Introducing NeoWiki (Spring 2026)

At the most recent MUDCon, I introduced NeoWiki, a new open-source MediaWiki extension for structured data. I co-presented with Bernhard Krabina from Knowledge Management Associates.

I have been maintaining Semantic MediaWiki for over 15 years and created large parts of Wikibase. Both are powerful, but they were designed in a different era. SMW is over 20 years old. Tools like Notion and Airtable have since set a usability standard that these older systems were never designed to match.

NeoWiki applies the lessons we have learned. You get radically better usability and sustainability, with a focus on the features that deliver the most value rather than feature parity. That means native schemas with types and constraints, form-based editing, multiple subjects per page, JSON storage in MediaWiki revision slots, and a standard graph database for queries.

NeoWiki is backed by ECHOLOT, an EU-funded cultural heritage consortium with 15 partners across 11 countries, and by Hallo Welt, the company behind BlueSpice. NeoWiki will power structured data in the next major version of BlueSpice. Professional Wiki is the product owner.

You can try NeoWiki at neowiki.dev and find the source on GitHub. The slides are available online.

Follow NeoWiki on Mastodon, Bluesky, or X. Or visit the NeoWiki page to sign up for updates.

MediaWiki MCP Server (Fall 2025)

At MUDCon Fall 2025 in Hannover, I presented our MediaWiki MCP Server in a 20-minute talk. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard that lets AI assistants interact with external tools and data sources. With our MCP Server, your AI assistant can read, create, edit, and delete wiki pages directly.

In the demo I showed creating pages, building tables, and deleting pages. The MediaWiki MCP Server is open source and available on GitHub.

Wikibase Extensions (Fall 2025)

Also at MUDCon Fall 2025, I gave a 20-minute overview of the Wikibase extension ecosystem. If you use Wikibase, these 17 extensions can give you advanced search, data validation, local media support, date handling, and automated property values.

We have a detailed write-up in our blog post Enhance Your Wikibase With Extensions.

Why Wiki Search Falls Short

MediaWiki's built-in search is keyword-based. Users need to know the right terms and where to look. When they don't, relevant content goes undiscovered, and the wiki's value as a knowledge base diminishes.

Several MediaWiki extensions now provide AI chatbot capabilities, each with a different architecture and trade-offs. We created one of them (AI Assistant) and have evaluated the others. Below is our comparison.

AI Assistant

AI Assistant is a chatbot widget that sits on every page of your wiki. Users ask questions in plain language and receive answers drawn from wiki content, with numbered source citations linking back to the pages used.

The extension is permission-aware: answers only draw from content the current user is allowed to see. It supports conversation history (save, browse, and resume past conversations) and works across languages, allowing users to ask in one language and get answers derived from content in another.

Configuration happens through the admin panel, where wiki administrators set the AI provider, customize the chatbot's appearance and system prompt, and control which parts of the wiki the AI searches. AI Assistant supports Anthropic Claude and OpenAI ChatGPT out of the box. Other providers, including locally running models, are available on request.

We developed AI Assistant as a commercial extension. It is available on ProWiki, our managed MediaWiki hosting platform, and can also be installed on self-hosted MediaWiki instances.

Wanda

Wanda is an open-source chatbot extension that uses Elasticsearch for content retrieval. It provides both a special page and a floating chat widget.

With Wanda, you get the broadest range of out-of-the-box supported AI providers: OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Ollama (for self-hosted models). This makes it a flexible option for organizations with specific provider requirements.

Setup requires an Elasticsearch server: CirrusSearch (the Elasticsearch-based search engine used by Wikipedia).

Currently, Wanda uses text-based Elasticsearch search rather than vector/semantic search, which means its content retrieval is less precise than vector-based approaches. Vector search is planned but depends on MediaWiki adding support for Elasticsearch 8.

KZChatbot

KZChatbot is an open-source extension built for Kol-Zchut, an Israeli rights information platform. It provides a floating chatbot widget with source citations and conversation history.

Unlike most of the extensions here, KZChatbot is a middleware layer. It handles the user interface, session management, and rate limiting, but relies on a separately deployed RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) backend for the actual question answering. The reference backend is Webiks-Hebrew-RAGbot.

This architecture means KZChatbot is provider-agnostic (the backend determines which AI model is used), but it also means you need to deploy and maintain two separate applications. There is no built-in authentication between the extension and the backend; security must be handled at the network level.

KZChatbot includes sophisticated operational tooling: rollout controls, banned word filters, and batch testing with CSV export. It is licensed under GPL-2.0. While technically language-agnostic, it was built with Hebrew language support as a primary focus.

AskAI

AskAI takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than automatically finding relevant content, it lets users manually select wiki pages and specific paragraphs as context for their questions.

