for the classes I teach for Western Illinois University to here. The text was prepared using docbook XML. I found Pandoc to convert this to Wikimedia markup. Unfortunately, that converts the orderedlists to HTML rather than the list markup described in "Help:WikText" abd "Help:List"

Here is my test input to pandoc

First Demo, Lecture, and Lab

Start up Visual Basic. One does this by: Click Start , AllPrograms, Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 , MicrosoftVisual Studio 2013 It has a icon with two purpole iscosceles triangles, connected by a single vertex. Here is what it generates. Observe that the lists are now in HTML 

= First Demo, Lecture, and Lab =

  Start up Visual Basic. One does this by: Click Start, AllPrograms, Microsoft Visual Studio 2013, MicrosoftVisual Studio 2013 It has a icon with two purpole iscosceles triangles, connected by a single vertex.  

Space between title and content
For some reason, the space between the title of the pages and the content seems to have disappeared. This seems to be an issue specific to this Wikiversity (it doesn't happen in Wikipedia or the Spanish Wikiversity) so maybe there's a bad rule in MediaWiki:Common.css or similar. I searched a bit but didn't find any such rule. Anyone knows what may be the cause? --Felipe (discuss • contribs) 04:01, 27 June 2018 (UTC)


 * I don't see anything obvious. There haven't been any MediaWiki css changes that I'm aware of. A new version of the MediaWiki software was just installed. Perhaps that changed something. Interestingly, the spacing only seems to be an issue on main pages. Subpages appear to have proper spacing. -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 23:11, 27 June 2018 (UTC)