We need to measure the success of this project as we implement it. For this we need data points.
Some of the data points are based on users, e.g.
- Are they finding better what they are looking for?
- Are new contributors getting a first task faster, and is there a higher % that completes it and goes for a second one?
- Are there more participants in our community activities and is the increase related to the features implemented?
- Are the community metrics improving in active participants in MediaWiki, Bugzilla, Gerrit?
Some data points are based on our own community management and outreach efforts.
- Are we growing our pool of identified contributors?
- Are we optimizing the effort required to promote successfully an activity?
- Are we optimizing the effort invested in maintaining homepages, calendars, news feeds, lists of tasks for new contributors...?
More ideas for data points welcome. As soon as we have a consolidated list I will integrate it to the proposal.
The Engineering Community Team is in a good position to evaluate the current situation and the needs for improving the community contribution channels. We put a bunch of manual editing and template juggling around pages like