The workflow is: search for relevant articles via MediaWiki's built-in search, click "Add to AI chat" on the results you want, optionally select specific paragraphs, then ask your question. This gives users full control over what the AI sees, but it also means relevant content the user didn't think to include will be missed.

AskAI only supports OpenAI out of the box (adding other providers requires writing PHP code), and it runs on a special page rather than as a floating widget.

AskAI is open-source under GPL-2.0 and is in early development.

Chatbot (OpenSemanticWorld)

Chatbot is part of the OpenSemanticWorld ecosystem for scientific knowledge management. The MediaWiki extension itself is an iframe wrapper that embeds a separately deployed chatbot application (osw-chatbot).

The osw-chatbot backend supports RAG and GraphRAG, making it potentially powerful for wikis with structured data. However, the MediaWiki extension itself does not handle content retrieval or indexing; that is left entirely to the separate backend. The extension is also tightly coupled to the OpenSemanticWorld stack and has limited documentation. Using it outside that ecosystem would require significant adaptation.

Chatbot is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and is in experimental status. In its current form, it is not a realistic option for most MediaWiki installations.

Feature Comparison

Setup Complexity

Setup complexity varies widely across these extensions and is often the deciding factor in practice.

AI Assistant requires minimal technical setup. On ProWiki, it is enabled and configured through the admin panel. For self-hosted installations, we handle the deployment.

AskAI is the simplest self-hosted option: install the extension and configure an API key. No external services required.

Wanda requires an Elasticsearch server, which is a significant infrastructure dependency if your wiki doesn't already use CirrusSearch.

KZChatbot and Chatbot (OpenSemanticWorld) both require deploying and maintaining a separate backend application in addition to the MediaWiki extension itself.

Open Source

All extensions except AI Assistant are open-source. Wanda, KZChatbot, and AskAI use GPL-2.0; Chatbot uses AGPL-3.0. The open-source extensions offer more flexibility and no licensing cost, but require more technical effort to set up and maintain. We offer AI Assistant as a managed, ready-to-use alternative.

Which One Should You Choose?

If you need a simple way for users to query specific wiki pages and don't need automated retrieval, AskAI is lightweight and easy to install.

If you have existing RAG infrastructure and need operational tooling like rollout controls and batch testing, KZChatbot's middleware architecture may fit your needs.

If you need self-hosted open-source and already run Elasticsearch/CirrusSearch, Wanda is a mature option with the widest range of AI provider support.

If you want a ready-to-use solution and prefer not to manage infrastructure, AI Assistant provides permission awareness, source citations, conversation history, and cross-language support with no setup required.

The AI and chatbot landscape is evolving quickly. If you come across something in this comparison that is out of date, missing, or otherwise inaccurate, let us know.

Get Started with AI Assistant

Want to add AI-powered search to your wiki? Learn more about AI Assistant or get in touch to discuss your needs.

Demo

Try out the extension yourself on the MaRDI Portal.

Capabilities

Filter search results by Statement values via the facet UI or by Item type via the tabs.

You can build complex queries by selecting multiple values for the same property or different properties, including range queries, conjunctions (AND) and disjunctions (OR).

Combine full-text search with structured search on Statements. Such combined queries are not supported by WikibaseCirrusSearch or by Blazegraph/SPARQL. Combining structured and full-text search is ideal for wikis with "display pages" that provide a user-friendly view on Wikibase Items via rendered wikitext.

Customize your facet UI and configure Wikibase Faceted Search via the on-wiki configuration UI. No server access or PHP configuration needed.

The extension is mobile friendly.

Learn more via the Wikibase Faceted Search documentation.

Open Source

Wikibase Faceted Search is free and open-source software developed by Professional Wiki. We released it under the GNU GPL v2+ license. Contributions are welcome!

Professional Wikibase Services

Get started quickly with Wikibase via Wikibase hosting or professional Wikibase services.

At Professional Wiki, we have unparalleled Wikibase expertise. Leverage our experts for anything from high-level strategic advice to secure configuration of Single Sign-On. Contact Wikibase experts.

Highlights

Version 5 brings support for MediaWiki 1.43, the latest LTS release. It also brings support for the latest versions of PHP, up to version 8.4. The minimum required versions have been raised to MediaWiki 1.39 and PHP 8.1. For more detailed information, see the compatibility matrix.

Various of the SMW user interfaces have been refreshed. They are now more consistent, look better on mobile devices, and integrate better with MediaWiki's new Codex system. A good example is the overhauled DataTables format, depicted below.

Various front-end performance improvements have been made, improving page load speed.

You can find the full list of changes in the SMW 5 release notes and the Semantic Result Formats 5 release notes.

Credits

Over 15 people contributed to this release. We would like to thank all contributors.

Please consider donating to Semantic MediaWiki.

Upgrading

Semantic MediaWiki 5.0 is a major release, so it contains breaking changes. The main breaking change is the raised minimum MediaWiki and PHP version. The remaining breaking changes are unlikely to affect most users.

