Migration from Wikibase Registry
Here is my report on the migration of data from Wikibase Registry to Wikibase World.
First, the reasons why I am doing this to begin with. Wikibase Registry was first set up in 2018, before WBStack or Wikibase.Cloud. It was set up as a one-off Wikibase on a Wikimedia Cloud virtual machine, where it has fallen behind on software updates, including critical security updates. The restrictive approach to editing meant that as Wikibases were created no one was around to update the wiki, causing it to fall behind with reality. And on top of all that, the query service stopped working.
Rather than invest effort in keeping this separate installation of Wikibase online when we have Wikibase.Cloud, I have taken the initiative to move the data to Wikibase.Cloud (under a custom domain name) and update it with present information. I also created a mapping between the wikis that will be used to maintain redirects from the registry to Wikibase World. This means links to entities on the Wikibase Registry will continue to work, provided they have been migrated to the new wiki.
Hopefully this breathes new life into the project. Now that it's easier than ever to create a Wikibase we should also make it easy for people to add theirs to the list.
Harej (talk) 18:40, 15 June 2023 (UTC)
The old domain "wikibase-registry.wmflabs.org" now redirects to this one, with entities mapped between the old and new Wikibases. A copy of the previous Wikibase will be available at https://wikibase-registry-archive.wmcloud.org/wiki/Main_Page until 1 July. Final RDF and XML dumps have been uploaded to the Internet Archive.
Harej (talk) 18:24, 16 June 2023 (UTC)
I published a longer case study on my personal website.
New property: Wikibase tool used
What about creating a new property "Wikibase tool used" which could hold the names of tools like "Query Service", "QuickStatements", or "Cradle" to name some of them? Thoughts, Harej? --Kghbln (talk) 13:46, 6 September 2023 (UTC)
- Sounds reasonable to me Kghbln. We could then have URL as a qualifier for specific locations of those tool instances. This could replace Property:P11. Harej (talk) 00:49, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
- I believe we have an agreement on a new property. :) --Kghbln (talk) 09:06, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
- Kghbln, I generalized from "Wikibase tool used" to wiki tool used, and replaced existing uses of Property:P11 with new P37 statements. Harej (talk) 18:39, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
- I believe we have an agreement on a new property. :) --Kghbln (talk) 09:06, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
Wikibase Query Service
When it comes to the Wikibase Query Service I removed the query service UI and query service SPARQL endpoint annotations as statements and added them as qualifiers for the wiki tool. I guess this is better. --Kghbln (talk) 07:49, 8 September 2023 (UTC)
- I support designating P7 and P8 as qualifiers to a P37 statement with value of Wikibase Query Service. In that instance you don't need a P1 qualifier. Harej (talk) 15:49, 8 September 2023 (UTC)
Inception date
Discussion relocated from Item talk:Q1.
Even though people celebrate October 29, 2012 as the inception data of Wikidata, I changed the date to October 25, 2012 on this wiki. Why? For consistency reasons: It is impossible to figure out the correct inception dates in retrospect other than checking for the first edit on the wiki. I believe this is the only date that can consistently be determined. Cheers --Kghbln (talk) 09:02, 16 September 2023 (UTC)
- I think that is correct so far as we define inception date to be the date the wiki went online for the first time, ever. If revision 1 is dated to October 25 then that would be the inception date, even if the official "opening" was a few days later. Could we have both values as claims on the item, with one value qualified as the "observed" birthday? Harej (talk) 16:22, 17 September 2023 (UTC)
- To additionally have an "observed" birthday makes sense. Not sure how to best name it. We will not be able to fill it in most cases, though. --Kghbln (talk) 16:26, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
- Hmm, inception day and birthday as a pair could be good enough, I believe. --Kghbln (talk) 16:27, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
- I was being bold and created service entry. In the end, I did not like naming this birthday. --Kghbln (talk) 11:12, 21 September 2023 (UTC)
- Hmm, inception day and birthday as a pair could be good enough, I believe. --Kghbln (talk) 16:27, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
- To additionally have an "observed" birthday makes sense. Not sure how to best name it. We will not be able to fill it in most cases, though. --Kghbln (talk) 16:26, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
- We probably also need a date defining when Wikibase started being used for the wiki. I can imagine a wiki that only added Wikibase and friends sometime after its inception and birthday. In this case, the date should be when they started using the software, i.e., the day the first item or property was created. This date can also be determined for every instance using Wikibase. If not, they installed the software but never used it. Also good to know. --Kghbln (talk) 16:32, 18 September 2023 (UTC) PS Zetawiki Is a good example for the latter case.