From Wikitravel Shared

This is a go-between report from swedish Wikitravel, prepared by Riggwelter.

[edit] Progress

[edit] Progress in general

A few new articles have been created since our last report, which the multilingual statistics show. Former, really active users, have not been as active as before, and therefor, the work on Wikitravel in swedish have been rather limited.

[edit] New contributors

Wikitravel have 189 registered users, which means that we have had about 20 new users since our liaison report in October (163).

[edit] Focus since last report

The focus have been aimed at marketing the site, for example on swedish wiki get-togethers, which probably shows through the addition of new users.

[edit] Focus during the next month

Hopefully, we will be able to put together a few new articles and use them as "travel destination of the month". We have articles which should do very well, but they lack one or two major issues, like pictures, to be worth putting up as a destination.

[edit] Special issues

At the moment, we feel that the reported technical issues are not really given the attention we would wish them to have. This should change.

[edit] Conclusion

Work is rather heavy. There are, again, very few active users which puts tremendous strain on the rest. Perhaps most people, for some reason, do not believe in the idea of a wiki based travel guide? We hope that is not the case.

[edit] Comments

Thanks for the report, Mattias. I think sv: is a nice language version and you shouldn't worry too much about growing slowly in comparison to other versions (some of them have even grown too fast, methinks). You guys have probably reached an inflection point. Once you overcome it, it's likely you'll have a second (or third, in this case) wave of growth that can last longer - just wait and see. I suggest you be patient and think long-term. I also think you're doing the right thing by promoting the project in like-minded communities, I'm sure it's going to pay off sooner or later.

Since many Swedes have a good command of English, I suppose you may also be facing tough competition with English Wikitravel: people would rather read and contribute to en's more substantial articles than start it all over in Swedish. As an alternative, sv: could focus on fostering contributons to local travel guides (Swedish speaking destinations), maybe highlighting Sweden in the Huvudsida, like it: and hu: have done with places that speak their tongue, or other kind of strategy. I'm not sure if it'll work out, but then you have nothing to lose.

As for the strain upon administrators, I guess it's kind of inevitable in a wiki like this. When you're not in the mood to play the editor, just focus on spam, vandalism and your own watchlist and leave the rest to the (current or future) community.

Sorry for the long commentary, I'd just like to say I appreciate reading your reports and wish you the best of luck in putting sv: on the right track again. -- Ricardo (Rmx) 18:30, 3 January 2007 (EST)

Mattias, I try to prioritize your tech reports since they're usually quite high quality. I'd like to know if there are particular technical reports that you think need to be worked on. --Evan 12:58, 4 January 2007 (EST)

Lovely! Let me update the two main items - I just realised they could be even more specific. Riggwelter 14:59, 6 January 2007 (EST)