There is no need to run the "update.php" maintenance script or any of the rebuild data scripts.

We recommend that everyone running older versions of SMW upgrades. Especially if you are running SMW 4.0.1 or older, as these versions contain a known security vulnerability. SMW 4.x is no longer supported.

Get the new version via Composer:

• Step 1: Ensure the SMW version in composer.local.json is ^5.0.0
• Step 2: Run composer in your MediaWiki directory: composer update --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

Get the new version via Git:

This is only for those that have installed SMW via Git.

• Step 1: do a git pull in the SemanticMediaWiki directory
• Step 2: run composer update --no-dev --optimize-autoloader in the MediaWiki directory

Professional Semantic MediaWiki Services

At Professional Wiki, we provide Semantic MediaWiki services, including SMW hosting, SMW software development, SMW consulting, and various MediaWiki services.

You can try out Semantic MediaWiki via the free trial on ProWiki.

What Are Wikibase Extensions

Wikibase is an open-source platform for storing and managing structured data, originally created for Wikidata. Wikibase itself is an extension to MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia. It can be extended further with additional “extensions” (“plugins”) to add new capabilities such as advanced search, data validation, and additional data types.

The core of Wikibase is a MediaWiki extension called Wikibase Repository, which turns a MediaWiki site into a structured data repository. You can create “Items” for concepts or entities, and define statements for them using “Properties”.

Once you installed Wikibase Repository, you have over a dozen additional extensions to choose from to enhance its functionality. In this post, we’ll explore the top Wikibase extensions, what they do, and who they’re for.

In This Blog

We describe 17 Wikibase extensions, roughly in order of their general usefulness and how much we recommend them.

To help you gauge how easy it is to get an extension up and running, we tagged each extension with one of the following installation difficulty levels:

1. Wikibase Faceted Search

Wikibase Faceted Search is a powerful search interface for Wikibase data. It allows users to filter search results by item types and property values. Unlike the Query Service UI, this extension is designed for non-technical users, requiring no knowledge of query syntax.

Built on top of Elasticsearch, Wikibase Faceted Search supports complex queries and allows you to combine full-text search with structured data search. It is a modern alternative to WikibaseCirrusSearch.

2. Wikibase Client

Access data from your Wikibase Repository in normal wiki pages. You can retrieve statement values via wikitext parser functions or Lua. Wikibase Client makes it easy for a separate wiki to pull and display structured data, such as in infoboxes or articles.

Wikibase Client comes bundled with Wikibase Repository, so you don't need to install it separately. You do need to enable it and configure it, including pointing it to your Wikibase Repository.

3. SPARQL Extension

The SPARQL Extension lets you run SPARQL queries directly from your wiki pages. This allows you to access and visualize data from a SPARQL endpoint via Lua. This SPARQL endpoint can be your own Wikibase Query Service, the Wikidata Query Service, or any other SPARQL endpoint.

4. Wikibase Local Media

Wikibase Local Media allows your Wikibase to reference media files uploaded to your own wiki. Without this extension, Wikibase assumes all media files reside on Wikimedia Commons. Wikibase Local Media extension is essential for organizations like museums or archives that manage media collections.

5. WikibaseMediaInfo

WikibaseMediaInfo introduces the "MediaInfo" entity type, allowing you to add structured statements directly to media files. This enables better multilingual descriptions, advanced categorization, and improved discoverability. It's extensively used by Wikimedia Commons to manage captions and "depicts" statements for media files.

6. Wikibase EDTF

Wikibase EDTF adds support for Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF) to Wikibase. It enables representation of approximate or uncertain dates, as well as date ranges, making it ideal for historical, archival, and bibliographic projects where exact dates might be unknown or approximate (e.g., "circa 1900" or "late 17th century").

7. Automated Values

Automated Values updates labels, descriptions, and aliases automatically based on your Wikibase statements. This significantly reduces manual data entry efforts and ensures consistency. Common use cases include automatically generating labels from statements (e.g., "First name + Last name") or updating aliases based on related properties.

8. Wikibase RDF

Wikibase RDF enables defining RDF mappings for Wikibase entities. When the extension is enabled, Item and Property pages show a "Mapping to other ontologies" section. You can configure the mappings from within the wiki, and the extension generates RDF exports based on these mappings.

9. Wikibase Export

Wikibase Export provides a user-friendly way to export structured data from Wikibase to CSV. A form allows non-technical users to create and customize CSV exports. Users can specify the properties to export, grouping by year, filtering by year, export language, and more. Administrators can configure the form via a configuration page in the MediaWiki namespace.

10. WikibaseCirrusSearch

WikibaseCirrusSearch is an older alternative to Wikibase Faceted Search. It only provides search keywords but no search UI. It also indexes your Wikibase data in a way that does not support aggregation or combining full-text search with structured data search. WikibaseCirrusSearch is used on Wikidata.

