I wrote the first version of WikiCrowd back in 2022 and haven’t really iterated on it much since, beyond adding the odd new set of image categories, and removing features that I decided were not optimum.
At the 2025 Wikimedia Hackathon however, WikiCrowd came up as both an entertaining little game to show people during beers, and also a project similar (ish) to something Daanvr was working on (I think it was Suggestion-Engine-Commons-prototype ?)
Upgrades
During the hackathon, and in the weeks following, WikiCrowd went through quite a number of changes
- The YAML config files for the pre-calculated depicts statements are now on Commons for all to edit
- Generation of the questions has been spruced up to stop it breaking as it gets deeper into category trees
- Generation can now be triggered in the UI, as can deleting pending questions
- The old one by one image mode was removed, and instead replaced by a grid mode
- More categories and depict options were added
- A custom grid view was added, allowing users to specify their own category and or Wikidata item
- Ability to zoom in on an image being displayed
- Addition of “levels” of questions
- Display of Wikidata labels and descriptions in the UI (Making use of the new REST API)
The addition of the grid view really increases the speed that depicts statements can be made, and only seems to improve the flow and focus for the user.
It’s very easy to look at a grid and determine what is or is not a cat, and not having to wait for a page reload or image reload is lovely with the preloaded rows below the fold on the grid.
The custom view (which is currently accessible via a button at the bottom of the home page) opens up the tool for use by all, even for small categories, without having to generate the questions ahead of time, and without having to edit YAML anywhere…
Search is integrated for the Commons categories, and Wikidata identifiers, as well as a couple of sanity checks and the ability to automatically look up the other half of the information you need (id or category).
For example, this like will take you to a custom grid of sunflowers that you can try to tag with depicts statements… https://wikicrowd.toolforge.org/questions/depicts/custom?category=Category%3ASunflowers&auto=1
Hackathon leaderboard
During the hackathon, Siebrand really powered ahead with the number of depicts being added. In fact, Siebrand tagged more things during the hackathon than everyone else combined!
Here is the leaderboard for May 2–4, 2025
| User | Hackathon Answers |
|---|---|
| Siebrand | 5825 |
| OutdoorAcorn | 851 |
| PMG | 709 |
| Sic19 | 668 |
| Lcawte | 329 |
| Daanvr | 234 |
| Duesentrieb | 164 |
| Reedy | 147 |
| DKinzler (WMF) | 79 |
| Sjoerddebruin | 72 |
| Addshore | 53 |
| Lemony7 | 24 |
| T Arrow | 21 |
| WolfgangFahl | 16 |
| Samwilson | 16 |
| Dcaroest | 9 |
| Douginamug | 7 |
| Nemoralis | 6 |
| Tohaomg | 6 |
| Sadrettin | 4 |
| Krinkle | 3 |
| Adithyak1997 | 3 |
| Robertsky | 2 |
| Sean Leong (WMDE) | 2 |
Overall leaderboard
Looking at all answers since the tool was created, where users have made more than 100 answers PMG is still top, with Siebrand close behind in second (overtaking me in only a matter of weeks).
| User | Total Answers |
|---|---|
| PMG | 149596 |
| Siebrand | 23429 |
| Addshore | 12873 |
| Amazomagisto | 9805 |
| OutdoorAcorn | 8008 |
| Tiefenschaerfe | 5030 |
| I dream of horses | 4535 |
| Czupirek | 3690 |
| PierreSelim | 1768 |
| Waldyrious | 1724 |
| Lcawte | 1550 |
| Deadstar | 1360 |
| Reedy | 1203 |
| MichellevL (WMNL) | 1189 |
| Gower | 1029 |
| Gdarin | 1000 |
| Bongo50 edits wikis | 871 |
| Sic19 | 668 |
| Thibaultmol | 641 |
| Sjoerddebruin | 578 |
| Hey man im josh | 506 |
| Beegies | 442 |
| Fences and windows | 409 |
| Tagishsimon | 294 |
| Akoopal | 285 |
| Todrobbins | 284 |
| Nostrix | 283 |
| Nux | 283 |
| Karl Oblique | 276 |
| Daanvr | 234 |
| Corvid4444 | 229 |
| Vanbruckner461 | 215 |
| Frank Geerlings | 207 |
| Andrawaag | 184 |
| Multichill | 175 |
| Duesentrieb | 164 |
| Matlin | 162 |
| Asartea | 160 |
| Ainali | 160 |
| MB-one | 156 |
| EpicPupper | 151 |
| Effeietsanders | 123 |
| AntiCompositeNumber | 116 |
| Lottebelice | 113 |
| Daniuu | 106 |
| Simonc8 | 104 |
Answers over time
The tool has been around for quite a number of years now, it’s had periods of time when the generation has broken, and periods of time during events where it gets lots of use.
I’m looking forward to the custom view hopefully increasing the tools usefulness, and perhaps it can be linked to directly from Wikidata and or Commons for people to use from category pages or Wikidata items.
We are now at 239k answers, and 163k edits, woop woop!
But you can really notice the increase in rate since the grid mode was introduced!
