Commons:ISA Tool/Manual
ISA is a dynamic tool designed to elevate the metadata quality of images submitted to Wikimedia Commons. Crafted to swiftly infuse structured information into a curated set of images.
Instructions for players
ISA allows campaign managers to pick images from a pre-made collection and have contributors add multilingual tags to them. The manager decides this during the campaign setup.
- which category (or categories) of images will be considered in the campaign
- which type of metadata can be asked from the participants. It may be depicts and/or captions.
As a user, you can access the list of campaigns on the Campaign Directory. Some campaigns will be archived (closed) while others will be available to join (opened). Select any open campaign you like!
Once on a campaign page, you will be provided with information related to the campaign...
- how many images are concerned...
- how many people already participated...
- how many images were improved etc.
To join the action, you need to be logged-in.
This may be done on the top right. The way the system works is that you will log-in to your Wikimedia Commons account, and give authorization to the tool to save edits on your behalf. Anything you add or remove from the ISA tool will be directly recorded on Wikimedia Commons!
Once you are logged-in, Explore Campaigns to begin!. and, if applicable, choose a country-set for a Wiki Loves competition.
On the Campaign page, click "Get Started" to either:
a. Add 'Depicts': Provide brief descriptions linked to existing elements on WikiData.
- Learn more:Commons:Depicts
b. Add 'Captions': Describe what's happening in the image.
- Learn more : Commons:File captions
After modifying captions and depicts, you may return to the campaign page to see:
- your participation rank
- other contributor participation rank...
- country participation (when relevant)
- download participation stats !
Note that default suggestions in the depict area come from Wikidata, and you can adjust the language preference.
Instructions for campaign coordinators
The tool operates with campaigns created by coordinators.
A campaign is created by one coordinator. It is generally defined by
- a starting date
- an end date
- one or several categories on Wikimedia Commons, from which the tool will collect images to be served to participants
Please note: examples of campaigns can be found on the Commons:ISA Tool/Challenges page or the Meta Data Weeks page
UserCases
Example 1: Wiki Loves Africa 2014 in Nigeria Edit-a-thon. The Nigerian community organizes a campaign using ISA to enhance descriptions of images from Wiki Loves Africa 2014. A coordinator sets up a one-day campaign for a Saturday edit-a-thon. Only one category will be listed in the tool : Category:Images from Wiki Loves Africa 2014 in Nigeria.Participants compete to improve image descriptions during a dedicated hour. The coordinator monitors participation stats in real-time. Top 5 participant Winners are declared, and prizes are awarded. A Facebook post shares results, and participants can download participation data for further analysis.
Example 2: French-speaking Editors Drive French-speaking editors initiate a campaign to improve structured descriptions of Wiki Loves Africa 2015 images from French-speaking countries.
Example 3: Environmental Awareness Campaign A global environmental organization plans to run a campaign using ISA to enhance metadata for images related to environmental issues. The campaign aims to involve participants worldwide in tagging and improving descriptions for images of endangered species, pollution, and conservation efforts. Coordinators create the campaign, set specific categories, and encourage participants to contribute to raising awareness about environmental challenges.
Example 4: Language Diversity Initiative A language diversity initiative is launched to improve metadata for images featuring cultural events, traditions, and historical landmarks. Coordinators set up campaigns targeting specific language communities to enrich the multilingual structured data on Wikimedia Commons. Participants contribute by adding captions and depictions in various languages, enhancing the global representation of cultural content.
Example 5: Educational Institution Engagement An educational institution collaborates with ISA to engage students in a metadata enhancement campaign. The institution creates a campaign focused on images relevant to its curriculum, encouraging students to participate in tagging and describing educational content. The campaign fosters collaboration between students and educators, creating a valuable educational experience while contributing to Wikimedia Commons.
Example 6: Seasonal Photography Contest ISA is utilized for a seasonal photography contest, where participants contribute to enhancing metadata for images captured during specific seasons. Coordinators organize campaigns for different seasons, encouraging participants to add detailed captions and depict. The contest generates enthusiasm among photographers and metadata enthusiasts, creating a vibrant community engagement.
Requirements to be a campaign creator
To create a campaign using ISA, one needs:
- An account on Wikimedia Commons.
- To be logged in
How to create a new campaign
Before creating a new campaign, follow these steps:
- Identify the categories you want to include in your campaign.