11. EntitySchema

EntitySchema introduces a new entity type called "Schema," allowing data modelers to define Shape Expressions (ShEx) schemas. These schemas can be used to validate Wikibase entities using various external tools.

12. Wikibase Quality Constraints

Wikibase Quality Constraints enables you to define logical constraints on Wikibase properties, such as "date of birth must precede date of death." Violations are automatically flagged, helping maintain high data quality and consistency across your dataset.

The full installation and operation of this extension is complex. The configuration is complex, additional software needs to be installed, and scripts need to be run.

13. PropertySuggester

PropertySuggester suggests relevant properties to users when editing Wikibase items, based on the most commonly used properties for similar items.

The full installation and operation of this extension is complex. The configuration is complex, additional software needs to be installed, and scripts need to be run.

14. UnlinkedWikibase

UnlinkedWikibase is an alternative to Wikibase Client that allows you to access data from any remote Wikibase instance via Lua. It makes web requests to the remote Wikibase's SPARQL endpoint to retrieve data. Unlike Wikibase Client, it does not require access to the database of the Wikibase Repository.

15. WikibaseManifest

WikibaseManifest provides an API endpoint that allows for automated configuration discovery of your Wikibase. Some external tools use this API to automatically configure themselves.

16. Semantic Wikibase

Semantic Wikibase makes your Wikibase data available in Semantic MediaWiki (SMW). This increases the consumability of your Wikibase data by allowing you to query, visualize, and combine it with other data in SMW directly inside your wiki. Semantic Wikibase is still experimental. See also: Managing Data in MediaWiki.

17. WikibaseLexeme

WikibaseLexeme adds specialized support for lexicographical data, including words, their forms, senses, and grammatical attributes. It is a tool for linguistic projects and dictionaries, primarily used on Wikidata.

More Wikibase Tools

A well-rounded Wikibase installation includes more than just Wikibase extensions, which is what we focused on in this blog. For example, if you want Single Sign-On, spam prevention, or batch uploads, you need MediaWiki extensions, not Wikibase extensions. Then there are also tools and services like QuickStatements and OpenRefine. While not built on top of MediaWiki, and thus technically speaking, not MediaWiki extensions, they are still essential for many Wikibase installations.

Check out our list of top MediaWiki extensions.

Commission A Wikibase Extension

Do you need a custom extension for your Wikibase? Check out our Wikibase software development services. We also provide other Wikibase services such as Wikibase hosting.

Related Reading

• Does Wikibase Fit Your Project?
• Top MediaWiki Extensions
• Top MediaWiki Themes
• Managing Data in MediaWiki
• Wikibase Hosting Options Compared
• Wikibase posts on this blog

Table of Contents

1. Connecting Wikibase and Semantic MediaWiki
2. Simultaneous Editing with CollabPads
3. Factors Influencing Wiki Success
4. MediaWiki Strategic Plan
5. New BlueSpice Features
6. Wikibase Introduction: Managing Datasets & Collections
7. Knowledge Management with MediaWiki at NASA
8. LLMs and Local Knowledge
9. Inline Comments Extension
10. Panel: Knowledge Management and Semantics
11. Wrap up

Connecting Wikibase and Semantic MediaWiki

Naturally, I am placing my own session first. It is a panel discussion with Lozana Rossenova, Kolja Bailly and myself about our Semantic Wikibase extension.

With Semantic Wikibase, you can make your Wikibase data available in Semantic MediaWiki. This opens the door for visualizations and embedded queries directly in your wiki, showcasing your Wikibase data. It also allows for form editing and aggregation of data.

We created Semantic Wikibase in 2020 as a prototype. Since then, TiB Hannover has enhanced the extension and started using it successfully on multiple wikis. Besides the panel, there also was a dedicated talk in which Kolja presented his Semantic Wikibase enhancements and some great-looking success stories.

Learn more via our dedicated Semantic Wikibase at MUDCon post.

Simultaneous Editing with CollabPads

Robert Vogel introduced CollabPads, a new extension that brings simultaneous editing to MediaWiki. This feature allows multiple users to collaborate on the same page in real-time, much like Google Docs or Etherpad.

Key Features:

• Integrated Editing Experience: Seamless integration into the standard editing workflow of MediaWiki
• Secure Collaboration: Authorization mechanism to ensure appropriate access permissions
• Session Management: Continuous collaboration with flexible joining and leaving of sessions

📑 View the presentation slides

Factors Influencing Wiki Success

Semantic MediaWiki veteran Bernhard Krabina shared insights on the optimal use of wikis within organizations. Drawing from his experiences at Knowledge Management Associates (KM-A) and his PhD research on knowledge graphs and wikis, he emphasized that wikis excel in scenarios where knowledge creation is dynamic and collaborative. Features like MediaWiki's "red links" encourage content creation and facilitate organic growth, fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and transparency.

