Hey Dragan (and all interested),
Great -- and quite apt -- question. As currently conceived, the Wikibase Evaluation Service is a minimum viable product of a hosted Wikibase solution that will allow newcomers to Wikibase to explore the software quickly without needing to install any software. Think of it as a cloud-based sandbox for trying out Wikibase on demand. At this early point in time, I can't say precisely whether this service will be built similarly to WBstack, or if it will reuse open-source elements of WBstack. We are currently exploring options and defining the most appropriate approach and strategy for building the MVP. We'll have a clearer picture of what WMDE's long-term plans are around hosted Wikibase options in the coming months. You can certainly expect regular updates from me on this matter.

Thanks for your input, support, and thought leadership (as always).

Sam

On Tue, 2 Feb 2021 at 18:41, Dragan Espenschied <dragan.espenschied@rhizome.org> wrote:
Dear Mohammed, thanks for publishing these!

I'm especially looking forward to the release strategy and update process documentation, and happy to participate in surveys or other community input activities.

Can I ask if the Wikibase Evaluation Service MVP is actually wbstack?

Cheers!
Dragan







On Di, Feb 2, 2021 at 16:09, Mohammed Sadat Abdulai <mohammed.sadat_ext@wikimedia.de> wrote:

Hi everyone,


I’m excited to announce the new roadmap of the Wikidata development team for Wikidata and Wikibase for the year 2021!


In 2021 we will continue developments to increase data quality and trust in Wikidata. Among the initiatives are to find more ways for people to find biases and gaps in the data and compare Wikidata’s data against other databases to find mismatches. We will also finish up the work from last year on a visual query builder to simplify querying.


We will be releasing the first version of the new REST API to make it easier for 3rd-party developers to build applications using data from Wikidata.


We will also work on making interface improvements for lexicographical data to make it more usable and attractive for contributors.


On the Wikibase side of things, we will officially release the lightweight, first version of Wikidata-Wikibase Federation that allows accessing remote Wikidata properties in a custom Wikibase instance. We will then develop and release an enhanced version of this feature after incorporating feedback from users.


We will also:  

  1. Implement a new release strategy and infrastructure for Wikibase packages and create user documentation for the Wikibase Docker update process

  2. Investigate how to give Wikibase admins the option to change certain configuration options through a UI without directly editing localsettings.php. 

  3. Develop a web service for users to instantly create a temporary Wikibase sandbox so they can quickly and easily evaluate if the software is a fit for their project. 

  4. Continue to collaborate with OPEN!NEXT to provide support for partners including set up of Wikibase instances, data modelling, maintenance, and API development.


The most up-to-date versions of the roadmap can be found here:


You can click on the different items to see further information, like a description or planned start date.


In addition, we’re also presenting status updates on what was achieved for each of the 2020 goals.


Please note that the roadmap only presents the main projects that the development team will work on during 2021. Critical and ongoing tasks (e.g. maintenance of the software and fixing pressing bugs) are not mentioned in the roadmap, but will be included in the workflow over the year. The roadmap is based on estimations and will evolve during the year. The roadmap does not contain events we are attending or organizing.


If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to add them on this talk page.


Cheers,


--

Mohammed Sadat

Community Communications Manager for Wikidata/Wikibase

Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24
10963 Berlin
www.wikimedia.de

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--
Samantha Alipio
Product Manager, Wikibase

Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 219 158 26-0
https://wikimedia.de

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