- If not using a logo or square image, find a Commons image for the banner (preferably landscape-oriented). Download and crop it into a horizontal banner (recommended size: 2230 x 322px), then upload the cropped image to Commons, providing correct attribution. Copy the new file name.
To create a campaign:
You should take the following steps to set up your campaign:
1. Access the main page of the tool
2. Log in with your Wikimedia Commons account.
3. Click the "create a new campaign using this tool" button.
4. Fill in the form:
- Provide a short, specific name for the campaign.
- Describe the campaign's purpose (e.g., part of a special drive).
- Enter a starting date (mandatory).
- Optionally, specify an end date.
- Add 3-5 Commons categories, confirming by clicking the blue dropdown for each.
- Include the file name of the banner image.
- Select metadata to collect (Depicts and/or Caption).
- Optionally, add a long description of the campaign's origin and significance.
5. Click "Publish Campaign" to save the data..
6. A public campaign page with a unique URL will be created. 7. Share the campaign on social media and user pages. 8. List and document your campaign on the ISA Tool/Challenges. Feel free to include images if it is an in-person challenge!
Additional info:
- Create as many campaigns as needed.
- Access your campaign in the campaign directory from the top bar, tool main page, or your settings page.
How to modify a campaign
The campaign can be modified. Once saved, you can access your campaign in the campaign directory, which may be accessed from the top bar menu or from the tool main page or from your own settings.
The campaign can also be deleted (conditions)
How to Track Your Campaign
Accessing Your Campaign:
through the campaign directory, available in the top bar menu, tool main page, or your own settings page.
Sharing Your Campaign:
Share the campaign's URL on various platforms such as wikis, emails, or social media to keep others informed.
This page will be visible to the public (logged-in or not logged-in).
Campaign Page Highlights:
Your public campaign page includes:
- A catchy campaign name and brief description at the top.
- A detailed campaign description along with your username at the bottom.
- Real-time progress updates:
- Total images awaiting improvement.
- Number of images already enhanced, constantly updated.
- Leading contributors and their contributions.
- Top countries with the most improvements (for Wiki Loves campaigns).
- A personalized summary of each contributor's impact.
Let people know there is a campaign running!
There is no point in creating a campaign if nobody knows about it! So, there are a number of ways you can let people know. Look on the ISA Challenges page for example of the kinds of campaigns that people run.
1. Running a campaign during an event
- Announce the campaign during a presentation or at the event in person
- Announce the campaign over the event group messenger
- Remember: have the prizes with you at the event if you are going to run one at an event!
2. Use existing Social media channels
- Announce the campaign through a project or community group (if you have one)
- If you already have a project page set up on social media channels, make sure to create announcement posts, tweets or grams. Below you can view the kind that was used for the Africa at Play social media calls as an example.
How to measure engagement
The tool provides two types of stats.
1. Simple stats are provided on the tool itself on a graphic (see the example on the right hand side). Notice that the design of this report was specially designed for lazy busy program leaders. Just screenshot it and use it in your reports. It contains it ill, including licence and credits.
2. If you want to play with the data, download all participation data in a cdv format and enjoy !
Known problems
OAuth session problem
Error when trying to save your edits:
Oops! Something went wrong, your edits have not been saved to Wikimedia Commons
- To resolve this issue, log in again to OAuth to refresh your session credentials
Image display is delayed
When selecting the "next image" option, you may observe that while the image description instantly changes, the appearance of the next image might be delayed. This asynchronous update could potentially lead to confusion as the image and its corresponding description are not loaded simultaneously. To enhance user experience, it is recommended that both the image and its description be loaded together for a more seamless viewing process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I join a campaign?
A: Visit the campaign directory, select an open campaign, and log in to your Wikimedia Commons account to start participating.
Q: Can I create multiple campaigns?
A: Yes, you can create as many campaigns as you wish. Follow the steps outlined in the "How to create a new campaign" section.
Q: Does my contribution count on Wiki?
Absolutely! Your contributions through the ISA tool directly impact Wikimedia Commons and contribute to the enhancement of metadata for images. Every tag, caption, and improvement you make plays a vital role in making the content more accessible and informative. ISA Tool ensures that your edits are recorded on Wikimedia Commons, reflecting your valuable contributions to the wider Wikimedia community. Your efforts help enrich the shared knowledge and visual resources available on Wikimedia projects.