However, he cautioned that wikis might not suit all organizational needs, particularly when dealing with static documents like PDFs and PowerPoint presentations or requiring intricate access controls. In such cases, traditional document management systems may be more appropriate. Comparing MediaWiki to proprietary tools like Confluence, he noted that while Confluence offers a polished user interface and real-time editing, it comes with drawbacks such as cost and limited data structuring capabilities. MediaWiki, being open-source, provides greater flexibility and aligns with organizations seeking transparency and open collaboration.

To evaluate the effectiveness of wikis, Bernhard introduced the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as frameworks. His studies on different wikis revealed that usability and acceptance are influenced by organizational culture and management support. He concluded with a call to action for organizations to assess why some wikis thrive while others fail, highlighting the importance of understanding user engagement and organizational support to implement wikis effectively for enhanced knowledge management.

Sidenote: I confirm that Bernhard is very sus.

📑 View the presentation slides

MediaWiki Strategic Plan

Mateus Santos, a product manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, discussed the evolution of MediaWiki core and its extensions. He highlighted a significant shift in how the Wikimedia Foundation approaches MediaWiki, moving from treating it as a project to viewing it as a product. This change aims to ensure the platform's sustainability and ability to meet the needs of diverse users while supporting the Wikimedia mission.

Mateus emphasized the challenges of sustaining MediaWiki in a rapidly changing world, especially with the rise of generative AI and shifting content consumption patterns. On Wikipedia, MediaWiki must support over 25 billion global page views and 50 million edits per month across hundreds of languages, all while maintaining a collaborative contributor base.

Several key initiatives are underway to enhance MediaWiki:

• Parsoid Unification Project: Transitioning from the legacy parser to Parsoid to unify parsing infrastructure, improve performance, and simplify maintenance
• Release Management: Taking responsibility for MediaWiki's release management, with the upcoming 1.43 release being a long-term support version
• Automated API Documentation: Developing localized, interactive API documentation to support developers using MediaWiki's REST framework
• Simplifying Feature Development: Conducting a hook survey to explore ways to simplify feature development and reduce onboarding complexity
• Authentication Enhancements: Improving the Single User Login system for multiple wikis

New BlueSpice Features

BlueSpice is an enterprise MediaWiki distribution created by our partner HalloWelt GmbH. You can use BlueSpice as an integrated management system, a documentation system, an organizational manual, or a knowledge base.

Miriam Schlindwein presented new features created by the BlueSpice development team. She focused on those features that are independent from BlueSpice, and can thus be used on any MediaWiki installation. She covered these four extensions:

• NotifyMe: An improved notification system replacing the Echo extension, featuring grouped notifications and customizable email templates
• Enhanced Standard UIs: Redesigns of the All Pages and File List special pages with better readability, tree views for subpages, and customizable columns. The version history page now has a grid format for easier comparison
• AI Editing Assistant: An editing aid integrated with ChatGPT, allowing users to refine content with commands like "Make longer" or "Summarize"
• Number Headings: One of the most requested features is the ability to number MediaWiki page headings automatically. This feature is particularly useful for ensuring that tables of contents align with the content

These extensions enhance or redesign basic MediaWiki functionality.

Wikibase Introduction: Managing Datasets & Collections

Christos Varvantakis and Jon Amar from Wikimedia Deutschland presented updates on Wikibase. Wikibase is a bundle of MediaWiki extensions and services which allow users to create and manage open, linked knowledge bases with a flexible data model.

They said that Wikibase is widely used by researchers, scientists, and GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums), with notable users including Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and OpenStreetMap.

They also talked about WMDE's two main Wikibase products: Wikibase Suite and Wikibase Cloud.

Wikibase Suite is for users who want to self-host Wikibase on their infrastructure. Wikimedia Deutschland plans to improve the versioning and release process, and provide better documentation. Instead of setting up your own Wikibase, you can also use our Wikibase hosting services.

Wikibase Cloud is free SaaS hosting for Wikibase. You can create your own Wikibase quickly without technical expertise. Customization options are limited. Wikibase Cloud is the budget alternative to our own Wikibase Cloud hosting. Learn more about differences in our Wikibase hosting comparison.

📑 View the presentation slides

Knowledge Management with MediaWiki at NASA

Richard Evans from NASA's Armstrong Test Facility presented how MediaWiki is instrumental in supporting NASA's digital transformation initiatives. By leveraging "MediaWiki Plus"—MediaWiki enhanced with extensions like Semantic MediaWiki—Richard showcased how the platform can help organizations transition to more modern and efficient operations.

At the Armstrong Test Facility, MediaWiki Plus is used to digitize business processes, manage ISO compliance, and create electronic workflows, thereby improving collaboration and transparency. By capturing structured data within wiki pages, facilitating dynamic querying, and supporting management dashboards—all within an open-source framework—it provides a unified solution to outdated information systems.

