Wikimedia Hackathon 2025

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Istanbul, Turkey – May 2–4, 2025

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The Wikimedia Hackathon is an annual event that brings the global technical community together to connect and have technical discussions, hack on existing projects and explore new ideas for others. Developers from all around the world will work together to enhance and improve the technological infrastructure and software that powers Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects – particularly the MediaWiki platform on which they are based – and other Wikimedia code development.

The Wikimedia Hackathon is your opportunity to meet the Wikimedia technical community in person, learn about the technologies and projects that power Wikipedia and thousands of other MediaWiki based websites, and propose or join a demo-able project to hack on during the event.

This edition of the Wikimedia Hackathon will focus on bringing together people who already contributed to various technical aspects of the Wikimedia projects, who know how to find their way around our technical ecosystem, and who are able to work, or collaborate, on projects rather autonomously. Just bring your laptop, plenty of ideas, and the energy to contribute and collaborate – we promise it’ll be a great event with a cool atmosphere and in an engaging venue!

Save the date!

The 2025 Wikimedia Hackathon will take place in person, onsite at the Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel. The 2025 event is being organized by the Wikimedia Foundation in collaboration with local Wikimedia affiliate, Wikimedia User Group Turkey (WMTR).

Registration!

• Event registration opened on November 12, 2024 and will close mid April 2025, or earlier based on event capacity.
• We’ll add more information as it becomes available, including discounted room rates.
• There are a limited number of scholarships that can be requested during early registration and all scholarships provided will adhere to the WMF travel policy guidelines.
• Mark your calendars and register early!
  • The time period for accepting scholarship applications and WMF staff sponsorship requests has closed.

In the coming months, these pages will be your primary resource for comprehensive details on attendance procedures, travel recommendations, venue specifics, and accommodation options.

For those unable to attend in person, we'll be live-streaming the Hackathon opening ceremony and closing showcase. Local and global communities are also welcome and encouraged to organize pre-hackathon events or related meetups.

What is a Hackathon overview: Information for participants

3 Steps to Prepare for the Wikimedia Hackathon

If you want to be ready for the Wikimedia Hackathon 2025, follow these three steps to be prepared!

Step 1: Review event information

Wiki-Pages: This is the main page for the 2025 Hackathon.

There are several sub pages for your review:

• Program: schedule of sessions and events; learn how to schedule sessions of your own.
• Venue: Photos and maps of the venue, details about the hotel and city.
• Travel: General transportation and visa information
• Participants: a voluntary and editable list and information about each attendee, information on different ways to volunteer at the event, about our organizing team and the local team.

Phabricator: We use the web-based, software development collaboration tool suite Phabricator during Hackathon events. (Learn more about Phabricator.)

This is the main work-board where you can view potential projects, sessions, skill shares, and other hackathon activities.

• You can add a task to the work-board by going to that task, be sure to add the this year's project tag Wikimedia-Hackathon-2025 by choosing it from the autocompletion offers, add your description of the task and work needed to be done, and finish by clicking the "Submit" button.
  • Also, feel free to set yourself as the assignee of that task if you 'feel responsible' for that task: Click the "Add Action…" dropdown, choose "Assign / Claim", type your user name, choose it from the autocompletion offers, and click the "Submit" button.

Step 2: Connect and get setup

• Set up your laptop with a development environment you might need:
  • Follow the instructions on Hackathon/Laptop setup to find out more about our development environments (e.g.: creating a Phabricator account, Git, Gerrit, and more).
• The #wmhack / wikimedia-hackathon chat room is bridged across 3 different networks – you can join using whichever service you prefer (you only need to be in one):
  • Telegram: Wikimedia Hackathon group
  • Libera Chat (IRC) : #wikimedia-hackathon ^connect
  • Matrix: #wikimedia-hackathon:matrix.org
• Read, ask questions, or add comments on the event talk page.
• Use the hashtag #wmhack on Mastodon, Twitter, and other social media

Step 3: Meet your fellow attendees

Add yourself to the Participant List.

• Please check the list and add or edit your entry to contain the following:
  • your name / username
  • your contact details (website, github, twitter, etc.)
  • your experience with programming and your interests for the event (e.g.: I have experience with Python, and am interested in working on a project about Wikidata for the weekend).
• Introduce yourself on Telegram or IRC – just say Hi!
• Ask questions on Telegram and IRC
  • you can reach out to other participants directly or ask general questions for multiple people to respond to
• You can contact the organizing team via hackathonwikimedia.org with questions or concerns
• Subscribe to any Hackathon related Phabricator tasks that you might be interested in – you can also create your own task!
• Choose a task to work on at the hackathon from the list of projects in our New Developers guide.

Hackathon Team

The organization of the Wikimedia Hackathon 2025 is led by the Wikimedia Foundation's Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) team, in collaboration with local Wikimedia affiliate, Wikimedia User Group Turkey (WMTR).

Program and Event Management

• 
  Deb Tankersley
  Wikimedia Foundation staff
• 
  Amanda Bittaker
  Wikimedia Foundation staff
• 
  Erin Morris
  Wikimedia Foundation staff
• 
  Nikki Maller
  Wikimedia Foundation staff

Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey

• 
  Mehman Ibragimov
  Wikimedia Türkiye
• 
  Hakan
  Wikimedia Türkiye
• 
  Zafer Batık
  Wikimedia Türkiye
• 
  Y. Caner Özyayıkcı
  Wikimedia Türkiye

Scholarship / Sponsorship Committee

• 
  Val Puffet-Michel
  Wikimedia Foundation staff
• 
  Cindy Cicalese
  Wikimedia Foundation staff
• 
  Mehman Ibragimov
  Wikimedia Türkiye

Code of Conduct

The Wikimedia Hackathon will enforce the Universal Code of Conduct, Code of Conduct for Wikimedia’s Technical Spaces, and the Friendly Space Policy across all facets of the event. This includes various platforms, discussion channels, and local meetups. Your adherence to these guidelines ensures a respectful and inclusive environment for all participants.

We recommend all participants review these Trust & Safety policies prior to your arrival at the venue.

Individuals not cooperating with these policies may be asked to leave the event. A dedicated team will be available on-site to help support a safer environment for all.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to use the talk page or to reach out to hackathon@wikimedia.org.