Rich concluded by inviting the MediaWiki community to the Armstrong Test Facility for the MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference in spring 2025. He emphasized that with the right extensions, MediaWiki is uniquely positioned to aid large organizations like NASA in their digital transformation journey, enhancing knowledge management, operational efficiency, and fostering a culture of collaboration.

📑 View the presentation slides

LLMs and Local Knowledge

Julia Neidhardt and Thomas Kolb, researchers from the Vienna University of Technology, presented on Digital Humanism, emphasizing the critical role of technology in society and the need for human-centric approaches. They discussed the Vienna Manifesto on Digital Humanism, a collaborative initiative aiming to promote democracy, inclusion, and responsible technology development.

Julia and Thomas highlighted the rise of Generative AI and its societal impact, including challenges like biases, misinformation, and ethical concerns. They stressed the importance of understanding these issues to develop more transparent and fair AI systems.

To make local knowledge more accessible, they experimented with integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) with local data sources. Using frameworks like LangChain and LlamaIndex, they developed a chatbot that combines their open-access books on digital humanism with AI models like GPT. This approach leverages techniques such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and embeddings to improve information retrieval and user interaction.

They also discussed technical challenges, including data chunking strategies, embedding updates, and balancing model performance with computational resources. The team emphasized the opportunities in enhancing accessibility and supporting diverse users while acknowledging risks like hallucinations, scalability issues, and inherent biases in AI models.

📑 View the presentation slides

Learn more about MediaWiki and AI integration possibilities.

Inline Comments Extension

Yaron Koren presented the Inline Comments extension, a new tool that brings inline commenting and annotations to MediaWiki pages, similar to features found in Google Docs or Confluence.

Key Features of the Inline Comments Extension:

• Inline Commenting and Threaded Discussions: Users can add comments directly within the text of a wiki page, fostering collaborative discussions and feedback
• @-Tagging and Notifications: The extension supports @-tagging to mention specific users, triggering Echo notifications to alert them of comments or replies
• Editing and Version History: Comments can be edited using a pencil icon, and all changes are tracked in the page's version history. The extension utilizes MediaWiki's slots feature to store comments separately, ensuring they are included in revision histories and recent changes
• Filtering in Recent Changes: Users can filter recent changes to view only inline comments, making it easier to monitor discussions and manage

Panel: Knowledge Management and Semantics

In this panel at the end of the conference's second day, Karsten Ehms, Cindy Cicalese, and Rich Evans touched on both practical and philosophical aspects of knowledge management. The conversation was particularly noteworthy for how it revealed common challenges across different organizations, from NASA to corporate environments.

The conversation touched on data sovereignty, building trust, open-source, and the evolution of wikis to simple repositories to operational tools.

Everyone is a knowledge user. In a modern organization - it doesn't have to be an IT-focused organization - people who show up for work every day, regardless of what they do, there is a dimension of what they do that is knowledge oriented. -- Rich Evans

Wrap up

I greatly enjoyed this conference. It was a pleasure to reconnect with many of the usual suspects and make new connections. As always with these events, the most valuable part was the conversations in the hallways, over dinner, and in the hotel lobby at 2AM when Richard is fixing his slides for the next day.

Thanks to the conference organizers Bernhard Krabina and Sabine Melnicki. You did an awesome job! 🎉

View the complete MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference Fall 2024 YouTube Playlist or our event blog posts. Or check out the conference pictures.

Let us help you with your knowledge management or MediaWiki needs. Explore our MediaWiki services or contact us for MediaWiki consulting.

What is Semantic Wikibase

We released the first Semantic Wikibase prototype in 2020. Its main selling point is that it allows you to query and visualize your Wikibase data directly in your wiki via SMW's inline queries and result format visualizations. You also gain autocomplete in forms and export in various formats that the SMW API supports.

In the 2020 release announcement, we listed several ideas, such as support for remote Wikibases which enables querying data from Wikidata. One of those ideas is to go beyond synchronization of Statement values, and to also translate Statement Qualifiers to the Semantic MediaWiki data model. This is one of the new features that TiB has developed.

What is New in 2024

The highlights:

• Compatibility with recent MediaWiki versions, including MediaWiki 1.39 LTS
• Support for Wikibase Qualifiers by using SMW subobjects
• Partial support for the Extended Date Time Format provided by our Wikibase EDTF extension

Success Stories

Kolja gave a dedicated talk going over how Open Science Lab has used Semantic Wikibase to create multiple websites.

Highlights:

• Visualization and aggregation of Wikibase data, via Semantic MediaWiki queries
• Ability to edit Wikibase Items via forms, by using Page Forms and Widgets
• Attaching categories to Wikibase Items

Form editing of Wikibase items is achieved via an inventive and pragmatic combination of existing tools, including Semantic Wikibase, Page Forms, Widgets, and the Wikibase web API. This approach allows for user-friendly creation workflows for Wikibase Items via domain-specific forms with validation and autocomplete. The more sophisticated forms are not live yet, but you can check of this more basic form editing example.

Memorably, near the end of his talk, Kolja showcased a project involving AI-assisted text tagging of philosophical texts using an AI model and a historical dictionary. In this project, eye-catching 3D visualizations show the semantic distances between terms, providing transparency into the AI model's performance and revealing areas needing improvement.

Semantic Wikibase websites from Kolja's talk:

• Manor Houses
• Climate KG
• PhiWikibase

📑 View the presentation slides

Learn More

• Semantic Wikibase (article)
• Semantic Wikibase (extension page)
• Semantic Wikibase on GitHub
• MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference 2024 Vienna

Highlights

Semantic MediaWiki now comes with out-of-the-box faceted search via the new Special:FacetedSearch page.

Version 4.2 brings compatibility with MediaWiki 1.40, MediaWiki 1.41, and PHP 8.2. It also improves compatibility with MediaWiki 1.42, which is expected to mostly work.

You can now set the source for queries run via the "ask" or "askargs" API endpoints via the new source parameter.

Bug fixes

• Fixed ask queries with a conjunction of negations failing when using the Elasticsearch backend
• Fixed property linking for languages with fallback languages
• Fixed footer sorting on table results
• Improved handling of logos

Credits

Over 15 people contributed to this release. We would like to thank all contributors.

Special credits go to Bertrand Gorge, Niklas Laxström, Mark A. Hershberger, Jaider Andrade Ferreira, Youri van den Bogert and alistair3149.

Upgrading

Semantic MediaWiki 4.2 is a minor release. It contains new features, improvements, and bug fixes. Because it is a minor release, it does not contain any breaking changes, does not require running the update.php script, and does not drop support for older versions of MediaWiki.

We recommend that everyone running older versions of SMW upgrades. Especially if you are running SMW 4.0.1 or older, as these versions contain a known security vulnerability.

Get the new version via Composer:

• Step 1: if you are upgrading from SMW older than 4.0.0, ensure the SMW version in composer.json is ^4.2.0
• Step 2: run composer in your MediaWiki directory: composer update --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

Get the new version via Git:

This is only for those that have installed SMW via Git.

• Step 1: do a git pull in the SemanticMediaWiki directory
• Step 2: run composer update --no-dev --optimize-autoloader in the MediaWiki directory

Professional Semantic MediaWiki Services

At Professional Wiki, we provide Semantic MediaWiki services, including SMW hosting, SMW software development, SMW consulting, and various MediaWiki services.

You can try out Semantic MediaWiki via the free trial on ProWiki.

When to Consider Alternatives to Wikibase

1. Access Restriction Requirements

Wikibase is designed for either fully open or fully closed data environments. While editing restrictions can be implemented, viewing permissions are all-or-nothing: users who can access some data can access all data. Wikibase is thus less suitable for projects requiring granular access controls or a mix of open and restricted data within the same instance.

2. Real-time Data Processing

Wikibase is not suitable for real-time data processing or high-frequency updates. Stream processing systems or time-series databases are more appropriate for such cases. Wikibase's update speed limit is about 30 edits per second, depending on the underlying system resources.

When editing a Wikibase Item, the entire old version is kept. Thus, if you make many edits to large items, Wikibase ends up being wasteful with storage space.

Related: Fast Bulk Import Into Wikibase

3. Domain-Specific UIs

If your project requires forms or user interfaces with special restrictions or complex business logic for editing or viewing data, something other than Wikibase's standard interface may be required. However, custom development can address many of these needs.

At Professional Wiki, we've developed extensions like Wikibase Export for domain-specific data export and Automated Values for encoding business rules. If you wish to use Wikibase and need such customizations, check out our Wikibase software development services.

You might also wish to consider Semantic MediaWiki, a MediaWiki extension somewhat similar to Wikibase, that supports data-entry via domain-specific forms and more UI customization options. You can also check out our Wikibase vs. Semantic MediaWiki comparison.

4. Limited System Resources

Wikibase requires a relatively powerful server to run efficiently, especially for larger datasets or high-traffic scenarios. It's unsuitable for environments with minimal computing resources, such as serving data from a Raspberry Pi.

At Professional Wiki, we offer Wikibase hosting services that ensure optimal performance and reliability.

When Wikibase Excels

1. Collaborative Knowledge Creation

Because Wikibase is a layer on top of MediaWiki, the software developed for Wikipedia, it is fantastic for collaborative knowledge curation. Let your team(s) build and maintain your knowledge base together, or even open up your wiki to public editing. Wikibase comes with change logs, anti-vandalism tools, approval flows, and the ability to roll back changes.

2. Flexible Data Modeling

Create and evolve your own data model with Wikibase. Because Wikibase is built on top of a graph database, you avoid the artificial restriction of database tables. Define your properties and choose which ones you use on each item. Describe special cases, or do rapid prototyping without forcing your future self to live with a sub-optimal schema.

3. Interconnected Knowledge Representation

Wikibase excels at representing interconnected data. Its linked data model allows the creation of rich information networks with meaningfully connected entities. This structure enables intuitive navigation through complex datasets and supports powerful querying capabilities. By using external identifiers, you can connect your data to other data sets, such as Wikidata. Such connections enable federated queries that combine information from your and other Wikibases.

4. Multilingual and International Projects

With built-in support for multiple languages, Wikibase is ideal for international projects. It allows for seamless content management in various languages, including right-to-left scripts. Labels, descriptions, and aliases can be added in multiple languages for each entity, facilitating global collaboration and access.

5. Qualified and Referenced Data

Wikibase supports the addition of qualifiers and references to statements, providing context and provenance for each piece of information. This feature enhances data reliability and allows for a nuanced representation of complex or time-dependent facts, which is crucial for scientific, historical, or evolving datasets.

6. Version Control for Your Data

Every change in Wikibase is tracked and reversible. The system maintains a complete history of edits, allowing users to review past versions, compare changes, and revert to previous states if needed. This robust version control ensures data integrity and supports accountability in collaborative environments.

Common Wikibase Usecases

Wikibase's versatility makes it an ideal solution for various knowledge management needs. Here are some of the most common and impactful use cases we've seen among our clients:

Organizational Knowledge Management

Businesses increasingly turn to Wikibase to create flexible internal knowledge bases that can describe complex attributes and relationships. These knowledge bases can serve as a single source of truth for the entire organization and support analytics via complex queries against the knowledge graph.

Open Data Initiatives

Organizations leveraging Wikibase for open data initiatives benefit from its powerful combination of structured data management and accessibility. Government agencies, research institutions, and forward-thinking companies use Wikibase to create comprehensive data portals that foster transparency and innovation. A key advantage is Wikibase's adherence to open standards: through its Web API and SPARQL endpoint, data is easily retrievable in formats like JSON, RDF, and CSV, enabling seamless integration into various projects and applications.

Wikibase's structured data model facilitates complex queries, allowing users to uncover insights hidden in traditional databases. For instance, a city government could use Wikibase to publish urban planning data, enabling citizens to create custom visualizations of zoning changes or track infrastructure projects. Researchers might combine this with other sources to analyze urban development trends, while businesses could integrate it into location-based services.

Cultural Heritage Cataloging

GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) and historical research projects are harnessing Wikibase to revolutionize how cultural heritage is cataloged, linked, and explored. This versatile platform enables these organizations to create rich, interconnected knowledge bases that serve internal management needs and public engagement goals.

Libraries and archives use Wikibase to manage bibliographic records and metadata for diverse media, from ancient manuscripts to digital publications. For instance, a national library consortium might employ Wikibase to create a unified catalog that links books to authors and subjects to historical events, geographical locations, and related archival materials. This approach enhances resource discovery and facilitates advanced research by revealing hidden connections within collections.

Museums and galleries leverage Wikibase to catalog and manage their collections, including artworks, artifacts, and exhibits. A museum network could use the platform to build a comprehensive digital inventory that links objects across institutions, connecting them to their historical context, artistic movements, and conservation records. This linking streamlines curation processes and enables compelling narratives for public exhibitions and educational programs.

In historical research, Wikibase excels at managing and linking complex data. Projects focused on genealogy or local history can create vast information networks, connecting historical figures to events, places, and primary source documents. For example, a city archive might use Wikibase to organize and link historical photographs, census records, and maps, allowing researchers to trace the evolution of neighborhoods over time or track family histories over generations.

Research Data Management

Universities and research institutions harness Wikibase to create integrated research ecosystems. For example, a university might use Wikibase to build a repository that stores research outputs and maps the relationships between publications, datasets, researchers, and funding sources. This interconnected approach facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration, helps demonstrate research impact, and supports compliance with data management requirements from funding bodies.

Conclusion

Wikibase is a powerful solution for organizations dealing with complex, interconnected data requiring a flexible and robust management system. Its strengths in adaptable data modeling, support for qualified and referenced information, and comprehensive version control make it well-suited for cultural heritage projects, research data management, and open data initiatives.

However, Wikibase isn't the right fit for every project. Organizations needing real-time data processing, highly specific user interfaces, or granular access controls may need to look elsewhere or consider custom development on top of Wikibase.

If you're considering Wikibase for your project or looking to optimize your existing Wikibase implementation, Professional Wiki offers comprehensive Wikibase services to support your needs. Our team of Wikibase experts can guide you through the decision-making process, assist with importing into Wikibase, host your Wikibase, and even develop new Wikibase features.